# PostgreSQL Backup Notes

This note applies to deployments that use the PostgreSQL volume defined by the Compose stack, including the Traefik deployment variant.

## What Needs Backup

At minimum, back up:

- the PostgreSQL data volume
- the deployment env file that contains the database credentials

For the Traefik deployment variant, that usually means:

- the Docker volume `postgres_data`
- `docs/docker-compose-traefik.env`

## Logical Backup

From the repository root, create a SQL dump with:

```bash
./scripts/backup-postgres.sh
```

To write to a specific file:

```bash
./scripts/backup-postgres.sh /path/to/ecospecies-backup.sql
```

## Restore From Logical Backup

Restore a SQL dump with:

```bash
./scripts/restore-postgres.sh /path/to/ecospecies-backup.sql
```

## Volume-Level Backup

If the host backup system can snapshot Docker volumes safely, include the PostgreSQL volume in that schedule. A volume snapshot is useful for full recovery, but a logical dump is still recommended for portability and validation.

## Operational Guidance

- Run backups on a schedule instead of relying on ad hoc dumps.
- Test restore procedures before relying on the backup policy.
- Keep backup artifacts outside the live Docker host when possible.
- The backup and restore scripts default to `docs/docker-compose-traefik.env` and `docs/docker-compose-traefik.yml`, but both can be overridden with `ECOSPECIES_ENV_FILE` and `ECOSPECIES_COMPOSE_FILE`.