GraphAcademy

Aura In Production

Backup and Restore

Logs and Query Optimization

Monitoring Resources

Monitoring Instance Performance

Monitoring Database Health

Advanced Monitoring

Restore Operations

Introduction

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to perform restore operations using snapshots and backup files, and you’ll understand what restoring data really means for your instance.

When to Restore from Backup

There are several common scenarios that require restoration of your data.

  • Accidental data deletion: User error deleted critical data

  • Corrupted data: Data integrity issues require reverting to a known good state

  • Failed migration: A data migration or schema change caused problems

  • Security incident: Malicious activity compromised data integrity

  • Testing rollback procedures: Validating your disaster recovery plan

Restore Options

You have two primary ways to restore data in Aura:

  1. Restore from snapshot

  2. Restore from backup file

Restoring from a Snapshot

To restore your instance from a snapshot, click on the More menu icon (…) on the instance card and select the Snapshots tab.

Snapshots pane

Restore from a Snapshot

Next to each snapshot you will see an arrow icon Restore from snapshot icon.

Click on the arrow icon to restore the snapshot to overwrite the current instance. You will be asked to confirm the restore operation.

Restore from snapshot confirmation

Restore from a snapshot

Data will be overwritten

Restoring from a snapshot overwrites all data in your instance, replacing it with the data contained in the snapshot.

If you don’t want to overwrite your current data, create a new instance from the snapshot instead. A new instance will be created with the data from the snapshot with its own URI and credentials.

Option 2: Restore from Backup File

Restore from backup file tab

You can use the Restore from backup file tab to upload a previously exported backup file:

Drag and drop your backup file or browse for it:

  • AuraDB instances: .backup file (latest version) or .dump file (version 4.x)

  • AuraDS instances: .tar file

Uploading a local backup

You can also use the neo4j-admin command-line tool to upload a local backup file to your Aura instance.

The command works for databases of any size, as long as they fit within your Aura instance capacity.

To upload a local backup, you need to create a backup or database dump. The following command creates a dump of the neo4j database in the backups directory named neo4j.dump.

bash
Create a dump
bin/neo4j-admin database dump --to-path=./backups neo4j

You will see a similar output to the following:

2025-11-14 11:09:54.468+0000 INFO  [c.n.c.d.EnterpriseDumpCommand] Starting dump of database 'neo4j'
Done: 68 files, 384.2MiB processed in 0.522 seconds.
2025-11-14 11:09:55.754+0000 INFO  [c.n.c.d.EnterpriseDumpCommand] Dump completed successfully

Uploading your backup file

The dump file can be uploaded to your Aura instance using the neo4j-admin database upload command.

bash
$ bin/neo4j-admin database upload \
  --from-path=./backups/ \
  --to-uri=neo4j+s://<instanceid>.databases.neo4j.io \
  --to-user=neo4j \
  --to-password=<your-password> \
  neo4j

The command connects to the Aura instance at <instanceid>.databases.neo4j.io using the credentials provided, and uploads the database to the neo4j database.

Upload output

The command will output the status of the upload process. You can request more detailed information by adding the --verbose flag.

Detected source dump file at: ./backups/neo4j.dump
Successfully authenticated with Aura.
Generating crc32 of archive, this may take some time...
Upload
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Upload completed successfully
We have received your export and it is currently being loaded into your Aura instance.
You can wait here, or abort this command and head over to the console to be notified of when your database is running.
Import progress (estimated)
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Your data was successfully pushed to Aura and is now running.
Dump successfully uploaded to Aura
Your archive at ./backups/neo4j.dump can now be deleted.

The database will appear in a Loading state until the upload is complete. This may take a while to complete depending on the size of the database.

You can read more about backup and restore operations in the Neo4j Operations Manual.

Check your understanding

Understanding Restore Operations

What happens when you restore an Aura instance from a snapshot or backup file?

  • ❏ The new data is merged with existing data in the instance

  • ✓ All existing data is overwritten and replaced with the snapshot/backup data

  • ❏ Only deleted data is restored, existing data remains unchanged

  • ❏ The restore creates a new instance automatically to preserve existing data

Hint

Consider what the lesson says about data preservation during restore operations and the warnings provided.

Solution

All existing data is overwritten and replaced with the snapshot/backup data is correct.

Both restore operations - restoring from a snapshot and uploading a backup file - completely overwrite all data in your instance.

This means:

  • Your current data is completely replaced

  • You cannot undo this operation

  • You should create a new instance instead if you need to preserve existing data

Best practice: If you’re uncertain about losing current data, create a new instance from the snapshot instead of restoring to an existing instance. This preserves your current data while giving you access to the snapshot data.

Restoring from Local Instance

You have a local Neo4j database running in Neo4j Desktop with a dump file located at ./backups/neo4j.dump.

Which neo4j-admin command would you use to upload this dump to your Aura instance?

  • ❏ neo4j-admin backup restore

  • ✓ neo4j-admin database upload

  • ❏ neo4j-admin restore

  • ❏ neo4j-admin upload database

Hint

The command should include both the action (upload) and the resource type (database) in its structure.

Solution

The correct answer is neo4j-admin database upload.

The neo4j-admin database upload command is specifically designed to upload local database dumps to Aura instances.

The command:

  • Authenticates with your Aura instance using the provided credentials

  • Uploads the dump file from the local --from-path

  • Imports the data into your Aura instance at the --to-uri

  • Works with databases of any size (as long as they fit within your instance capacity)

Summary

Understanding your restore options is critical for effective disaster recovery planning.

Key concepts:

  • Restoring from snapshot: Fast, convenient, directly available in the Aura console - ideal for reverting to a recent state

  • Restoring from backup file: Useful for migrating data or restoring from offline backups - supports .backup, .dump, and .tar formats

  • neo4j-admin upload: Command-line tool for uploading local database dumps to Aura instances

  • Data overwrite: All restore operations overwrite existing data - create a new instance if you need to preserve current data

Always test your restore procedures regularly and understand the data loss implications before executing a restore.

In the next module, you will learn how to access the logs available in Aura.

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