What is Azure PostgreSQL?
Azure PostgreSQL is a database service from Microsoft Azure that is based on the PostgreSQL database engine and is completely managed by Microsoft. It is made to offer an enterprise-grade PostgreSQL database service that is scalable and highly available. Backup and recovery are one of the most important parts of any database service. In this blog post, we'll talk about the different Azure PostgreSQL backup options and how to set them up and manage them.
2 Types of Azure PostgreSQL Backups
Azure PostgreSQL has two kinds of backups: those that are done automatically and those that are done by hand. Automated backups are made regularly and stored in Azure Blob Storage. Manual backups are made when needed and can be stored locally or in Azure Blob Storage.
Automatic Backup
Azure Blob Storage is used to store the backups that are made automatically. By default, backups are made automatically every 5 minutes and kept for 7 days. If necessary, this can be changed to be kept for up to 35 days. The backups are kept in a secure storage account, which can be set up to use geo-redundant storage for more redundancy. This means that the data is stored in more than one place. If a natural disaster or other event makes one place inaccessible, the data can still be accessed from another place.
When you set up an Azure PostgreSQL server, automated backups are turned on by default. Using the Azure Portal or Azure CLI, you can set the length of time backups are kept and the storage account. The Azure Portal is a website where people can manage their Azure resources. It gives users a graphical user interface for managing their Azure services, such as creating and managing virtual machines, networking, storage, and more. The Azure Command Line Interface
Follow these steps to set up automatic backups through the Azure Portal:
Open the Azure Portal and find your Azure PostgreSQL server in the list of services.
Click on "Backup" in the menu on the left.
Under "Automatic backups," click the "Configure" button.
Set the amount of time that backups will be kept and the storage account.
Use the following command in the Azure CLI to set up automatic backups:
This command tells automated backups to keep their files for 14 days.
Manual Backups
With the Azure Portal, Azure CLI, or pg dump, you can take manual backups whenever you want. Backups that are made by hand can be kept locally or in Azure Blob Storage.
Follow these steps to back up manually through the Azure Portal:
Open the Azure Portal and find your Azure PostgreSQL server in the list of services.
Click on "Backup" in the menu on the left.
Click the "Back up manually" button.
Choose the storage account and the length of time the backup will be kept.
To start the backup, click the "Create" button.
Use the following command in the Azure CLI to make a backup by hand:
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This command makes a manual backup called "mybackup" and stores it in the "mystorageaccount" and "mycontainer" storage accounts and containers.
Bring Back Choices
With Azure PostgreSQL, it's easy to restore backups to a new server or an old one. You can use the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure PowerShell to bring back backups. When you restore a backup, you can choose to restore the whole database or only certain tables. Azure PostgreSQL gives you a number of ways to restore backups:
Point-in-time restore: With this option, you can bring your database back to a certain time. Depending on how long you want to keep your backups, you can choose a point in time up to 35 days ago.
Geo-restore: This option lets you recover your database in case of a disaster in a different Azure region.
Restore to a new server: This option lets you restore your database to a new Azure PostgreSQL server.
Follow these steps to use the Azure Portal to bring back a backup:
Open the Azure Portal and find your Azure PostgreSQL server in the list of services.
Click on "Backup" in the menu on the left.
Choose the backup that you want to use.
Click the button that says "Restore."
Choose the type of restore you want and follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process.
Use the following command in the Azure CLI to bring back a backup:
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Conclusion
Azure PostgreSQL gives you a reliable way to back up and restore your database that is easy to set up and use. You can make sure your data is safe and easy to restore in case of an outage or disaster by using both automatic and manual backups. It's important to test your backup and restore procedures on a regular basis to make sure they're working right and to cut down on downtime in case of an outage.
