How can I restore an older StartOS backup when multiple backups exist?

StartOS Support
1

Hi everyone,

while preparing a question about automated backups, I found Jesse’s excellent guide on automating StartOS backups via start-cli and cron, so that part of my question appears to be answered.

However, I still don’t understand how multiple historical restore points are handled.

I have several older StartOS backup files physically present on my backup storage. When I open the Restore function in StartOS 0.4.0.1, however, I appear to be offered only one backup for my server.

So my questions are:

  1. If several backups of the same StartOS server exist, how can I deliberately restore an older one rather than the most recent one?

  2. Does the Restore interface intentionally show only the newest compatible backup?

  3. Could older backups be hidden because they were created with an earlier StartOS version?

  4. If so, what is the supported procedure for restoring one of those older backups?

My reason for asking is backup rotation: if a problem remains unnoticed for several days, having automated daily backups is useful only if I can intentionally go back to a restore point from before the problem occurred.

Thanks for any clarification.

[created with the help of ChatGPT]

2

Hi @degard,

That “only one backup shown” behavior is by design, not a bug. Backups are differential, not versioned. That means each new backup to the same target overwrites the previous one. To maintain multiple backup points, use multiple backup targets.

So answering your questions directly:

  1. How to restore an older one deliberately: you can’t, from a single target. StartOS only ever keeps the latest backup per target; each new backup overwrites the prior one on that same drive/folder.

  2. Does Restore intentionally show only the newest compatible backup? Yes, because there is only ever one backup present per target (the most recent). It’s not filtering out older ones; older ones are actually gone once overwritten, unless they exist on a separate physical target you haven’t reused.

  3. Are older backups hidden due to version incompatibility? Not in the sense of hiding; but note the recent format change: The backup format changed. New backups are written to a StartOSBackupsV2 folder on the target, replacing the older StartOSBackups (V1) format. If a drive has an old V1-format backup from a previous StartOS version alongside a new V2 one, only the V2 backup is what Restore will use. The V1 leftover is just flagged for cleanup, not offered as a separate restore point.

  4. Supported procedure restoring older backups: there is no documented procedure for restoring from a V1-format backup on 0.4.x as they are likely incompatible.

Hope this helps and please let us know if you have any follow-up questions.

3

Hi Jesse,

thank you very much for the clear and detailed explanation!

That answers my questions and, most importantly, clarifies that the single backup shown per target is the intended behavior.

The distinction between differential backups and versioned backups, as well as the explanation of the V1/V2 format change, was particularly helpful.

I’ll take this into account when planning my backup strategy and use separate backup targets where I need independent restore points.

Cheers,
Mark’

[Created with the help of ChatGPT, finetuned by me.]

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