Inspect the metadata of a backup file

You can inspect the metadata of a database backup file using the neo4j-admin backup inspect command.

Command

The inspect command shows the metadata stored in the header of backup files. This metadata primarily defines how backups are connected to form backup chains. A backup chain is a sequence of one or more backup(s) logically connected. The order of the sequence guarantees that when replayed (see restore or aggregate), the store and the transaction data are consumed in a consistent manner.

The metadata contains the following information:

  • Database: database name of the database fragment that the backup includes.

  • Database ID: a unique identifier that distinguishes databases (even with the same name).

  • Time: time the backup was taken.

  • Full: indicates whether it is a full backup (i.e. initial backup containing the store files) or a differential backup (i.e. subsequent backup containing only the transactions to be applied to the store files).

  • Compressed: indicates whether the backup data inside the backup file is compressed.

  • Lowest transaction ID: when the backup is full, this value is always 1, and when it is a differential backup, the value corresponds to the first transaction ID the backup starts with.

  • Highest transaction ID: similarly, this value indicates the last transaction ID stored in the backup file.

  • Introduced in 2025.06 Recovered: shows whether a database backup is recovered or not.

Syntax

neo4j-admin backup inspect [-h] [--empty] [--expand-commands] [--latest-backup] [--latest-chain]
                           [--verbose] [--additional-config=<file>] [--database=<database>] [--format=<value>]
                           <backup-path>

Starting with Neo4j 2025.07, the backup metadata is always shown by default when using the neo4j-admin backup inspect command. If you are on a previous version of Neo4j, you must specify the --show-metadata option to see the backup metadata.

Description

Command to read the backup metadata.

Parameters

Table 1. neo4j-admin backup inspect parameters
Parameter Description

<backup-path>

Path denoting either a directory where backups are stored or a single backup to inspect.

The <backup-path> parameter can also inspect backups stored in AWS S3 buckets, Google Cloud storage buckets, and Azure buckets.

Options

Table 2. neo4j-admin backup inspect options
Option Description Default

--additional-config=<file>[1]

Configuration file with additional configuration.

--expand-commands

Allow command expansion in config value evaluation.

-h, --help

Show this help message and exit.

--latest-backup

Show only the latest backup.

false

--latest-chain

List the full backup chain ending with the latest downloaded backup.

false

--database=<database>

Name of the database to inspect.

--format=<value>

Format of the output of the command. Possible values are: 'JSON, TABULAR'.

TABULAR

--empty

Include empty backups.

false

--verbose

Enable verbose output.

The --latest-backup and --latest-chain options cannot be used together.

Starting with Neo4j 2025.07, the --show-metadata option is deprecated and ignored. The backup metadata is always shown by default when using the neo4j-admin backup inspect command. However, if you are on a previous version of Neo4j, you must specify the --show-metadata option to see the backup metadata.

Examples

Given the folder /backups containing a set of database backups:

/backups
├── london-2024-10-07T16-03-51.backup
├── london-2024-10-07T16-04-05.backup
├── malmo-2024-10-07T16-00-07.backup
├── malmo-2024-10-07T16-00-19.backup
├── malmo-2024-10-07T16-00-34.backup
├── malmo-2024-10-07T16-00-44.backup
├── malmo-2024-10-07T16-00-50.backup
├── malmo-2024-10-07T16-01-08.backup
├── malmo-2024-10-07T16-01-24.backup
└── neo4j-2024-10-07T16-05-37.backup

Showing the metadata of the backup files

The following command shows the backup files' names along with their respective metadata:

bin/neo4j-admin backup inspect /backups --empty

The --empty option is used to include the empty backups. An empty backup is created when a database is backed up but no new data exists. Empty backups are used to record the backup history.

