Backing up a DynamoDB table - Amazon DynamoDB

Backing up a DynamoDB table

This section describes how to use the Amazon DynamoDB console or the AWS Command Line Interface to back up a table.

Creating a table backup (console)

Follow these steps to create a backup named MusicBackup for an existing Music table using the AWS Management Console.

To create a table backup
  1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the DynamoDB console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/dynamodb/.

  2. You can create a backup by doing one of the following:

    • On the Backups tab of the Music table, choose Create backup.

    • In the navigation pane on the left side of the console, choose Backups. Then choose Create backup.

  3. Make sure that Music is the table name, and enter MusicBackup for the backup name. Then, choose Create to create the backup.

    
                        Screenshot of create table backup screen with table name and backup
                            name filled in.
    Note

    If you create backups using the Backups section in the navigation pane, the table isn't preselected for you. You have to manually choose the source table name for the backup.

    While the backup is being created, the backup status is set to Creating. After the backup is complete, the backup status changes to Available.

    
                        Screenshot of the MusicBackup with status showing
                            available.

Creating a table backup (AWS CLI)

Follow these steps to create a backup for an existing table Music using the AWS CLI.

To create a table backup
  • Create a backup with the name MusicBackup for the Music table.

    aws dynamodb create-backup --table-name Music \ --backup-name MusicBackup

    While the backup is being created, the backup status is set to CREATING.

    { "BackupDetails": { "BackupName": "MusicBackup", "BackupArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-east-1:123456789012:table/Music/backup/01489602797149-73d8d5bc", "BackupStatus": "CREATING", "BackupCreationDateTime": 1489602797.149 } }

After the backup is complete, its BackupStatus should change to AVAILABLE. To confirm this, use the describe-backup command. You can get the input value of backup-arn from the output of the previous step or by using the list-backups command.

aws dynamodb describe-backup \ --backup-arn arn:aws:dynamodb:us-east-1:123456789012:table/Music/backup/01489173575360-b308cd7d

To keep track of your backups, you can use the list-backups command. It lists all your backups that are in CREATING or AVAILABLE status.

aws dynamodb list-backups

The list-backups command and the describe-backup command are useful to check information about the source table of the backup.