SQL Dump (Export)

On this page

Warning:

As of November 10, 2018, CockroachDB v1.0 is no longer supported. For more details, refer to the Release Support Policy.

The cockroach dump command outputs the SQL statements required to recreate one or more tables and all their rows (also known as a dump). This command can be used to back up or export each database in a cluster. The output should also be suitable for importing into other relational databases, with minimal adjustments.

Tip:

CockroachDB enterprise license users can also back up their cluster's data using BACKUP.

When cockroach dump is executed:

Table schemas and data are dumped as they appeared at the time that the command is started. Any changes after the command starts will not be included in the dump.
If the dump takes longer than the ttlseconds replication setting for the table (24 hours by default), the dump may fail.
Reads, writes, and schema changes can happen while the dump is in progress, but will not affect the output of the dump.

Note:

The user must have the SELECT privilege on the target table(s).

Synopsis

# Dump the schemas and data of specific tables to stdout:
$ cockroach dump <database> <table> <table...> <flags>

# Dump just the data of specific tables to stdout:
$ cockroach dump <database> <table> <table...> --dump-mode=data <other flags>

# Dump just the schemas of specific tables to stdout:
$ cockroach dump <database> <table> <table...> --dump-mode=schema <other flags>

# Dump the schemas and data of all tables in a database to stdout:
$ cockroach dump <database> <flags>

# Dump just the schemas of all tables in a database to stdout:
$ cockroach dump <database> --dump-mode=schema <other flags>

# Dump just the data of all tables in a database to stdout:
$ cockroach dump <database> --dump-mode=data <other flags>

# Dump to a file:
$ cockroach dump <database> <table> <flags> > dump-file.sql

# View help:
$ cockroach dump --help

Flags

The dump command supports the following general-use and logging flags.

General

Flag	Description
`--as-of`	Dump table schemas and/or data as they appear at the specified timestamp. See this example for a demonstration. Note that historical data is available only within the garbage collection window, which is determined by the `ttlseconds` replication setting for the table (24 hours by default). If this timestamp is earlier than that window, the dump will fail. Default: Current time
`--certs-dir`	The path to the certificate directory. The directory must contain valid certificates if running in secure mode. Env Variable: `COCKROACH_CERTS_DIR` Default: `${HOME}/.cockroach-certs/`
`--dump-mode`	Whether to dump table schemas, table data, or both. To dump just table schemas, set this to `schema`. To dump just table data, set this to `data`. To dump both table schemas and data, leave this flag out or set it to `both`. Table and view schemas are ordered alphabetically by name. This is not always an ordering in which the tables and views can be successfully recreated. Also, the schemas of views are dumped incorrectly as `CREATE TABLE` statements, and attempting to dump the data of a view results in an error. For more details and workarounds, see the corresponding known limitations. Note that these limitations have been resolved in v1.1. Default: `both`
`--host`	The server host to connect to. This can be the address of any node in the cluster. Env Variable: `COCKROACH_HOST` Default: `localhost`
`--insecure`	Run in insecure mode. If this flag is not set, the `--certs-dir` flag must point to valid certificates. Env Variable: `COCKROACH_INSECURE` Default: `false`
`--port` `-p`	The server port to connect to. Env Variable: `COCKROACH_PORT` Default: `26257`
`--url`	The connection URL. If you use this flag, do not set any other connection flags. For insecure connections, the URL format is: `--url=postgresql://<user>@<host>:<port>/<database>?sslmode=disable` For secure connections, the URL format is: `--url=postgresql://<user>@<host>:<port>/<database>` with the following parameters in the query string: `sslcert=<path-to-client-crt>` `sslkey=<path-to-client-key>` `sslmode=verify-full` `sslrootcert=<path-to-ca-crt>` Env Variable: `COCKROACH_URL`
`--user` `-u`	The user executing the `dump` command. The user must have the `SELECT` privilege on the target table. Default: `root`

Logging

By default, the dump command logs errors to stderr.

If you need to troubleshoot this command's behavior, you can change its logging behavior.

Examples

Note:

These examples use our sample startrek database, which you can add to a cluster via the cockroach gen command. Also, the examples assume that the maxroach user has been granted the SELECT privilege on all target tables.

