HA Backup Made in Core 2023.12.3

Installation
1

Hello,

I’ve slacked on updating HA, and have created a new installation of Core 2025.1.2, which works.

I’m trying to use the Backup feature to migrate over all the configuration. So I created a backup in the old instance (Core 2023.12.3), downloaded the backup, shut the old instance down, started up 2025.1.2, and uploaded the backup. The GUI tells me that the backup is not encrypted, but when I try to restore it, I’m told by a prompt that the encryption key used to make the backup is not the same as in the current instance. That would make sense, although it’s confusing why when I look at the backup information, it is described as not encrypted.

Is there a way to locate the encryption key in the 2023.12.3 instance or in its files? I am not finding the ability to get it through the frontend, and I never set a key.

Thank you

2

Hi Dominic, back in 2023 there was no encryption for backups; this is something that has been introduced recently (2025.1)

3

That was my understanding as well. But the 2025.1.2 instance refuses to restore the backup; if I leave the encryption key prompt blank, it refuses to proceed with restoring.

4

I think the only option you have is to access the file system (Samba/SSH) and copy everything over manually.

5

Thanks. That’s what I’m working on now–since I was able to extract the tarball (naturally, it isn’t encrypted).

Do you happen to know whether if I drop the backed-up home-assistant_v2.db into the new installation (with hass shut down, of course), there won’t be a compatibility issue? Not sure if the Backup faciliity does some kind of conversion when needed, or whether the hass process will do that when it starts and encounters the new file.

Dominik

6

TBH I don’t know what would happen for the DB.
I have called for help so you will get an answer soon.

7

Awesome. Since it’s a brand new instance, I’m going to go ahead and drop it in and see what happens. But it would be good to get the info from someone who knows for sure, in case the problems might not manifest until later.

I really appreciate your responses.

8

Yeah, you could just try it and start over since it’s a new installation.

9

Preliminary assessment is GOOD. The hass process took a little bit longer to start up, so it seems like it processed the .db file, and I have basic functionality.

10

The db should be updated to the latest version, like if you did a normal upgrade.

You probably won’t see if it fails, though, a new one would be created. Be sure to check long-term history if you care about it.

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11

Thank you. All of my integrations restored correctly, so I think it was a success.

Pretty magical, actually. And I am very impressed with the “new” (to me) automatic backup facility.

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12

Good you got it solved!

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