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+# Backups
+
+rqlite supports hot-backing up a node. You can retrieve and write a consistent snapshot of the underlying SQLite database to a file like so:
+
+```bash
+curl localhost:4001/db/backup -o bak.sqlite3
+```
+
+The node can then be restored by loading this database file via `sqlite3` and executing `.dump`. You can then use the output of the dump to replay the entire database back into brand new node (or cluster), *with the exception* of `BEGIN TRANSACTION` and `COMMIT` commands. You should ignore those commands in the `.dump` output.
+
+By default a backup can only be retrieved from the leader, though this check can be disabled by adding `noleader` to the URL as a query param.