---
title: "Backup API Type"
layout: docs
---

## Use

The `Backup` API type is used as a request for the Ark Server to perform a backup. Once created, the
Ark Server immediately starts the backup process.

## API GroupVersion

Backup belongs to the API group version `ark.heptio.com/v1`.

## Definition

Here is a sample `Backup` object with each of the fields documented:

```yaml
# Standard Kubernetes API Version declaration. Required.
apiVersion: ark.heptio.com/v1
# Standard Kubernetes Kind declaration. Required.
kind: Backup
# Standard Kubernetes metadata. Required.
metadata:
  # Backup name. May be any valid Kubernetes object name. Required.
  name: a
  # Backup namespace. Required. In version 0.7.0 and later, can be any string. Must be the namespace of the Ark server.
  namespace: heptio-ark
# Parameters about the backup. Required.
spec:
  # Array of namespaces to include in the backup. If unspecified, all namespaces are included.
  # Optional.
  includedNamespaces:
  - '*'
  # Array of namespaces to exclude from the backup. Optional.
  excludedNamespaces:
  - some-namespace
  # Array of resources to include in the backup. Resources may be shortcuts (e.g. 'po' for 'pods')
  # or fully-qualified. If unspecified, all resources are included. Optional.
  includedResources:
  - '*'
  # Array of resources to exclude from the backup. Resources may be shortcuts (e.g. 'po' for 'pods')
  # or fully-qualified. Optional.
  excludedResources:
  - storageclasses.storage.k8s.io
  # Whether or not to include cluster-scoped resources. Valid values are true, false, and
  # null/unset. If true, all cluster-scoped resources are included (subject to included/excluded
  # resources and the label selector). If false, no cluster-scoped resources are included. If unset,
  # all cluster-scoped resources are included if and only if all namespaces are included and there are
  # no excluded namespaces. Otherwise, if there is at least one namespace specified in either
  # includedNamespaces or excludedNamespaces, then the only cluster-scoped resources that are backed
  # up are those associated with namespace-scoped resources included in the backup. For example, if a
  # PersistentVolumeClaim is included in the backup, its associated PersistentVolume (which is
  # cluster-scoped) would also be backed up.
  includeClusterResources: null
  # Individual objects must match this label selector to be included in the backup. Optional.
  labelSelector:
    matchLabels:
      app: ark
      component: server
  # Whether or not to snapshot volumes. This only applies to PersistentVolumes for Azure, GCE, and
  # AWS. Valid values are true, false, and null/unset. If unset, Ark performs snapshots as long as
  # a persistent volume provider is configured for Ark.
  snapshotVolumes: null
  # The amount of time before this backup is eligible for garbage collection.
  ttl: 24h0m0s
  # Actions to perform at different times during a backup. The only hook currently supported is
  # executing a command in a container in a pod using the pod exec API. Optional.
  hooks:
    # Array of hooks that are applicable to specific resources. Optional.
    resources:
      -
        # Name of the hook. Will be displayed in backup log.
        name: my-hook
        # Array of namespaces to which this hook applies. If unspecified, the hook applies to all
        # namespaces. Optional.
        includedNamespaces:
        - '*'
        # Array of namespaces to which this hook does not apply. Optional.
        excludedNamespaces:
        - some-namespace
        # Array of resources to which this hook applies. The only resource supported at this time is
        # pods.
        includedResources:
        - pods
        # Array of resources to which this hook does not apply. Optional.
        excludedResources: []
        # This hook only applies to objects matching this label selector. Optional.
        labelSelector:
          matchLabels:
            app: ark
            component: server
        # An array of hooks to run before executing custom actions. Currently only "exec" hooks are supported.
        # DEPRECATED. Use pre instead.
        hooks:
          # Same content as pre below.
        # An array of hooks to run before executing custom actions. Currently only "exec" hooks are supported.
        pre:
          - 
            # The type of hook. This must be "exec".
            exec:
              # The name of the container where the command will be executed. If unspecified, the
              # first container in the pod will be used. Optional.
              container: my-container
              # The command to execute, specified as an array. Required.
              command:
                - /bin/uname
                - -a
              # How to handle an error executing the command. Valid values are Fail and Continue.
              # Defaults to Fail. Optional.
              onError: Fail
              # How long to wait for the command to finish executing. Defaults to 30 seconds. Optional.
              timeout: 10s
        # An array of hooks to run after all custom actions and additional items have been
        # processed. Currently only "exec" hooks are supported.
        post:
          # Same content as pre above.
# Status about the Backup. Users should not set any data here.
status:
  # The date and time when the Backup is eligible for garbage collection.
  expiration: null
  # The current phase. Valid values are New, FailedValidation, InProgress, Completed, Failed.
  phase: ""
  # An array of any validation errors encountered.
  validationErrors: null
  # The version of this Backup. The only version currently supported is 1.
  version: 1
  # Information about PersistentVolumes needed during restores.
  volumeBackups:
    # Each key is the name of a PersistentVolume.
    some-pv-name:
      # The ID used by the cloud provider for the snapshot created for this Backup.
      snapshotID: snap-1234
      # The type of the volume in the cloud provider API.
      type: io1
      # The availability zone where the volume resides in the cloud provider.
      availabilityZone: my-zone
      # The amount of provisioned IOPS for the volume. Optional.
      iops: 10000
```
