> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kinetica.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# alter_backup

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  <div className="dl py method">
    <div className="dt sig sig-object py" id="gpudb.GPUdb.alter_backup"> <span className="sig-name descname"><span className="pre">alter\_backup</span></span><span className="sig-paren">(</span><span className="em sig-param"><span className="n"><span className="pre">backup\_name</span></span><span className="o"><span className="pre">=</span></span><span className="default_value"><span className="pre">None</span></span></span>, <span className="em sig-param"><span className="n"><span className="pre">action</span></span><span className="o"><span className="pre">=</span></span><span className="default_value"><span className="pre">None</span></span></span>, <span className="em sig-param"><span className="n"><span className="pre">value</span></span><span className="o"><span className="pre">=</span></span><span className="default_value"><span className="pre">None</span></span></span>, <span className="em sig-param"><span className="n"><span className="pre">datasink\_name</span></span><span className="o"><span className="pre">=</span></span><span className="default_value"><span className="pre">None</span></span></span>, <span className="em sig-param"><span className="n"><span className="pre">options</span></span><span className="o"><span className="pre">=</span></span><span className="default_value"><span className="pre">{"{"}{"}"}</span></span></span><span className="sig-paren">)</span><a href="https://github.com/kineticadb/kinetica-api-python/blob/master/gpudb/gpudb.py#L18582"><span className="viewcode-link"><span className="pre">\[source]</span></span></a></div>

    <div className="dd">
      <p>Alters an existing database <a className="reference external" href="/content/admin/backup_restore/#database-backup">backup</a>, accessible via the <a className="reference external" href="/content/concepts/data_sinks/">data sink</a> specified by input parameter <span className="em">datasink\_name</span>.</p>
      <p><strong>Parameters</strong></p>

      <div className="blockquote">
        <div>
          <div className="dl">
            <div className="dt">backup\_name (<span className="em">str</span>) –</div>

            <div className="dd">
              <p>Name of the backup to be altered.</p>
            </div>

            <div className="dt">action (<span className="em">str</span>) –</div>

            <div className="dd">
              <p>Operation to be applied. Allowed values are:</p>

              <ul className="simple">
                <li>
                  <p><strong>checksum</strong> – Calculate checksum for backed-up files.</p>
                </li>

                <li>
                  <p><strong>ddl\_only</strong> – Whether or not to only save DDL and not back up table data, when taking future snapshots; set input parameter <span className="em">value</span> to ‘true’ or ‘false’ for DDL only or DDL and table data, respectively.</p>
                </li>

                <li>
                  <p><strong>max\_incremental\_backups\_to\_keep</strong> – Maximum number of incremental snapshots to keep, when taking future snapshots; set input parameter <span className="em">value</span> to the number of snapshots to keep.</p>
                </li>

                <li>
                  <p><strong>merge</strong> – Merges all snapshots within a backup and creates a single full snapshot.</p>
                </li>

                <li>
                  <p><strong>purge</strong> – Deletes a snapshot from a backup; set input parameter <span className="em">value</span> to the snapshot ID to purge.</p>
                </li>
              </ul>
            </div>

            <div className="dt">value (<span className="em">str</span>) –</div>

            <div className="dd">
              <p>Value of the modification, depending on input parameter <span className="em">action</span>.</p>
            </div>

            <div className="dt">datasink\_name (<span className="em">str</span>) –</div>

            <div className="dd">
              <p>Data sink through which the backup is accessible.</p>
            </div>

            <div className="dt">options (<span className="em">dict of str to str</span>) –</div>

            <div className="dd">
              <p>Optional parameters. Allowed keys are:</p>

              <ul>
                <li>
                  <p><strong>comment</strong> – Comments to store with the backup.</p>
                </li>

                <li>
                  <p><strong>dry\_run</strong> – Whether or not to perform a dry run of a backup alteration. Allowed values are:</p>

                  <ul className="simple">
                    <li>
                      <p>true</p>
                    </li>

                    <li>
                      <p>false</p>
                    </li>
                  </ul>

                  <p>The default value is ‘false’.</p>
                </li>
              </ul>

              <p>The default value is an empty dict ( {"{"}{"}"} ).</p>
            </div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>

      <p><strong>Returns</strong></p>

      <div className="blockquote">
        <div>
          <p>A dict with the following entries–</p>

          <div className="dl simple">
            <div className="dt">backup\_name (<span className="em">str</span>) –</div>

            <div className="dd">
              <p>Value of input parameter <span className="em">backup\_name</span>.</p>
            </div>

            <div className="dt">backup\_id (<span className="em">long</span>) –</div>

            <div className="dd">
              <p>ID of the snapshot affected by the alter operation, if any.</p>
            </div>

            <div className="dt">total\_bytes (<span className="em">long</span>) –</div>

            <div className="dd">
              <p>Total size of files affected by the alter operation.</p>
            </div>

            <div className="dt">total\_files (<span className="em">long</span>) –</div>

            <div className="dd">
              <p>Total number of files affected by the alter operation.</p>
            </div>

            <div className="dt">total\_number\_of\_records (<span className="em">long</span>) –</div>

            <div className="dd">
              <p>Total number of records affected by the alter operation.</p>
            </div>

            <div className="dt">info (<span className="em">dict of str to str</span>) –</div>

            <div className="dd">
              <p>Additional information.</p>
            </div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
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