Example output
|                                              FILE | DATABASE |                          DATABASE ID |          TIME (UTC) |  FULL | COMPRESSED | LOWEST TX | HIGHEST TX | RECOVERED |
|  file:///backups/neo4j-2024-10-07T16-05-37.backup |    neo4j | 7dcb1d0c-4374-4476-b8ae-d3c3f124683f | 2024-10-07T16:05:37 |  true |       true |         1 |          3 |      true |
|  file:///backups/malmo-2024-10-07T16-01-24.backup |    malmo | 62d1820c-3ac6-4b15-a0b3-bf7e7becc8d0 | 2024-10-07T16:01:24 |  true |       true |         1 |          8 |      true |
|  file:///backups/malmo-2024-10-07T16-01-08.backup |    malmo | 62d1820c-3ac6-4b15-a0b3-bf7e7becc8d0 | 2024-10-07T16:01:08 |  true |       true |         1 |          7 |     false |
|  file:///backups/malmo-2024-10-07T16-00-50.backup |    malmo | 62d1820c-3ac6-4b15-a0b3-bf7e7becc8d0 | 2024-10-07T16:00:50 | false |       true |         0 |          0 |     false |
|  file:///backups/malmo-2024-10-07T16-00-44.backup |    malmo | 62d1820c-3ac6-4b15-a0b3-bf7e7becc8d0 | 2024-10-07T16:00:44 | false |       true |         7 |          7 |     false |
|  file:///backups/malmo-2024-10-07T16-00-34.backup |    malmo | 62d1820c-3ac6-4b15-a0b3-bf7e7becc8d0 | 2024-10-07T16:00:34 | false |       true |         6 |          6 |     false |
|  file:///backups/malmo-2024-10-07T16-00-19.backup |    malmo | 62d1820c-3ac6-4b15-a0b3-bf7e7becc8d0 | 2024-10-07T16:00:19 | false |       true |         0 |          0 |     false |
|  file:///backups/malmo-2024-10-07T16-00-07.backup |    malmo | 62d1820c-3ac6-4b15-a0b3-bf7e7becc8d0 | 2024-10-07T16:00:07 |  true |       true |         1 |          5 |      true |
| file:///backups/london-2024-10-07T16-04-05.backup |   london | d4dae73c-dfef-4d28-88cd-fe6cc88ddca1 | 2024-10-07T16:04:05 | false |       true |         6 |          6 |     false |
| file:///backups/london-2024-10-07T16-03-51.backup |   london | d4dae73c-dfef-4d28-88cd-fe6cc88ddca1 | 2024-10-07T16:03:51 |  true |       true |         1 |          5 |      true |

Starting with Neo4j 2025.07, the backup metadata is always shown by default when using the neo4j-admin backup inspect command. If you are on a previous version of Neo4j, you must specify the --show-metadata option to see the backup metadata.

Showing the latest backups

To show only the most recent backups performed for each database, use the --latest-backup option.

bin/neo4j-admin backup inspect /backups --latest-backup
Example output
|                                              FILE | DATABASE |                          DATABASE ID |          TIME (UTC) |  FULL | COMPRESSED | LOWEST TX | HIGHEST TX | RECOVERED |
|  file:///backups/neo4j-2024-10-07T16-05-37.backup |    neo4j | 7dcb1d0c-4374-4476-b8ae-d3c3f124683f | 2024-10-07T16:05:37 |  true |       true |         1 |          3 |      true |
|  file:///backups/malmo-2024-10-07T16-01-24.backup |    malmo | 62d1820c-3ac6-4b15-a0b3-bf7e7becc8d0 | 2024-10-07T16:01:24 |  true |       true |         1 |          8 |      true |
| file:///backups/london-2024-10-07T16-04-05.backup |   london | d4dae73c-dfef-4d28-88cd-fe6cc88ddca1 | 2024-10-07T16:04:05 | false |       true |         6 |          6 |     false |

Starting with Neo4j 2025.07, the backup metadata is always shown by default when using the neo4j-admin backup inspect command. If you are on a previous version of Neo4j, you must specify the --show-metadata option to see the backup metadata.

Inspecting backup chains

A backup chain corresponds to a sequence of one or more backup(s) logically connected by their transaction IDs. To inspect the backup chains of a given database, use the --latest-chain option and the --database option with the database whose backup chain you want to inspect:

bin/neo4j-admin backup inspect /backups --latest-chain --database=london
Example output
|                                              FILE | DATABASE |                          DATABASE ID |          TIME (UTC) |  FULL | COMPRESSED | LOWEST TX | HIGHEST TX | RECOVERED |
| file:///backups/london-2024-10-07T16-03-51.backup |   london | d4dae73c-dfef-4d28-88cd-fe6cc88ddca1 | 2024-10-07T16:03:51 |  true |       true |         1 |          5 |      true |
| file:///backups/london-2024-10-07T16-04-05.backup |   london | d4dae73c-dfef-4d28-88cd-fe6cc88ddca1 | 2024-10-07T16:04:05 | false |       true |         6 |          6 |     false |

The result returns a chain of size two:

  • The first backup is a full backup containing the store files within the transaction range [1,5].

