Restores

HetGuard can restore all three backup types directly from the dashboard — no manual file transfers or command-line work required. Every restore is logged with live status and output you can monitor as it runs.

Restore Types

Snapshot restore — triggers a Hetzner server rebuild from a snapshot. The server is wiped and rebuilt to the exact state at the time the snapshot was taken.
Volume restore — streams a backup archive from storage back to your server via SSH and extracts it to a target directory.
Database restore — streams a backup dump from storage to your server via SSH and imports it into a database with psql or mysql.

Restores are never retried automatically. Each restore runs exactly once. If a restore fails you can review the log output and trigger a new restore manually.

Snapshot Restore

A snapshot restore triggers a Hetzner rebuild action — the server's disk is completely wiped and replaced with the snapshot image. The server will be offline during the rebuild.

How to trigger a snapshot restore

1

Open Snapshots
Click Snapshots in the sidebar. Snapshots that were created by a HetGuard backup job and are still available will show a Restore button.
2

Click Restore
An inline confirmation warning appears explaining that the server will be wiped. Read it carefully.
3

Confirm
Click Yes, restore to proceed. HetGuard queues the restore and redirects you to the restore detail page.

Snapshot restores permanently destroy all data currently on the server. Any changes made since the snapshot was taken will be lost. There is no undo.

Volume Restore

A volume restore streams the backup archive from storage to your server via SSH and extracts it using tar. You can restore to the original path or to a new directory.

How to trigger a volume restore

1

Open the job detail page
Click the schedule on the Schedules page. Successful volume backup runs will show a Restore button in the actions column.
2

Choose a restore mode
Select Restore to original path to overwrite the existing directory, or Restore to new path and enter an absolute path for a new destination.
3

Confirm and restore
If overwriting, a red warning appears. Confirm to proceed. HetGuard queues the restore and redirects you to the restore detail page.

When restoring to a new path, the target directory is created automatically if it does not already exist.

Database Restore

A database restore streams the compressed dump from storage to your server via SSH and imports it using psql (PostgreSQL) or mysql (MySQL/MariaDB). You can restore into the existing database or into a new database.

How to trigger a database restore

1

Open the job detail page
Click the schedule. Successful database backup runs show a Restore button in the actions column.
2

Choose a restore mode
Select Restore to original database to import into the existing database, or Restore to new database and enter a new database name.
3

Confirm and restore
Confirm the restore. If restoring to a new database, HetGuard creates it first before importing the dump. You are redirected to the restore detail page.

Restoring into an existing database imports the dump on top of the current data. Depending on the dump format, this may result in duplicate or conflicting rows. Use Restore to new database if you want to keep the current data intact.

Restore History

All restores appear in the Restores section of the sidebar. The list shows the type, target, mode, duration, and status of every restore you have triggered.

Click any restore to open the detail page, which shows:

Status badge — Pending, Running, Success, or Failed
Metadata — job name, backup date, restore target, and duration
Live log output — updates every 5 seconds while the restore is running
Error message — shown if the restore failed, with details from the server

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