---
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    content: Diplodoc Platform v5.52.0
alternate:
  - https://ydb.tech/docs/en/recipes/backup-collections/validation-and-testing.md
  - https://ydb.tech/docs/ru/recipes/backup-collections/validation-and-testing.md
  - href: en/recipes/backup-collections/validation-and-testing.md
    type: text/markdown
    title: Markdown version
  - href: ../../llms.txt
    type: text/markdown
    title: llms.txt
sourcePath: en/core/recipes/backup-collections/validation-and-testing.md
---
> **Documentation Index:** Fetch the complete configuration index at https://ydb.tech/docs/en/llms.txt

# Validating and Testing Backups

Verify backup integrity and test restoration procedures.

## Verify backup completion

Check that backup operations completed successfully:

```bash
# List backup operations and check status
ydb operation list incbackup
```

Look for these status values in the output:

| Status | Meaning |
|--------|---------|
| `SUCCESS` | Operation completed successfully |
| `PROGRESS` | Operation is still running |
| `CANCELLED` | Operation was cancelled (currently not applicable — cancel is not yet supported) |
| `ERROR` | Operation failed |

```bash
# Get detailed information about a specific operation
ydb operation get <operation-id>

# Verify backup directory exists
ydb scheme ls .backups/collections/production_backups/ | tail -1
```

If an operation shows `ERROR` status, check the operation details for the error message and verify that all tables in the collection are accessible.

## Verify external exports

Regularly verify that backups can be exported to external storage:

```bash
# Export to S3 and verify
ydb export s3 \
  --s3-endpoint storage.yandexcloud.net \
  --bucket my-backup-bucket \
  --item src=.backups/collections/production_backups/20250821141425Z_full,dst=backups/test_export

# Check export completed successfully
ydb operation list export/s3

# Verify exported data exists in S3 (using your S3 client)
# aws s3 ls s3://my-backup-bucket/backups/test_export/
```

## Test backup restoration

Regularly test that backups can be restored:

```bash
# Export a recent backup for testing
ydb tools dump -p .backups/collections/production_backups/20250601120000Z_full -o /tmp/test_restore

# Test restore to temporary location (in test environment)
ydb tools restore -p /Root/test_restore_verification -i /tmp/test_restore
```

## Validation checklist

- [ ] Backup operations complete without errors
- [ ] Backup directories are created with expected timestamps
- [ ] Exported backups can be imported successfully
- [ ] Restored data matches expected content
- [ ] Incremental chain integrity is maintained

## Recommended testing schedule

| Test Type | Frequency | Description |
|-----------|-----------|-------------|
| Operation status | Daily | Check that scheduled backups complete |
| Export verification | Weekly | Verify exports to external storage |
| Full restore test | Monthly | Complete restore to test environment |
| Disaster recovery drill | Quarterly | Full DR simulation |

## Setting up monitoring and alerts

YDB does not provide built-in backup monitoring or alerting. Implement external monitoring to detect backup failures:

### Example monitoring script {#monitoring-script}

```bash
#!/bin/bash
# Check for failed backup operations
FAILED=$(ydb operation list incbackup --format json | jq '[.operations[] | select(.status == "ERROR")] | length')

if [ "$FAILED" -gt 0 ]; then
  echo "ALERT: $FAILED backup operation(s) failed" | mail -s "YDB Backup Alert" admin@example.com
fi

# Check that a backup was created in the last 24 hours
LATEST=$(ydb scheme ls .backups/collections/production_backups/ | sort | tail -1)
# Add your own logic to parse timestamp and compare with current time
```

### Monitoring recommendations {#monitoring-recommendations}

- Schedule monitoring scripts via cron to run after expected backup times
- Check both operation status (`ERROR`) and that new backups were created
- Integrate with your existing alerting system (email, Slack, PagerDuty, etc.)
- Monitor backup storage growth to avoid running out of space

## Next steps

- [Creating Your First Backup Collection](https://ydb.tech/docs/en/recipes/backup-collections/getting-started.md)
- [Backup Maintenance and Cleanup](https://ydb.tech/docs/en/recipes/backup-collections/maintenance-and-cleanup.md)