Configuring Backups to and from Cloud Storage

Backing up your Enterprise Mode or Eon Mode database to a supported cloud storage location requires that you add parameters to your backup configuration file. You can create these backups from your local cluster or from your cloud provider's virtual servers. Some additional configuration is required.

See Additional Considerations for Cloud Storage for information about configuring authentication and encryption.

Creating a Cloud Storage Configuration File (Required for All Database Types)

To back up any cluster to a cloud storage destination, you must add a [CloudStorage] section to your backup configuration file. This section describes the backup location. Vertica also provides a sample cloud storage configuration file that you can copy and edit.

For databases running on-premises, see the additional requirements in the next section.

Backing Up Google Cloud Platform or an On-Premises Database

You must set environment variables to back up an Enterprise Mode or Eon Mode database in the following scenarios:

  • Vertica on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to Google Cloud Storage (GCS).
  • On-premises to either Amazon Web Services (AWS) or another destination that supports the S3 protocol

For backups to GCS, you must have a hash-based message authentication code (HMAC) key that contains an access ID and a secret. See Eon Mode on GCP Prerequisites for instructions on how to create your HMAC key.

For on-premises databases, you must specify your credentials with environment variables. You cannot use other methods of credentialing with cross-endpoint backups.

The following tables describe the required environment variables for each Vertica database mode:

Enterprise and Eon Mode:

Environment Variable Description
VBR_BACKUP_STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY_ID Credentials for your backup location.
VBR_BACKUP_STORAGE_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY Credentials for your backup location.
VBR_BACKUP_STORAGE_ENDPOINT_URL

The endpoint for the on-premises S3 backup location. Include the scheme (http or https).

If the backup location is on AWS or GCS, do not set VBR_BACKUP_STORAGE_ENDPOINT_URL.

Eon Mode only:

Environment Variable Description
VBR_COMMUNAL_STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY_ID Credentials for the communal storage location.
VBR_COMMUNAL_STORAGE_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY Credentials for the communal storage location.
VBR_COMMUNAL_STORAGE_ENDPOINT_URL

The endpoint for your communal storage. Include the scheme (http or https).

If the communal storage location is on GCS, do not set VBR_COMMUNAL_STORAGE_ENDPOINT_URL.

The following is a summary of the environment variables:

# Eon Mode only:		
$ export VBR_COMMUNAL_STORAGE_ENDPOINT_URL=communal_storage_endpoint

# Eon Mode only:
$ export VBR_COMMUNAL_STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY_ID=communal_storage_access_key

# Eon Mode only:
$ export VBR_COMMUNAL_STORAGE_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=communal_storage_secret_key

# For backups to on-premises S3 destinations only:		
$ export VBR_BACKUP_STORAGE_ENDPOINT_URL=backup_storage_endpoint_not_cloud

$ export VBR_BACKUP_STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY_ID=backup_storage_access_key

$ export VBR_BACKUP_STORAGE_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=backup_storage_secret_key