# Enabling automated backups
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If your DB instance doesn't have automated backups enabled, you can enable them at any time. You enable automated backups by setting the backup retention period to a positive nonzero value. When automated backups are turned on, your DB instance is taken offline and a backup is immediately created.

**Note**  
If you manage your backups in AWS Backup, you can't enable automated backups. For more information, see [Using AWS Backup to manage automated backups for Amazon RDS](AutomatedBackups.AWSBackup.md).

## Console
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**To enable automated backups immediately**

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Amazon RDS console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/).

1. In the navigation pane, choose **Databases**, and then choose the DB instance or Multi-AZ DB cluster that you want to modify.

1. Choose **Modify**.

1. For **Backup retention period**, choose a positive nonzero value, for example three days.

1. Choose **Continue**.

1. Choose **Apply immediately**.

1. Choose **Modify DB instance** or **Modify cluster** to save your changes and enable automated backups.

## AWS CLI
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To enable automated backups, use the AWS CLI [modify-db-instance](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/rds/modify-db-instance.html) or [modify-db-cluster](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/rds/modify-db-cluster.html) command.

Include the following parameters:
+ `--db-instance-identifier` (or `--db-cluster-identifier` for a Multi-AZ DB cluster)
+ `--backup-retention-period`
+ `--apply-immediately` or `--no-apply-immediately`

In the following example, we enable automated backups by setting the backup retention period to three days. The changes are applied immediately.

**Example**  
For Linux, macOS, or Unix:  

```
aws rds modify-db-instance \
    --db-instance-identifier my_db_instance  \
    --backup-retention-period 3 \
    --apply-immediately
```
For Windows:  

```
aws rds modify-db-instance ^
    --db-instance-identifier my_db_instance  ^
    --backup-retention-period 3 ^
    --apply-immediately
```

## RDS API
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To enable automated backups, use the RDS API [ModifyDBInstance](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/APIReference/API_ModifyDBInstance.html) or [ModifyDBCluster](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/APIReference/API_ModifyDBCluster.html) operation with the following required parameters:
+ `DBInstanceIdentifier` or `DBClusterIdentifier`
+ `BackupRetentionPeriod`

## Viewing automated backups
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To view your automated backups, choose **Automated backups** in the navigation pane. To view individual snapshots associated with an automated backup, choose **Snapshots** in the navigation pane. Alternatively, you can describe individual snapshots associated with an automated backup. From there, you can restore a DB instance directly from one of those snapshots. 

Automated snapshot names follow the pattern `rds:<database-name>-yyyy-mm-dd-hh-mm`, with `yyyy-mm-dd-hh-mm` representing the date and time the snapshot was created.

To describe the automated backups for your existing DB instances using the AWS CLI, use one of the following commands:

```
aws rds describe-db-instance-automated-backups --db-instance-identifier DBInstanceIdentifier
```

or

```
aws rds describe-db-instance-automated-backups --dbi-resource-id DbiResourceId
```

To describe the retained automated backups for your existing DB instances using the RDS API, call the [https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/APIReference/API_DescribeDBInstanceAutomatedBackups.html](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/APIReference/API_DescribeDBInstanceAutomatedBackups.html) action with one of the following parameters:
+ `DBInstanceIdentifier`
+ `DbiResourceId`