Review Cloud SQL automatic backup settings

Verify Cloud SQL automatic backups and actual restore capability against recovery objectives.

Description

Disabling required Cloud SQL automatic backups can make it difficult to recover after failures, operational mistakes or unsuccessful updates. Omitted settings alone do not establish the effective backup state; check the applied configuration and recent successful backups.

High-availability replication does not replace backups, and enabling automatic backups alone does not configure point-in-time recovery.

Potential impact

  • Without recent recovery points, data loss and service interruption can increase.
  • Backups may not meet the required recovery time if restoration has not been tested.

Remediation

  • Set settings.backupConfiguration.enabled: true and configure schedules and retention to meet recovery objectives. Check engine-specific additional settings when point-in-time recovery is required.
  • Monitor backup success, test restoration regularly and restrict backup and restore permissions to the people who need them.

Examples

These instance-setting excerpts use the retired Deployment Manager format. Through a supported tool, supply a machine type compatible with the actual engine, version and region, along with omitted required settings.

Before

yaml
resources:
  - name: sql-instance
    type: sqladmin.v1beta4.instance
    properties:
      settings:
        tier: db-custom-1-3840

After

yaml
resources:
  - name: sql-instance
    type: sqladmin.v1beta4.instance
    properties:
      settings:
        tier: db-custom-1-3840
        backupConfiguration:
          enabled: true

Explanation:

  • Before: Automatic backup settings are omitted. Check the instance's effective backup policy and other recovery options.
  • After: Automatic backups are explicitly enabled. Verify retention, successful runs and restore procedures as well.

References