lecture · 2:42 · 0 checkpoints · browser voiceBeginner

GitLab wiped its main database, and the backups weren't there

Name: GitLab wiped its main database, and the backups weren't there
Uploaded: 2026-10-27T07:59:01.000Z
Duration: 2 min 38 s
Channel: Himanshu Kukreja
Description: How a GitLab engineer wiped the primary database thinking it was the copy on 31 January 2017, found every backup method missing, and was saved by a snapshot taken for load testing.

How a GitLab engineer wiped the primary database thinking it was the copy on 31 January 2017, found every backup method missing, and was saved by a snapshot taken for load testing.

Read the war story: An engineer wiped GitLab's main database, and the backups weren't there

01 · It was the original

WS · An engineer wiped GitLab's main database, and the backups weren't there

It wasn't the copy. It was the original.

Wiping the copy. Or so they thought.

31 January 2017.

lecture · 2:42 · 0 checkpoints · browser voiceBeginner

GitLab wiped its main database, and the backups weren't there

How a GitLab engineer wiped the primary database thinking it was the copy on 31 January 2017, found every backup method missing, and was saved by a snapshot taken for load testing.

Read the war story: An engineer wiped GitLab's main database, and the backups weren't there

01 · It was the original

WS · An engineer wiped GitLab's main database, and the backups weren't there

It wasn't the copy. It was the original.

Wiping the copy. Or so they thought.

31 January 2017.