What does Portainer's backup include?

Portainer's backup includes the Portainer database as well as any stack files that were deployed using Portainer. The backup does not include your environment's containers or their data. The data stored is intended to bring Portainer's configuration back into a known-good state, not the containers that it manages.

The backup contains records which cover configuration, metadata, access control, and feature state. This includes:

Core configuration and system state

Settings and version information
License data
SSL certificates
Snapshot metadata
S3 backup settings

Users, teams, and access control

API keys
Users and roles
Teams and team memberships
User endpoint authorizations
Resource controls

Environments and connectivity

Environments and environment groups
Environment relationships
Tunnel server configuration
Edge infrastructure metadata

Stacks and deployment metadata

Edge stack status, logs and update schedules
Stack definitions created in Portainer
Stack-related schedules and pending actions
Webhooks associated with stacks

Edge features

Edge groups and jobs
Edge configurations and configuration state
Edge async commands

Policies and enforcement

Policies and policy chart statuses
Enforcement configuration
Pod security settings
Alert rules and alert managers

Integrations and credentials

Registry definitions
Docker Hub configuration
Git credentials
Cloud credentials and cloud provisioning data
Helm user repositories
Custom templates

Automation and scheduling

Auto update configuration
Schedules
Pending actions

What is not included in a Portainer backup?

Portainer backups do not include:

Containers, images or volumes
Application data stored in volumes or bind mounts
Docker or Kubernetes configuration outside of Portainer’s own database