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All your data — pages, tasks, users, test cases, automations, and settings — is stored in a single database. Backing up Collabase means backing up that database.
Run daily backups for any production deployment. Store backup files off-server — on a network share, cloud storage, or another remote location — so that a server failure does not destroy your backups along with your data.

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Automatic backups (on every update)

Every time you run update.sh, a backup is created automatically before the update begins. Backups are saved to deployment/backups/ on your server.

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Creating a backup manually

Run the following command on your server to create a backup: 
docker exec collabase-postgres pg_dump -U collabase collabase | \
  gzip > "backup-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).sql.gz"
This creates a compressed backup file in your current directory.

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Scheduling automatic backups

For production systems, set up a daily automated backup. Add this to your server’s cron jobs (crontab -e): 
0 2 * * * docker exec collabase-postgres pg_dump -U collabase collabase | \
  gzip > /backups/collabase-$(date +\%Y\%m\%d).sql.gz && \
  find /backups -name "collabase-*.sql.gz" -mtime +30 -delete
This runs daily at 2:00 AM and keeps backups for 30 days.

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Restoring from a backup

Restoring overwrites all current data. Only do this if you intend to roll back to a previous state.
# 1. Stop the application (keep the database running)
docker compose -f deployment/docker-compose.release.yml stop collabase-app

# 2. Restore the backup
gunzip -c backup-20260101-120000.sql.gz | \
  docker exec -i collabase-postgres psql -U collabase collabase

# 3. Start the application again
docker compose -f deployment/docker-compose.release.yml start collabase-app

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Copying backups off-server

Always store backups in a second location. Some options: 
docker exec collabase-postgres pg_dump -U collabase collabase | \
  gzip | aws s3 cp - s3://your-bucket/collabase-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz
Mount your NAS share on the server and write backups directly to the mount point.
rsync -az /backups/collabase-$(date +%Y%m%d).sql.gz user@backup-server:/backups/

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Recovering deleted pages and Spaces

If a page or Space was accidentally deleted, it may still be in the trash. Go to Admin → Backup to view and restore recently deleted pages and Spaces before they are permanently removed.

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Backup checklist

TaskFrequency
Database backupDaily
Copy to off-server storageDaily
Test a restoreMonthly