Dump a table's schema and data

$ cockroach dump startrek episodes --insecure --user=maxroach > backup.sql

$ cat backup.sql

CREATE TABLE episodes (
    id INT NOT NULL,
    season INT NULL,
    num INT NULL,
    title STRING NULL,
    stardate DECIMAL NULL,
    CONSTRAINT "primary" PRIMARY KEY (id),
    FAMILY "primary" (id, season, num),
    FAMILY fam_1_title (title),
    FAMILY fam_2_stardate (stardate)
);

INSERT INTO episodes (id, season, num, title, stardate) VALUES
    (1, 1, 1, 'The Man Trap', 1531.1),
    (2, 1, 2, 'Charlie X', 1533.6),
    (3, 1, 3, 'Where No Man Has Gone Before', 1312.4),
    (4, 1, 4, 'The Naked Time', 1704.2),
    (5, 1, 5, 'The Enemy Within', 1672.1),
    (6, 1, 6, e'Mudd\'s Women', 1329.8),
    (7, 1, 7, 'What Are Little Girls Made Of?', 2712.4),
    (8, 1, 8, 'Miri', 2713.5),
    (9, 1, 9, 'Dagger of the Mind', 2715.1),
    (10, 1, 10, 'The Corbomite Maneuver', 1512.2),
    ...

Dump just a table's schema

$ cockroach dump startrek episodes --insecure --user=maxroach --dump-mode=schema > backup.sql

$ cat backup.sql

CREATE TABLE episodes (
    id INT NOT NULL,
    season INT NULL,
    num INT NULL,
    title STRING NULL,
    stardate DECIMAL NULL,
    CONSTRAINT "primary" PRIMARY KEY (id),
    FAMILY "primary" (id, season, num),
    FAMILY fam_1_title (title),
    FAMILY fam_2_stardate (stardate)
);

Dump just a table's data

$ cockroach dump startrek episodes --insecure --user=maxroach --dump-mode=data > backup.sql

$ cat backup.sql

INSERT INTO episodes (id, season, num, title, stardate) VALUES
    (1, 1, 1, 'The Man Trap', 1531.1),
    (2, 1, 2, 'Charlie X', 1533.6),
    (3, 1, 3, 'Where No Man Has Gone Before', 1312.4),
    (4, 1, 4, 'The Naked Time', 1704.2),
    (5, 1, 5, 'The Enemy Within', 1672.1),
    (6, 1, 6, e'Mudd\'s Women', 1329.8),
    (7, 1, 7, 'What Are Little Girls Made Of?', 2712.4),
    (8, 1, 8, 'Miri', 2713.5),
    (9, 1, 9, 'Dagger of the Mind', 2715.1),
    (10, 1, 10, 'The Corbomite Maneuver', 1512.2),
    ...

Dump all tables in a database

Note:

Table and view schemas are ordered alphabetically by name. This is not always an ordering in which the tables and views can be successfully recreated. Also, the schemas of views are dumped incorrectly as CREATE TABLE statements, and attempting to dump the data of a view results in an error. For more details and workarounds, see the corresponding known limitations. Note that these limitations have been resolved in v1.1.

$ cockroach dump startrek --insecure --user=maxroach > backup.sql

$ cat backup.sql

CREATE TABLE episodes (
    id INT NOT NULL,
    season INT NULL,
    num INT NULL,
    title STRING NULL,
    stardate DECIMAL NULL,
    CONSTRAINT "primary" PRIMARY KEY (id),
    FAMILY "primary" (id, season, num),
    FAMILY fam_1_title (title),
    FAMILY fam_2_stardate (stardate)
);

CREATE TABLE quotes (
    quote STRING NULL,
    characters STRING NULL,
    stardate DECIMAL NULL,
    episode INT NULL,
    INDEX quotes_episode_idx (episode),
    FAMILY "primary" (quote, rowid),
    FAMILY fam_1_characters (characters),
    FAMILY fam_2_stardate (stardate),
    FAMILY fam_3_episode (episode)
);

INSERT INTO episodes (id, season, num, title, stardate) VALUES
    (1, 1, 1, 'The Man Trap', 1531.1),
    (2, 1, 2, 'Charlie X', 1533.6),
    (3, 1, 3, 'Where No Man Has Gone Before', 1312.4),
    (4, 1, 4, 'The Naked Time', 1704.2),
    (5, 1, 5, 'The Enemy Within', 1672.1),
    (6, 1, 6, e'Mudd\'s Women', 1329.8),
    (7, 1, 7, 'What Are Little Girls Made Of?', 2712.4),
    (8, 1, 8, 'Miri', 2713.5),
    (9, 1, 9, 'Dagger of the Mind', 2715.1),
    (10, 1, 10, 'The Corbomite Maneuver', 1512.2),
    ...

INSERT INTO quotes (quote, characters, stardate, episode) VALUES
    ('"... freedom ... is a worship word..." "It is our worship word too."', 'Cloud William and Kirk', NULL, 52),
    ('"Beauty is transitory." "Beauty survives."', 'Spock and Kirk', NULL, 72),
    ('"Can you imagine how life could be improved if we could do away with jealousy, greed, hate ..." "It can also be improved by eliminating love, tenderness, sentiment -- the other side of the coin"', 'Dr. Roger Corby and Kirk', 2712.4, 7),
    ...

