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+# Restoring from backup after a failed upgrade
+
+Upgrades are usually smooth and restoring from backup is a rare occurrence.
+However, it's important to know how to recover when problems do arise.
+
+## Roll back to an earlier version and restore a backup
+
+In some cases after a failed upgrade, the fastest solution is to roll back to
+the previous version you were using.
+
+First, roll back the code or package. For source installations this involves
+checking out the older version (branch or tag). For Omnibus installations this
+means installing the older .deb or .rpm package. Then, restore from a backup.
+Follow the instructions in the
+[Backup and Restore](../raketasks/backup_restore.md#restore-a-previously-created-backup)
+documentation.
+
+## Potential problems on the next upgrade
+
+When a rollback is necessary it can produce problems on subsequent upgrade
+attempts. This is because some tables may have been added during the failed
+upgrade. If these tables are still present after you restore from the
+older backup it can lead to migration failures on future upgrades.
+
+Starting in GitLab 8.5 we drop all tables prior to importing the backup to
+prevent this problem. If you've restored a backup to a version prior to 8.5 you
+may need to manually correct the problem next time you upgrade.
+
+Example error:
+
+```
+== 20151103134857 CreateLfsObjects: migrating =================================
+-- create_table(:lfs_objects)
+rake aborted!
+StandardError: An error has occurred, this and all later migrations canceled:
+
+PG::DuplicateTable: ERROR:  relation "lfs_objects" already exists
+```
+
+Copy the version from the error. In this case the version number is
+`20151103134857`.
+
+_**WARNING:** Use the following steps only if you are certain this is what you
+need to do._
+
+### GitLab 8.5+
+
+Pass the version to a database rake task to manually mark the migration as
+complete.
+
+```
+# Source install
+sudo -u git -H bundle exec rake gitlab:db:mark_migration_complete[20151103134857] RAILS_ENV=production
+
+# Omnibus install
+sudo gitlab-rake gitlab:db:mark_migration_complete[20151103134857]
+```
+
+Once the migration is successfully marked, run the rake `db:migrate` task again.
+You will likely have to repeat this process several times until all failed
+migrations are marked complete.
+
+### GitLab < 8.5
+
+```
+# Source install
+sudo -u git -H bundle exec rails console production
+
+# Omnibus install
+sudo gitlab-rails console
+```
+
+At the rails console, type the following commands.
+
+```
+ActiveRecord::Base.connection.execute("INSERT INTO schema_migrations (version) VALUES('20151103134857')")
+exit
+```
+
+Once the migration is successfully marked, run the rake `db:migrate` task again.
+You will likely have to repeat this process several times until all failed
+migrations are marked complete.
+