# First Backup Walkthrough

After connecting your GitLab account to Cloudback, this guide walks you through triggering your first backup and understanding the results.

## Prerequisites

* Your GitLab account is [connected to Cloudback](https://docs.cloudback.it/gitlab/installation-guide)
* A [subscription is assigned](https://github.com/cloudback/docs-internal/blob/docs/account-and-billing-management/subscription-management.md) to the account
* At least one GitLab project appears in the dashboard

## Triggering Your First Backup

While Cloudback will automatically back up your projects on schedule, you can trigger a backup immediately:

1. Navigate to the **GitLab** section in the left sidebar
2. Select the checkbox next to the project you want to back up
3. Click the **Trigger** button in the toolbar

Alternatively, from the project details page, click **Backup now**.

## What Happens During Backup

A GitLab backup has:

1. **Repository clone** - Cloudback performs a bare Git clone of the repository, including all branches, tags, and refs. Git LFS objects are also fetched.
2. **Metadata download** - Issues, merge requests, labels, milestones, boards, members, and notes are downloaded via the GitLab API.

## Viewing Backup Results

Once complete:

1. The **Backup** column shows **Succeeded** (green) or **Failed** (red)
2. The **Last Run** column shows elapsed time

Click on the project to view detailed results on the **Project Details** page:

**Overview Tab:**

* **Settings** - Current schedule, storage, retention
* **Statistics** - Backup time and size charts
* **Last Backup** - Status, time, size, deduplication, storage, and collected metadata counts:
  * Issues, issue notes, merge requests, MR notes
  * Labels, milestones, boards
* **Deduplication** - Savings over time

**Backups Tab:**

* Complete backup history with download and restore options

## Downloading Your Backup

1. On the **Backups** tab, click the **Download** icon
2. The archive is a password-protected ZIP file (AES-256). The password-protection can be disabled in settings if desired.
3. The password is emailed automatically (if password-protection is enabled).
4. Use [7-Zip](https://www.7-zip.org/) to extract (Windows built-in ZIP doesn't support AES)

Inside the archive you'll find:

* `repo/{ProjectName}.git/` - The bare Git repository
* JSON metadata files (issues, MRs, labels, milestones, boards, members, notes)

## Dashboard Columns

The GitLab dashboard shows:

| Column        | Description                              |
| ------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| **Select**    | Checkbox for bulk operations             |
| **Account**   | GitLab account/group name                |
| **Project**   | Project name (clickable for details)     |
| **Status**    | Scheduled / Not scheduled / Restore only |
| **Schedule**  | Backup schedule name                     |
| **Storage**   | Storage location                         |
| **Retention** | Retention policy                         |
| **Backup**    | Last backup status                       |
| **Last Run**  | Time since last backup                   |

## Next Steps

* **Customize settings**: Change schedule, storage, or retention from the Project Details page or from the dashboard using bulk edit
* **Set up notifications**: Get alerts for backup success/failure via Slack, Discord, or Teams

## Learn More

* [GitLab Backup Contents](https://docs.cloudback.it/gitlab/backup-contents) - Full details on what's backed up
* [GitLab: Restoring Data](https://docs.cloudback.it/gitlab/restore) - How to restore
* [Cross-Platform Restore](https://github.com/cloudback/docs-internal/blob/docs/data-restoration/cross-platform-restore.md) - GitHub ↔ GitLab migration
* [Automated Daily Backups](https://github.com/cloudback/docs-internal/blob/docs/managing-backups/automated-daily-backups.md) - Schedule configuration