Creating Backup from TeamCity Web UI

TeamCity allows creating a backup of TeamCity data via the Web UI. To create a backup file, navigate to the Administration | Backup page, specify backup parameters as described below, and start the backup process.

Option	Description
Backup file	Specify the name for the backup file, the extention (.zip) will be added automatically. By default, TeamCity will store the backup file in the `<` `>/backup` folder. For security reasons you cannot explicitly change this path in the UI. To modify this setting, specify an absolute or relative path (the path should be relative to TeamCity Data Directory) in the `<` `>/config/backup-config.xml` file. For example: <backup-settings> ... <general> <backup-dir path="C:/TC-Backups"/> </general> ... </backup-settings>
add timestamp suffix	Check this option to automatically add time stamp suffix to the specified filename. This may be useful to differentiate your backup files, if you don't clean up old backups. If the directory where backup files are stored already contains a file with the name specified above, TeamCity won't run backup - you will need either to specify another name, or enable time stamp suffix option, which allows to avoid this. Time stamp suffix has specific format: sorting backup files alphabetically will also sort them chronologically.
Backup scope	Specify what kind of data you want to back up. The contents of the backup file depending on the scope is described right in the UI when you select a scope. Note that the size of the backup file and the time the backup process will take depends on the scope you select. To reduce the resulting file size and the time spent on the backup, select the "basic" scope, which includes server settings, projects and builds configurations, plugins and database. However, you'll be able to restore only the settings which were backed up. For the full backup suitable for most of the needs, it is recommended to use the Custom scope with all the items selected except for "build logs" and then backup the < TeamCity Data Directory>/system/artifacts location as a usual file system. Build artifacts are not included into the backup due to their size. It is recommended to either backup the artifacts directories separately or use a redundant storage for the artifacts. Build logs are stored as a part of build artifacts, so there is no need to backup the build logs if you implement a separate backup of the artifacts locations.

Option

Description

Backup file

Specify the name for the backup file, the extention (.zip) will be added automatically. By default, TeamCity will store the backup file in the < >/backup folder. For security reasons you cannot explicitly change this path in the UI. To modify this setting, specify an absolute or relative path (the path should be relative to TeamCity Data Directory) in the < >/config/backup-config.xml file. For example:

<backup-settings>
  ...
  <general>
    <backup-dir path="C:/TC-Backups"/>
  </general>
  ...
</backup-settings>

add timestamp suffix

Check this option to automatically add time stamp suffix to the specified filename. This may be useful to differentiate your backup files, if you don't clean up old backups.

If the directory where backup files are stored already contains a file with the name specified above, TeamCity won't run backup - you will need either to specify another name, or enable time stamp suffix option, which allows to avoid this.
Time stamp suffix has specific format: sorting backup files alphabetically will also sort them chronologically.

Backup scope

Specify what kind of data you want to back up. The contents of the backup file depending on the scope is described right in the UI when you select a scope. Note that the size of the backup file and the time the backup process will take depends on the scope you select.

To reduce the resulting file size and the time spent on the backup, select the "basic" scope, which includes server settings, projects and builds configurations, plugins and database. However, you'll be able to restore only the settings which were backed up.

For the full backup suitable for most of the needs, it is recommended to use the Custom scope with all the items selected except for "build logs" and then backup the < TeamCity Data Directory>/system/artifacts location as a usual file system.

Build artifacts are not included into the backup due to their size. It is recommended to either backup the artifacts directories separately or use a redundant storage for the artifacts. Build logs are stored as a part of build artifacts, so there is no need to backup the build logs if you implement a separate backup of the artifacts locations.

When you start backup, TeamCity will display its status and details of the current process including progress and estimates.

Important notes

Running and queued builds are not included into a backup created during server running. To include these builds, consider using the different backup approach when the server is not running.
The backup process takes time that depends on how many builds there are in the system. During this process the system's state can change, e.g. some builds may finish, other builds that were waiting in the build queue may start, new builds may appear in the build queue, etc. Note, that these changes will not influence the backup. TeamCity will backup only the data actual by the time the backup process was started.
The resulting backup file is a*.zip archive which has a specific structure that does not depend on the OS or database type you use. Thus, you can use the backup file to restore your data even on a different Operating System, or with a different database. If you change the contents of this file manually, TeamCity will not be able to restore your data.

Backup History

The History tab of the Administration | Backup page allows reviewing the list of created backup files, their size and date when the files were created.

Note that only backup files created from web UI are shown here. Backups created with the utility are not displayed on the History tab.

Last modified: 20 April 2023