  • The second backup is a differential backup containing only the subsequent modifications to the store files. Those modifications are materialised by a sequence of transactions to apply. Its range is [6,6].

Starting with Neo4j 2025.07, the backup metadata is always shown by default when using the neo4j-admin backup inspect command. If you are on a previous version of Neo4j, you must specify the --show-metadata option to see the backup metadata.

Inspecting a backup chain ending with a specific backup

To inspect a backup chain ending with a specific backup, use the --latest-chain option as follows:

bin/neo4j-admin backup inspect /backups/london-2024-10-07T16-04-05.backup --latest-chain
Example output
|                                              FILE | DATABASE |                          DATABASE ID |          TIME (UTC) |  FULL | COMPRESSED | LOWEST TX | HIGHEST TX | RECOVERED |
| file:///backups/london-2024-10-07T16-04-05.backup |   london | d4dae73c-dfef-4d28-88cd-fe6cc88ddca1 | 2024-10-07T16:04:05 | false |       true |         6 |          6 |     false |
| file:///backups/london-2024-10-07T16-03-51.backup |   london | d4dae73c-dfef-4d28-88cd-fe6cc88ddca1 | 2024-10-07T16:03:51 |  true |       true |         1 |          5 |      true |

In this case, the --database option is unnecessary because the database identifier is part of the metadata stored in the header of the backup file london-2024-10-07T16-04-05.backup.

Starting with Neo4j 2025.07, the backup metadata is always shown by default when using the neo4j-admin backup inspect command. If you are on a previous version of Neo4j, you must specify the --show-metadata option to see the backup metadata.

Glossary

allocator

A component in the cluster that allocates databases to servers according to the topology constraints specified and an allocation strategy.

asynchronous replication

Asynchronous replication is used by secondary copies to poll for new transactions, which means they cannot be guaranteed to have received the most recent transactions. This enables efficient scale-out of read-performance.

Aura instance

A fully-managed DBMS represented by a single instance ID, that is running in the Neo4j Aura cloud.

auto-commit transaction

An automatically committed transaction that contains a single query.

Bolt protocol

Bolt is a protocol used for interaction between Neo4j instances and drivers.

bookmark

A marker the client can request from the cluster to ensure that it is able to read its own writes so that the application’s state is consistent and only databases that have a copy of the bookmark are permitted to respond.

category (Bloom)

A category is based on a node label and is defined in a Perspective as a way of visually distinguishing nodes with the same label(s).

causal consistency

All servers in a cluster agree on the order in which transactions take place. The position of a server on the causal chain can be guaranteed using a bookmark.

cluster

A Neo4j DBMS that spans multiple servers working together to increase fault tolerance and/or read scalability. Databases on a cluster may be configured to replicate across servers in the cluster thus achieving read scalability or high availability.

client application

Software that interacts with a Neo4j server.

commit

A commit is the successful completion of a transaction, which ensures durability of any changes made. For more details, visit Operations Manual → Transaction management.

composite database

Composite databases are the means to access partitioned graph data with a single Cypher query.

constraint

Constraints are sets of data modeling rules that ensure the data is consistent and reliable.

Cypher®

Neo4j’s graph query language.

data model

A data model defines how information is organized in a database. A good data model will make querying and understanding your data easier. In Neo4j, the data models have a graph structure.

database

A database is a container used by the DBMS to manage and store graph data. The physical structure of data is controlled by the database.

database vs graph

Databases are the physical containers of graph data. Graphs are the logical structure of data in Neo4j.

Database Management System

Database Management System, or DBMS, capable of managing multiple databases. A DBMS may run on a single server, or span several servers configured as a cluster.

database schema

The prescribed property existence and datatypes for nodes and relationships.

deallocate

An act of removing a database from a server or a server from a cluster without loss of data or reduced fault tolerance.

degree (of a node)

The number of relationships of a specific node; loops are counted twice.

disaster recovery

A manual intervention to restore availability of a cluster, or databases within a cluster.

driver

A software library that provides access to Neo4j from a particular programming language.

election

In the event that the Raft leader becomes unresponsive, followers automatically trigger an election and vote for a new leader.

entity

A node or a relationship.

expression (Cypher)

A component of a Cypher query which produces values. It may be used in projections, as a predicate, or when setting properties on graph elements.

fabric

Fabric is the architectural design of a unified system that provides a single access point to local or distributed graph data.

fault tolerance

A guarantee that a cluster can maintain a database’s persistence and availability in the event of one or more servers failing.

follower

A primary copy of a database acting as a follower, receives and acknowledges synchronous writes from the leader.

