Method: projects.instances.backups.create

Starts creating a new Cloud Spanner Backup. The returned backup long-running operation will have a name of the formatprojects/<project>/instances/<instance>/backups/<backup>/operations/<operationId> and can be used to track creation of the backup. The metadata field type isCreateBackupMetadata. The response field type isBackup, if successful. Cancelling the returned operation will stop the creation and delete the backup. There can be only one pending backup creation per database. Backup creation of different databases can run concurrently.

HTTP request


POST https://spanner.googleapis.com/v1/{parent=projects/*/instances/*}/backups

The URLs usegRPC Transcoding syntax.

Path parameters

Parameters
parent

string

Required. The name of the instance in which the backup is created. This must be the same instance that contains the database the backup is created from. The backup will be stored in the locations specified in the instance configuration of this instance. Values are of the formprojects/<project>/instances/<instance>.

Authorization requires the followingIAM permission on the specified resourceparent:

  • spanner.backups.create

Query parameters

Parameters
backupId

string

Required. The id of the backup to be created. ThebackupId appended toparent forms the full backup name of the formprojects/<project>/instances/<instance>/backups/<backupId>.

encryptionConfig

object (CreateBackupEncryptionConfig)

Optional. The encryption configuration used to encrypt the backup. If this field is not specified, the backup will use the same encryption configuration as the database by default, namelyencryptionType =USE_DATABASE_ENCRYPTION.

Request body

The request body contains an instance ofBackup.

Response body

If successful, the response body contains a newly created instance ofOperation.

Authorization scopes

Requires one of the following OAuth scopes:

  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/spanner.admin
  • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform

For more information, see theAuthentication Overview.

IAM Permissions

Requires the followingIAM permission on thedatabase resource:

  • spanner.databases.createBackup

Requires the followingIAM permission on theparent resource:

  • spanner.backups.create

For more information, see theIAM documentation.

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under theCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under theApache 2.0 License. For details, see theGoogle Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2025-12-12 UTC.