Backup & restore

A database is a single .dfdb file (plus a .wal sidecar). To back up:

Flush / cleanly stop the node so there’s no pending write-ahead log.
Copy the .dfdb file (and .wal if present) to your backup location.

To restore, put the file back and start a node pointed at it.

Upgrading the engine

The on-disk format is versioned and stable, so upgrading the engine over an existing file is a no-op migration — point the new build at the old .dfdb and it opens unchanged. Always back up first and flush cleanly before swapping binaries. Downgrading (a new-engine file on an older build) is the riskier direction and isn’t guaranteed clean.