Dump fails (user does not have `SELECT` privilege)

In this example, the dump command fails for a user that does not have the SELECT privilege on the episodes table.

$ cockroach dump startrek episodes --insecure --user=leslieroach > backup.sql

Error: pq: user leslieroach has no privileges on table episodes
Failed running "dump"

Restore a table from a backup file

In this example, a user that has the CREATE privilege on the startrek database uses the cockroach sql command to recreate a table, based on a file created by the dump command.

$ cat backup.sql

CREATE TABLE quotes (
    quote STRING NULL,
    characters STRING NULL,
    stardate DECIMAL NULL,
    episode INT NULL,
    INDEX quotes_episode_idx (episode),
    FAMILY "primary" (quote, rowid),
    FAMILY fam_1_characters (characters),
    FAMILY fam_2_stardate (stardate),
    FAMILY fam_3_episode (episode)
);

INSERT INTO quotes (quote, characters, stardate, episode) VALUES
    ('"... freedom ... is a worship word..." "It is our worship word too."', 'Cloud William and Kirk', NULL, 52),
    ('"Beauty is transitory." "Beauty survives."', 'Spock and Kirk', NULL, 72),
    ('"Can you imagine how life could be improved if we could do away with jealousy, greed, hate ..." "It can also be improved by eliminating love, tenderness, sentiment -- the other side of the coin"', 'Dr. Roger Corby and Kirk', 2712.4, 7),
    ...

$ cockroach sql --insecure --database=startrek --user=maxroach < backup.sql

CREATE TABLE
INSERT 100
INSERT 100

Dump table data as of a specific time

In this example, we assume there were several inserts into a table both before and after 2017-03-07 19:55:00.

First, let's use the built-in SQL client to view the table at the current time:

$ cockroach sql --insecure --execute="SELECT * FROM db1.dump_test"

+--------------------+------+
|         id         | name |
+--------------------+------+
| 225594758537183233 | a    |
| 225594758537248769 | b    |
| 225594758537281537 | c    |
| 225594758537314305 | d    |
| 225594758537347073 | e    |
| 225594758537379841 | f    |
| 225594758537412609 | g    |
| 225594758537445377 | h    |
| 225594991654174721 | i    |
| 225594991654240257 | j    |
| 225594991654273025 | k    |
| 225594991654305793 | l    |
| 225594991654338561 | m    |
| 225594991654371329 | n    |
| 225594991654404097 | o    |
| 225594991654436865 | p    |
+--------------------+------+
(16 rows)

Next, let's use a time-travel query to view the contents of the table as of 2017-03-07 19:55:00:

$ cockroach sql --insecure --execute="SELECT * FROM db1.dump_test AS OF SYSTEM TIME '2017-03-07 19:55:00'"

+--------------------+------+
|         id         | name |
+--------------------+------+
| 225594758537183233 | a    |
| 225594758537248769 | b    |
| 225594758537281537 | c    |
| 225594758537314305 | d    |
| 225594758537347073 | e    |
| 225594758537379841 | f    |
| 225594758537412609 | g    |
| 225594758537445377 | h    |
+--------------------+------+
(8 rows)

Finally, let's use cockroach dump with the --as-of flag set to dump the contents of the table as of 2017-03-07 19:55:00.

$ cockroach dump db1 dump_test --insecure --dump-mode=data --as-of='2017-03-07 19:55:00'

INSERT INTO dump_test (id, name) VALUES
    (225594758537183233, 'a'),
    (225594758537248769, 'b'),
    (225594758537281537, 'c'),
    (225594758537314305, 'd'),
    (225594758537347073, 'e'),
    (225594758537379841, 'f'),
    (225594758537412609, 'g'),
    (225594758537445377, 'h');

As you can see, the results of the dump are identical to the earlier time-travel query.

Cockroach
University

Docs Hub

SQL Dump (Export)

Synopsis

Flags

General

Logging

Examples

Dump a table's schema and data

Dump just a table's schema

Dump just a table's data

Dump all tables in a database

Dump fails (user does not have `SELECT` privilege)

Restore a table from a backup file

Dump table data as of a specific time

See Also

Cockroach University

Docs Hub

Cockroach University

Docs Hub

SQL Dump (Export)

Synopsis

Flags

General

Logging

Examples

Dump a table's schema and data

Dump just a table's schema

Dump just a table's data

Dump all tables in a database

Dump fails (user does not have SELECT privilege)

Restore a table from a backup file

Dump table data as of a specific time

See Also

Cockroach
University

Cockroach
University

Dump fails (user does not have `SELECT` privilege)