Generative AI (GenAI)

A type of artificial intelligence (AI) system that generates text, images, or other media in response to prompts.

graph

A logical representation of a set of nodes where some pairs are connected by relationships.

index

Data structure that improves read performance of a database.

knowledge graph

A specific type of graph that has an organizing principle so that a user (or a computer system) can reason about the underlying data. The organizing principle provides an additional layer of structure that adds context to support knowledge discovery.

label

Marks a node as a member of a named and indexed subset. A node may be assigned zero or more labels.

leader

A single primary copy of a database is designated as the leader. It receives all write transactions from clients and replicates writes synchronously to followers and asynchronously to secondary copies of the database.

main database

In terms of Neo4j Enterprise Studio, the database(s) containing the user’s data. Can exist in the same Neo4j deployment as the tool asset database.

motif

A description of a specific pattern within a graph.

node

A node represents an entity or discrete object in your graph data model. Nodes can be connected by relationships, hold data in properties, and are classified by labels.

operator

A symbol representing a mathematical or logical operation.

parameter

Named value provided when running a Cypher statement.

path

A sequence of nodes and the relationships connecting them, that does not contain duplicate relationships. Several paths can match a pattern.

pattern

A specific arrangement of nodes and relationships that can be matched in a graph. A pattern follows a motif.

perspective (Bloom)

A Perspective defines a certain business view or domain that can be found in the target Neo4j graph. A single Neo4j graph can be viewed through different Perspectives, each tailored for a different business purpose.

primary

A copy of the database that is able to process write transactions and is eligible to be elected as a leader. It participates in fault tolerant writes as it is part of the majority required to acknowledge and commit write transactions.

primary vs secondary

In a cluster, databases can operate in either primary or secondary mode. Primary databases are able to process write and read transactions, ensuring fault tolerance. Secondary databases are replicated asynchronously from primaries, and their main purpose is to provide read scaling within the cluster.

project (Aura)

An isolated environment in the unified Aura console that contains its own database instances, configurations, and resources. Preceded by tenant in the classic Aura console.

property

Properties are key-value pairs that are used for storing data on nodes and relationships.

query (Cypher)

A statement that retrieves or writes information to a database.

Raft group

A group of servers that are participating in hosting a particular database in primary mode.

Raft group member

A server that is participating in a Raft group. A server can be a member of one or more groups.

Raft log

A shared log between all Raft group members that is guaranteed to be consistently updated and viewed by those members. The log contains both database data and operational state of the Raft group.

Raft protocol

The networking mechanism that enables a database to replicate its data across multiple servers to give high availability for accessing the data and high durability to the data stored.

read scaling

Distributing query load by creating additional database copies hosted in secondary mode (read-only).

relationship

A relationship represents a connection between nodes in your graph data model. Relationships connect a source node to a target node, hold data in properties, and are classified by type.

secondary

An asynchronously replicated copy of the database that provides read scaling within the cluster.

seed

A seed is a database dump or a full backup used to create a database on a cluster. This is sometimes called seeding.

server

A physical machine, a virtual machine, or a container running an instance of Neo4j. Servers can be standalone or part of a cluster.

session

A causally linked sequence of transactions.

session consistency

An alternative name for Neo4j’s causal consistency.

standalone

A single server running Neo4j and not part of a cluster.

synchronous replication

Synchronous replication requires the leader primary to replicate a transaction and block the commit until a quorum of the follower primaries acknowledges that the transaction is successfully replicated. Once the transaction is replicated, the commit is allowed to proceed. This ensures data durability and consistency within the cluster.

system database

A database used by Neo4j to store system information.

tenant (Aura)

An isolated environment in the classic Aura console that contains its own database instances, configurations, and resources. Replaced by project in the unified Aura console.

tool asset database

In terms of Neo4j Enterprise Studio, the database where tools' assets are stored. This can be in the same Neo4j deployment as the main database(s) or in a separate deployment.

topology

A configuration that describes how the copies of a database should be spread across the servers in a cluster, see primary mode and secondary mode.

transaction

A transaction comprises a unit of work performed against a database. It is treated in a coherent and reliable way, independent of other transactions. Transactions comply with the ACID consistency model (atomic, consistent, isolated, and durable).