Cannot restore from backup

I just did a full backup and attempting to restore the backup on a new install however in the backups section I have no option to restore from backup or import a backup.

Am I missing something?

Thanks

1 Like

Just a stab in the dark, I.E., guessing. Did you turn on Advanced Mode?

Yea I just turned on Advanced mode, same issue.

What type of install are you running?

On HA OS the upload option is located in the overflow menu (three dots icon top right of the backup page).

Once uploaded choose reload from that same menu.

You should then see the backup in the list, which you can click. In the pop up dialogue box the restore option should in the lower left corner.

Im running in Docker. There are no 3 dots.

Thanks

2 Likes

Yeah backups were only added to install methods other than HA OS recently and im not entirely sure how they are used with those methods.

If you are not restoring the backup during onboarding you may need to use the CLI:

https://www.home-assistant.io/common-tasks/os/#creating-backup-using-the-home-assistant-command-line-interface

Did you ever fix your problem?

I have the same issue. I’m trying to move my Rasp Pi instance to my Docker instance. Raspberry Pi version, the list of backups allows me to click on a backup and hit restore. There also are three dots in the upper right. Docker version? If I click on a backup nothing happens and there are no three dots.

Nope, I think I just ended up copy over my entire config files.

Installed all add-ons manually etc and just copied the YAML into the new instalation, configuration, dashboard automations etc

Hey HA team… You might want to DISABLE the backup functionality until you can figure out how to make it work right. No need to give your end users any false hopes. After all, there are posts from over a year ago of people complaining that it doesn’t freaking work!

8 Likes

This.

What a disappointment. How can you not fix such a severe issue? Data loss is the worst possible problem for the system. Offering backups without a working option to restore is a lie. Backups are not a joke.

EDIT (Solution):
My exact problem was, I was running HA with Supervisor on Debian. From supervisor logs I’ve read:

22-11-01 23:38:17 INFO (MainThread) [supervisor.jobs] 'BackupManager.do_restore_full' blocked from execution, system is not healthy - privileged

I’ve managed to push further by a tip from Update of Home assistant or addons failed - system not healthy - #31 by SkyTakes

ha su repair
ha core rebuild
ha host reboot
4 Likes

There is no “false hope”, all the info you need to restore a system is in the backup.

If you can figure out how to run an advanced install method you should know how to copy files - which is all that is required for the restore.

A GUI based restore may be added in future (or it may be too hard to cover all install types, I don’t know). As I said earlier, the functionality to create the backup from install methods other than HAOS was only recently added.

2 Likes

You know, it’s replies like this that turn us users off.

Why does everyone that is using HA need to be a SUPER geek to figure out how to hack their way back to a working install?

A backup/restore should be EASY PEASY. Yet, it’s no where near that. And before you start to hammer away a reply telling me I’m an idiot, go do a search on google for “home assistant backup restore” and read the horror stories. It’s not just me. The USER base is frustrated. Take it as advice - fix it! It doesn’t work as advertised - even one of your own team members has a YouTube video stating it.

Next, I have been on the transition now for nearly 2 weeks. The backup was a total waste. Copy files/folders over didn’t work either. I reinstalled every add on/integration from scratch and then copied all the yaml files over, and that still isn’t working. Something is different from the old system to the new and the best I can find is that a line of code in the configuration.yaml file isn’t compatible with the new install of HA which is preventing HA from ever coming to life.

Perhaps this is the first time you are hearing of such a case. Perhaps no one is crazy enough to labor through this problem to get HA up and running again. Perhaps most people would just opt for a complete rebuild from the ground up and abandon everything on the old device. Perhaps I am doing something wrong. Or maybe not. But telling me I am wrong doesn’t offer me help - it insults me. And many others who read through these boards looking for answers.

As for being recently added, I don’t know what recently is… Considering that I have had google backups running since I started with HA about 3 or 4 years ago. I think that should be plenty of time to ferret out the bugs. And I agree, “covering all the install types” is a problem and going to be HA achilles heel. Hopefully the team can figure out how to create a vanilla, strawberry and chocolate offering to help those who might want to give HA a try. But at the moment, there is no way I would recommend HA to any of my friends out of fear that I would be spending way too much helping them sort through the issues of HA. HA is purely a product for the mature/advanced user.

And final thought, I have seen MASSIVE advancements in recent years. I am glad to see a product that has such an active community. It really is a phenomenal project. But it is simply not for the average user. It still requires a high degree of technical knowledge, and therefore can not be recommended to someone looking for a “set it and forget it” home automation system.

17 Likes

If YOU chose an advanced install method. YOU are expected to be a geek. If you want easy install HAOS.

Backus are easy-peasy for me running HAOS on a NUC. Never had an issue. Takes 10 minutes tops to move or restore my system using nothing but the GUI.

4 Likes

I did this too, reinstall all the addons and copy over each individual YAML to restore my instance.

Not ideal, now I just make sure I take snapshots of my VM on a regular basis.

But I must agree, this does need to be fixed. This is the one and ONLY aspect of HA that i’ve found to be an issue or to not function correctly.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with HA as a platform but this could certainly do with some attention.

1 Like

Thank you for the reply @deanfourie.

Yes I am. There are warnings like this in the docs:

Screenshot 2022-11-02 at 15-55-05 Linux

Also please adjust your combative attitude and have a read of this:

4 Likes

same boat sick of haos dying on me all the time
currently my main install is stuck in a reboot loop

now I can’t even get it to restore from last few backups it just seems to crash mid way
then I have to reinstall haos all over again to get loading page back to try and re import my last backup

trying

ha su repair
ha core rebuild
ha host reboot

and seeing if they will be faster then redoing from scratch yet again (using proxmox for HA)

bash -c "$(wget -qLO - https://github.com/tteck/Proxmox/raw/main/vm/haos-vm-v4.sh)"

home assistant restore backup image command line full backup .tar

is there a terminal command to just restore “Full Backup 2022-11-25 07_42_00.tar” without using that unreliable onboarding html page ?

and fresh install and core is already fked …

Tom,

The other community members in this thread responded the way they did because of the way you acted.

I don’t agree with Backup/Restore options missing simply because a “subtle difference”. When half of the facility is missing that is a major problem. When a HA OS deployment breaks in a remarkable way for some reason it should be able to be restored as quickly as possible.

WordPress’s backup/restore doesn’t disappear/break simply because I decided to deploy it ontop of DirectAdmin instead of cPanel.

I strongly urge you to reconsider your remarks and backdown from the “you chose to be a geek” stance. Totally unprofessional when you are supposed to be a moderator of the forums and in some ways act as the first point of contact between the community and the dev team.

5 Likes

Half the backup is not missing. As already explained above (emphasis mine):

Please don’t twist my words. I was specifically replying to this,

If you want simple choose HA OS.

i do it now from monday … always without working… ./