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    Restore deleted tables

    This document describes how to restore (or undelete ) a deleted table in BigQuery. You can restore a deleted table within the time travel window specified for the dataset, including explicit deletions and implicit deletions due to table expiration. You can also configure the time travel window .

    For information about how to restore an entire deleted dataset or snapshot, see the following resources:

    The time travel window can have a duration between two and seven days. After the time travel window has passed, BigQuery provides a fail-safe period where the deleted data is automatically retained for an additional seven days. Once the fail-safe period has passed, it isn't possible to restore a table using any method, including opening a support ticket.

    Before you begin

    Ensure that you have the necessary Identity and Access Management (IAM) permissions to restore a deleted table.

    Required roles

    To get the permissions that you need to restore a deleted table, ask your administrator to grant you the BigQuery User ( roles/bigquery.user ) IAM role on the project. For more information about granting roles, see Manage access to projects, folders, and organizations .

    You might also be able to get the required permissions through custom roles or other predefined roles .

    Restore a table

    You can restore a table from historical data by copying the historical data into a new table. Copying historical data works even if the table was deleted or has expired, as long as you restore the table within the duration of the time travel window.

    When you restore a table from historical data, tags from the source table aren't copied to the destination table. Table partitioning information also isn't copied to the destination table. To recreate the partitioning scheme of the original table, you can view the initial table creation request in Cloud Logging and use that information to partition the restored table.

    You can restore a table that was deleted but is still within the time travel window by copying the table to a new table, using the @<time> time decorator. You can't query a deleted table, even if you use a time decorator. You must restore it first.

    Use the following syntax with the @<time> time decorator:

    • tableid@ TIME where TIME is the number of milliseconds since the Unix epoch.
    • tableid@- TIME_OFFSET where TIME_OFFSET is the relative offset from the current time, in milliseconds.
    • tableid@0 : Specifies the oldest available historical data.

    To restore a table, select one of the following options:

    Console

    You can't undelete a table by using the Google Cloud console.

    bq

    1. In the Google Cloud console, activate Cloud Shell.

      Activate Cloud Shell

      At the bottom of the Google Cloud console, a Cloud Shell session starts and displays a command-line prompt. Cloud Shell is a shell environment with the Google Cloud CLI already installed and with values already set for your current project. It can take a few seconds for the session to initialize.

    2. To restore a table, first determine a UNIX timestamp of when the table existed (in milliseconds). You can use the Linux date command to generate the Unix timestamp from a regular timestamp value:

      date -d '2023-08-04 16:00:34.456789Z' +%s000

    3. Then, use the bq copy command with the @<time> time travel decorator to perform the table copy operation.

      For example, enter the following command to copy the mydataset.mytable table at the time 1418864998000 into a new table mydataset.newtable .

      bq cp mydataset.mytable@1418864998000 mydataset.newtable

      (Optional) Supply the --location flag and set the value to your location .

      You can also specify a relative offset. The following example copies the version of a table from one hour ago:

      bq cp mydataset.mytable@-3600000 mydataset.newtable

    Go

    Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in the BigQuery quickstart using client libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Go API reference documentation .

    To authenticate to BigQuery, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

      import 
  
 ( 
  
 "context" 
  
 "fmt" 
  
 "time" 
  
 "cloud.google.com/go/bigquery" 
 ) 
 // deleteAndUndeleteTable demonstrates how to recover a deleted table by copying it from a point in time 
 // that predates the deletion event. 
 func 
  
 deleteAndUndeleteTable 
 ( 
 projectID 
 , 
  
 datasetID 
 , 
  
 tableID 
  
 string 
 ) 
  
 error 
  
 { 
  
 // projectID := "my-project-id" 
  
 // datasetID := "mydataset" 
  
 // tableID := "mytable" 
  
 ctx 
  
 := 
  
 context 
 . 
 Background 
 () 
  
 client 
 , 
  
 err 
  
 := 
  
 bigquery 
 . 
 NewClient 
 ( 
 ctx 
 , 
  
 projectID 
 ) 
  
 if 
  
 err 
  
 != 
  
 nil 
  
 { 
  
 return 
  
 fmt 
 . 
 Errorf 
 ( 
 "bigquery.NewClient: %v" 
 , 
  
 err 
 ) 
  
