¶ Backup and Restore
Before and after making changes to your hub (adding or removing devices; adding, removing, or significantly changing an app/automation, etc.), it is a good idea to save a manual backup to your computer or the cloud. It is also a good idea to download a backup before performing a platform version upgrade. This can be done on the Settings > Backup and Restore page.
¶ Back Up Your Hub
Some users will see two tabs on this page, Local Backup and Cloud Backup. You will see both options only if you are a Hub Protect subscriber, which offers optional cloud backups. All users can perform local backups; see below for more information on each, including the differences between them.
¶ Local Backup
Your Hubitat Elevation hub automatically generates a local backup on every successful reboot and overnight shortly after 3 AM (local time) daily by default, unless a recent backup is already present or this schedule is changed (on this page). These backups are stored on the hub for at least 5 days.
You are able to generate a new local backup at any time.
¶ To create and download a new local backup:
- Navigate to the Settings > Backup and Restore page.
- If you see Local Backup and Cloud Backup at the top, ensure Local Backup is selected.
- Select Create and download to create a new local backup and save the file to your computer.
¶ To view existing backups:
- Navigate to the Settings > Backup and Restore page.
- Select the all backups or this hub's backups only link at the top to show all backups (C-8 users may also see a "migration ready backups" link, which will show cloud backups that can be used for migrating to a C-8 from an older huub model):
- All local backups from this hub and any cloud backups associated with your My Hubitat account will be displayed in the list.
¶ To download an existing backup:
- Perform the steps above to show view the list of all existing backups.
- Select the download icon, , in the Actions column for the row corresponding to your desired backup.
- Your browser should either being downloading the file immediately or prompt you to begin the download.
¶ Notes on local backups:
- Local backup includes the hub database only (settings, apps, device list, etc.). It does not backup files you have uploaded to your hub with File Manager. Please be sure you backup these files manually if needed.
- Local backup includes the device list but not the contents of the Z-Wave radio or Zigbee pairings. These devices will need to be re-paired if the backup is restored to a different hub or the corresponding radio is reset. (This is not part of a soft reset and will only happen if you reset the radios manually.)
- You may backup and restore files from a local backup anytime, but manual and automatic backup to the Hubitat cloud, including restore from cloud backup and Z-Wave radio migration, requires a Hub Protect subscription.
- You can change the time and frequency of automatic local backups on this page
¶ Cloud Backup
With a Hub Protect subscription, you may set the time for when database maintenance and backup to the cloud will occur.
¶ To do create and download a new local backup:
- Navigate to the Settings > Backup and Restore page.
- Ensure the Cloud Backup option at the top is selected (you will not see this option without a Hub Protect subscription):
- Select Back up now to create a new backup and automatically save it to the cloud.
¶ To view existing backups:
- Navigate to the Settings > Backup and Restore page.
- Select the all backups or this hub's backups only link at the top to show all backups:
- All local backups from this hub and any cloud backups associated with your My Hubitat account will be displayed in the list. Cloud backups can be identified by "cloud" in the Type column, with the hub name (as set in Settings > Hub Details) appearing in the Hub column.
¶ Notes on cloud backups:
- Cloud backups include the hub database plus Z-Wave radio contents. As of the most recent hub platform version, File Manager contents are also included, subject to a 100 MB limit. It is recommended to back up these files manually regardless but is necessary (if you want to restore them) if you exceed this limit.
- You may backup and restore files from a local backup anytime, but manual and automatic backup to the Hubitat cloud, including restore from cloud backup and Z-Wave radio migration, requires a Hub Protect subscription.
- You can change the time and frequency of automatic local backups on this page
- You can change the time and frequency of automatic cloud backups on this page (the time for daily maintenance and possible backup is shared with local backups, but the frequency of backups can be changed separately for each)
¶ How to Restore from a Backup
If you have made changes to your hub and want to go back to a previous saved backup, Hubitat Elevation makes it easy.
- Navigate to the Settings > Backup and Restore page.
- Select the all backups or this hub's backups only link at the top to show all backups:
- To restore from a local backup saved to the hub or a cloud backup (if applicable), find the corresponding backup in the list and select the Restore icon:
- for cloud backups only, you will be offered to restore Z-Wave radio and File Manager contents; choose you desired options
- note that any restore will, at minimum, overwrite your existing hub database; the contents of two hubs cannot be "merged"
- Alternatively, to restore a local backup previously download to your computer, locate the Upload local backup and restore to hub card (you may need to scroll down), select Browse... and choose the desired file, then select Restore File....
¶ How to restore the hub Platform to a previous version
If you want to restore the hub platform to a previous version, use the Hubitat Diagnostic Tool.
Hub backups include only your hub database (and optionally other contents in certain circumstances, as described above). Backups filenames are labeled with the firmware version they were created on for reference (in some cases, files created with newer platform versions cannot be restored to hubs with older platform versions; the release notes will generally note this). Restoring a backup will not change the hub platform version.
NOTE: The Diagnostic Tool can also be used to download a hub backup if the regular hub interface is not accessible for any reason.