Restore database from backup — restore

Restores a PostgreSQL database from a backup file created by `backup_database()`.

**WARNING**: This will OVERWRITE the current database! Use with caution.

Usage

restore_database(
  backup_file,
  database = c("main", "taxa"),
  user = NULL,
  password = NULL,
  clean = FALSE,
  confirm = TRUE,
  verbose = TRUE
)

Arguments

backup_file: Full path to the backup file (.dump format).
database: Which database to restore to: `"main"` or `"taxa"`. Must match the database that was backed up.
user: Database username. If NULL, uses stored credentials.
password: Database password. If NULL, uses stored credentials.
clean: If TRUE, drops existing database objects before restoring. Default is FALSE (safer).
confirm: If TRUE, requires interactive confirmation before restoring. Default is TRUE.
verbose: Logical. If TRUE, shows pg_restore output. Default is TRUE.

Value

Logical. TRUE if restore was successful, FALSE otherwise.

Details

This function requires PostgreSQL's `pg_restore` utility to be installed and available in your PATH.

**IMPORTANT**: This operation will overwrite data in the target database. Always verify you're restoring to the correct database and have a recent backup.

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
# List available backups first
backups <- list_backups()

# Restore from most recent backup
restore_database(
  backup_file = backups$path[1],
  database = "main"
)

# Restore with clean option (drops existing objects first)
restore_database(
  backup_file = "~/database_backups/plots_transects_backup_2026-02-13.dump",
  database = "main",
  clean = TRUE
)
} # }