Can't restore backup while migrating

Installation
1

Hi there,

I’m trying to migrate from a Raspberry Pi 3 to a Raspberry Pi 4. Here are the details of my current setup:

  • Raspberry Pi 3:

    • Mode: 32-bit
    • Installation Method: Home Assistant OS
    • Core: 2025.10.0
    • Supervisor: 2025.10.0
    • Operating System: 16.2
    • Frontend: 20251001.0
    • Storage: 16GB SD card

  • Raspberry Pi 4:

    • Storage: 64GB SD card

On my old Raspberry Pi, I created a backup (~500MB) and downloaded it to my PC. I then used Raspberry Pi Imager to initialize my new SD card with Home Assistant OS.

In the browser, I visited the new Raspberry Pi’s IP address:8123. I waited for a moment for the initialization process to complete. Then, I attempted to restore the backup.

I uploaded the backup from my old Raspberry Pi, selected the files to restore, entered the decryption key, and waited for the restoration process to complete. After about two hours, I refreshed the page, but it failed to connect. I then restarted the Raspberry Pi and it started again, asking for either setup or restoration.

I tried to restore the backup again and left it overnight. Unfortunately, the same issue occurred today.

I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. Can you please help me migrate from my Raspberry Pi 3 to 4?

2

First, make an unencrypted backup
Second, don’t restore from the onboarding screen. Go through onboarding (create user, etc…)
When HA has started, go to settings → system → backup, 3 dots in the corner, upload backup
refresh the screen, and restore from the freshly uploaded backup

1 Like
3

I’ve updated both Pis to the latest version, 2025.10.2. I attempted to restore the Pis once again during the onboarding process, but it failed. I also tried setting up the Pis with a temporary user pass and home, and restoring the Pi 4 from the backup in settings, but both attempts failed.

I’m unable to find a way to perform an unencrypted backup. Could you please provide instructions or a link to instructions on how to disable encryption? As far as I understand, encryption is now mandatory.

4

Setting → system → backups → configure backups → choose a location, cog wheel, disable encryption

5

Thank you. That worked (using an unencrypted backup even from onboarding).

Why do we have an encrypted backup if it’s not recoverable?

6

First thing I did when setting up automatic backups was turning of encryption. If someone breaks into my network, I have bigger problems then missing encryption.