Backups in an OpenSearch cluster

Last update: July 28 2026

OpenSearch Managed Databases automatically create index backups. You do not need to configure or monitor backups yourself.

The built-in OpenSearch snapshot mechanism is used to create index backups. A snapshot is a copy of the current state of indices and their data. Learn more about the snapshot mechanism in the Take and restore snapshots section of the OpenSearch documentation.

Backups are created incrementally:

• the first backup contains a full copy of all data;
• all subsequent backups contain only the changes since the previous successful backup.

You can restore indices from backups only in the cluster where they were created. After a cluster is deleted, index backups are not stored. You cannot restore a cluster or create a new one from backups of a deleted cluster.

Backups are stored in isolation from other users' backups.

Backups cannot be downloaded. Automatic backup creation cannot be disabled.

Backup schedule

Index backups are created every 30 minutes.

Backup retention period

Index backups are stored for 7 days.

Restore indexes from a backup

You can restore indices from backups via the OpenSearch API or the OpenSearch Dashboards web interface. You cannot restore system indices that contain global state and cluster settings, for example .opendistro_security.

OpenSearch API

1. Get the date and time of the backup from which you want to restore indices. To do this, list the existing backups:

   curl -XGET -u 'admin:<password>' \
   --cacert ~/.opensearch/root.crt \
   'https://<ip_address>:<port>/_cat/snapshots/dbaas-repo'

   Specify:

   • <password> — administrator password;
   • <ip_address> — node IP address;
   • <port> — connection port.

   A list of backups will appear in the response. Copy the date and time of the backup creation from the backup name; they are specified in the yyyymmdd-hh-mm format. For example:

   dbaas-snapshot-20250928-09-48 SUCCESS 1759052881 09:48:01 1759052883 09:48:03  1.8s 5 5 0 5
   dbaas-snapshot-20250928-10-18 SUCCESS 1759054681 10:18:01 1759054682 10:18:02 600ms 5 5 0 5
   dbaas-snapshot-20250928-10-48 SUCCESS 1759056481 10:48:01 1759056482 10:48:02 600ms 5 5 0 5

   Here 20250928-09-48, 20250928-10-18 and 20250928-10-48 are the date and time the backups were created.

2. Get the names of the indices you want to restore. To do this, get information about the backup:

   curl -XGET -u 'admin:<password>' \
   --cacert ~/.opensearch/root.crt \
   'https://<ip_address>:<port>/_snapshot/dbaas-repo/dbaas-snapshot-<timestamp>?pretty'

   Specify:

   • <password> — administrator password;
   • <ip_address> — node IP address;
   • <port> — connection port;
   • <timestamp> — date and time of the backup provided in step 1.

   In the indices field, copy the names of the indexes to restore.

3. Check if there are any open indices in the cluster with the same names as the ones you want to restore. To do this, list all open indices:

   curl -XGET -u 'admin:<password>' \
   --cacert ~/.opensearch/root.crt \
   'https://<ip_address>:<port>/_cat/indices?v&h=index,health,status,docs.count,store.size&s=index&expand_wildcards=open,hidden'

   Specify:

   • <password> — administrator password;
   • <ip_address> — node IP address;
   • <port> — connection port.

   Index names will be specified in the index field.

4. If there are already open indices in the cluster with the same names as the ones you want to restore, delete them. You cannot duplicate open index names in an OpenSearch cluster.

   curl -XDELETE -u 'admin:<password>' \
   --cacert ~/.opensearch/root.crt \
   'https://<ip_address>:<port>/<index>'

   Specify:

   • <password> — administrator password;
   • <ip_address> — node IP address;
   • <port> — connection port;
   • <index> — name of the index to delete. If you need to specify multiple indices, separate them with a comma.

5. Restore indexes:

   curl -XPOST -u 'admin:<password>' --cacert ~/.opensearch/root.crt 'https://<ip_address>:<port>/_snapshot/dbaas-repo/dbaas-snapshot-<timestamp>/_restore' \
   -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
   -d '{
       "indices": "<index>",
       "include_global_state": false
       }'

   Specify:

   • <password> — administrator password;
   • <ip_address> — node IP address;
   • <port> — connection port;
   • <timestamp> — date and time of the backup provided in step 1; ;
   • <index> — name of the index to restore. If you need to specify multiple indices, separate them with a comma.

OpenSearch Dashboards

For your information

To restore indexes via the OpenSearch Dashboards web interface, a public IP address must be attached to the node group with the Dashboard role.

1. In the Dashboard, on the top menu, click Products and select Managed Databases.

2. Open the Active tab.

3. Open the database cluster page.

4. In the cluster menu, select Dashboards.

5. In the Username field, enter the administrator username — admin.

6. In the Password field, enter the password set when creating the cluster. After the cluster is created, you cannot view the password in the Control Panel, but you can change it.

7. Click Log in.

8. In the top-left corner of the OpenSearch Dashboards web interface, open the menu and select Snapshot Management → Snapshots → tab Snapshots.

9. Select the backup from which you want to restore indexes.

10. Click Restore.

11. In the Specify restore option field, select Restore specific indexes.

12. Select the indexes you want to restore.

13. In the Rename restored indices field, select a rule for naming the restored indices:

    • Do not rename — do not change index names during restoration. Use this rule only if there are no open indices in the cluster with the same names — you cannot duplicate open index names in OpenSearch;
    • Add prefix to restored index names — add a prefix to the names of the restored indices;
    • Rename using regular expression (Advanced) — rename indices using a regular expression.

14. In the Advanced options block,

    • clear the Restore cluster state from snapshots checkbox;
    • optional: select additional parameters. Learn more about additional parameters for restoring indices in the Take and restore snapshots section of the OpenSearch documentation.

15. Click Restore snapshot.