Google Backup and DR Service API
Browse all Google APIs✓ Official Vendor SpecStorageBackup Recoveryoauth230 EndpointsREST
For Agents
Orchestrate Google Cloud Backup and DR data sources, initiate and finalise backups, and manage backup management servers from automation tooling.
Use for: I need to start a backup of a Compute Engine instance through the Backup and DR Service, Finalise an in-progress backup once the source data has been streamed, Abandon a backup that failed midway and free its resources, List all data sources protected by a given Backup and DR management server
Not supported: Does not run application workloads, manage VM lifecycle, or perform application-level recovery — use for orchestrating Backup and DR data sources and management servers only.
The Backup and DR Service API manages Google Cloud's enterprise backup product for Compute Engine, VMware, databases, and file storage. It exposes operations to provision management servers, control data sources, initiate and finalise backups, and manage the long-running operations associated with each step. The API is the integration surface for orchestrating backups from external schedulers, ticketing systems, or compliance workflows. It manages backup orchestration, not the actual virtual machines, databases, or file systems being protected.
Install Jentic One Beta
Connect the Backup and DR Service API to your agent
Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the Backup and DR Service API, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.
Two steps, two machines. Install the instance in a safe environment, then register your agent from wherever it runs.
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Step 1: Jentic One Host machine
# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh2
Step 2: Agent machine
# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh
jentic register # connects your agent to your Jentic One instanceJentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.
Capabilities
What an agent can do with Backup and DR Service API.
Initiate a backup on a data source via /v1/{+dataSource}:initiateBackup as a long-running operation
Finalise an in-progress backup with /v1/{+dataSource}:finalizeBackup once data ingestion completes
Abandon a partially started backup with /v1/{+dataSource}:abandonBackup to release resources
Set the internal status on a data source via /v1/{+dataSource}:setInternalStatus during recovery flows
List management servers and data sources within a project and location
Manage long-running operations for backup creation, deletion, and management server changes
Use Cases
Patterns agents use Backup and DR Service API for, with concrete tasks.
★ Scheduled VM Backup Orchestration
Drive Compute Engine backups from an external scheduler by calling initiateBackup on each protected data source, polling the returned operation, and calling finalizeBackup when data ingestion completes. Suited to compliance regimes that demand auditable, code-driven backup execution rather than UI-only schedules.
POST initiateBackup on each data source in a target project, then poll until done and POST finalizeBackup.
Failure Recovery for Stalled Backups
Detect stalled backup operations and call abandonBackup to release the underlying resources before retrying. The API exposes both the operation list and the abandon endpoint so an automation can identify and unblock stuck flows without operator intervention.
List operations on the data source, identify any older than the SLA threshold, and POST abandonBackup for those operations.
Compliance Reporting on Protected Resources
Generate compliance reports by listing every data source under each management server in an organisation and correlating the results with last-successful-backup timestamps. The API's list endpoints return enough metadata to drive a compliance dashboard without hitting the underlying VM or database APIs.
List management servers in the project, then list data sources under each and aggregate last-backup timestamps into a CSV report.
AI Agent Backup Triage via Jentic
Use an AI agent to triage backup failures by listing operations, summarising failure causes, and either retrying or marking incidents for human follow-up. Through Jentic the agent finds the relevant operations by intent and runs them with credentials supplied at call time, so a single agent can manage backups across many projects without per-project setup.
Use Jentic search for 'list backup operations in Backup and DR', filter for failed operations, and call abandonBackup for the ones older than 24 hours.
Key Endpoints
30 endpoints — the backup and dr service api manages google cloud's enterprise backup product for compute engine, vmware, databases, and file storage.
METHOD
PATH
DESCRIPTION
POST
/v1/{+dataSource}:initiateBackup
Start a backup operation on a data source
POST
/v1/{+dataSource}:finalizeBackup
Finalise a backup once data ingestion is complete
POST
/v1/{+dataSource}:abandonBackup
Abandon a partially started backup
POST
/v1/{+dataSource}:setInternalStatus
Update the internal status on a data source
GET
/v1/{+name}
Get a management server, data source, or vault by resource name
GET
/v1/{+name}/locations
List Backup and DR locations in a project
DELETE
/v1/{+name}
Delete a management server or data source
POST
/v1/{+dataSource}:initiateBackup
Start a backup operation on a data source
POST
/v1/{+dataSource}:finalizeBackup
Finalise a backup once data ingestion is complete
POST
/v1/{+dataSource}:abandonBackup
Abandon a partially started backup
POST
/v1/{+dataSource}:setInternalStatus
Update the internal status on a data source
GET
/v1/{+name}
Get a management server, data source, or vault by resource name
GET
/v1/{+name}/locations
List Backup and DR locations in a project
DELETE
/v1/{+name}
Delete a management server or data source
Why Jentic?
Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.
Credential isolation
Service account JSON keys are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault. Agents call Backup and DR through Jentic with short-lived access tokens minted on demand and never see the underlying key material.
Intent-based discovery
Agents search Jentic with intents like 'start a backup of a Compute Engine VM' and Jentic returns the matching Backup and DR operation with its input schema.
Time to first call
Direct integration: 2-4 days for IAM, management server provisioning, and operation polling. Through Jentic: under 2 hours once the credential is registered.
Related APIs
Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.
FAQs
Specific to using Backup and DR Service API through Jentic.
What authentication does the Backup and DR Service API use?
The API uses Google OAuth 2.0 with cloud-platform scope, generally backed by a service account holding the roles/backupdr.* IAM role. Through Jentic the service account key is encrypted in the vault so agents only see scoped, short-lived access tokens.
How do I initiate a backup through the API?
POST to /v1/{dataSource}:initiateBackup with the data source resource name. The call returns a long-running operation. Poll it until done and then call /v1/{dataSource}:finalizeBackup to mark the backup complete.
What are the rate limits for the Backup and DR Service API?
Numeric request limits are not declared in the spec; per-project quotas on backupdr.googleapis.com apply. Check the project's quota dashboard before scheduling backups across many data sources at once.
How do I clean up a backup that got stuck through Jentic?
Search Jentic for 'abandon a backup in Google Backup and DR'. Jentic returns the POST /v1/{dataSource}:abandonBackup operation; execute it with the data source name and Jentic supplies the credential from the vault.
Does the API also restore data?
Restore flows are managed in the Backup and DR product surface; this OpenAPI spec exposes lifecycle controls for data sources and management servers but does not include a generic restore endpoint. Coordinate restores via the management server it provisions.
Can I list management servers across regions?
Yes. GET /v1/{name}/locations returns the list of locations available, and the per-location managementServers list endpoint can then be called for each region of interest.
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