Make an snapshot-based backup¶

Before you start¶

Install and set up Percona Backup for MongoDB
Check that pbm agent is running with the pbm status command
Check that all pbm-agents and PBM CLI have the same version. Otherwise we cannot guarantee successful backups and data consistency in them.

To check the version, run the following commands:
- pbm status to check the version of pbm-agents
- pbm version to check the version of PBM CLI.

To make a snapshot-based backup, run the pbm backup command with the type external:
```
$ pbm backup -t external 
```
When executing the command, PBM does the following:
- opens the $backupCursor
- prepares the database for file copy
- stores the backup metadata on the storage and adds it to the files to copy
- prints the prompt similar to the following:
```
Ready to copy data from:
<node-list>
```
You also see the backup name.
(Optional) You can check the backup progress with the pbm describe-backup. The command output provides the backup state and what nodes are running backup.
At this stage, you need to copy the dataDir contents of each node in the <node-list> to the storage / make a snapshot using the technology of your choice.
After the copy/snapshot is complete, run the following command to close the $backupCursor and finish the backup:
```
$ pbm backup-finish <backup_name>
```

Last update: October 23, 2025
Created: October 23, 2025