 } 
  
 defer 
  
 client 
 . 
 Close 
 () 
  
 ds 
  
 := 
  
 client 
 . 
 Dataset 
 ( 
 datasetID 
 ) 
  
 if 
  
 _ 
 , 
  
 err 
  
 := 
  
 ds 
 . 
 Table 
 ( 
 tableID 
 ). 
 Metadata 
 ( 
 ctx 
 ); 
  
 err 
  
 != 
  
 nil 
  
 { 
  
 return 
  
 err 
  
 } 
  
 // Record the current time.  We'll use this as the snapshot time 
  
 // for recovering the table. 
  
 snapTime 
  
 := 
  
 time 
 . 
 Now 
 () 
  
 // "Accidentally" delete the table. 
  
 if 
  
 err 
  
 := 
  
 client 
 . 
 Dataset 
 ( 
 datasetID 
 ). 
 Table 
 ( 
 tableID 
 ). 
 Delete 
 ( 
 ctx 
 ); 
  
 err 
  
 != 
  
 nil 
  
 { 
  
 return 
  
 err 
  
 } 
  
 // Construct the restore-from tableID using a snapshot decorator. 
  
 snapshotTableID 
  
 := 
  
 fmt 
 . 
 Sprintf 
 ( 
 "%s@%d" 
 , 
  
 tableID 
 , 
  
 snapTime 
 . 
 UnixNano 
 () 
 / 
 1e6 
 ) 
  
 // Choose a new table ID for the recovered table data. 
  
 recoverTableID 
  
 := 
  
 fmt 
 . 
 Sprintf 
 ( 
 "%s_recovered" 
 , 
  
 tableID 
 ) 
  
 // Construct and run a copy job. 
  
 copier 
  
 := 
  
 ds 
 . 
 Table 
 ( 
 recoverTableID 
 ). 
  CopierFrom 
 
 ( 
 ds 
 . 
 Table 
 ( 
 snapshotTableID 
 )) 
  
 copier 
 . 
 WriteDisposition 
  
 = 
  
 bigquery 
 . 
  WriteTruncate 
 
  
 job 
 , 
  
 err 
  
 := 
  
 copier 
 . 
 Run 
 ( 
 ctx 
 ) 
  
 if 
  
 err 
  
 != 
  
 nil 
  
 { 
  
 return 
  
 err 
  
 } 
  
 status 
 , 
  
 err 
  
 := 
  
 job 
 . 
 Wait 
 ( 
 ctx 
 ) 
  
 if 
  
 err 
  
 != 
  
 nil 
  
 { 
  
 return 
  
 err 
  
 } 
  
 if 
  
 err 
  
 := 
  
 status 
 . 
  Err 
 
 (); 
  
 err 
  
 != 
  
 nil 
  
 { 
  
 return 
  
 err 
  
 } 
  
 ds 
 . 
 Table 
 ( 
 recoverTableID 
 ). 
 Delete 
 ( 
 ctx 
 ) 
  
 return 
  
 nil 
 }

    Java

    Before trying this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in the BigQuery quickstart using client libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Java API reference documentation .

    To authenticate to BigQuery, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

      import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. BigQuery 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. BigQueryException 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. BigQueryOptions 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. CopyJobConfiguration 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. Job 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. JobInfo 
 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.cloud.bigquery. TableId 
 
 ; 
 // Sample to undeleting a table 
 public 
  
 class 
 UndeleteTable 
  
 { 
  
 public 
  
 static 
  
 void 
  
 runUndeleteTable 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample. 
  
 String 
  
 datasetName 
  
 = 
  
 "MY_DATASET_NAME" 
 ; 
  
 String 
  
 tableName 
  
 = 
  
 "MY_TABLE_TABLE" 
 ; 
  
 String 
  
 recoverTableName 
  
 = 
  
 "MY_RECOVER_TABLE_TABLE" 
 ; 
  
 undeleteTable 
 ( 
 datasetName 
 , 
  
 tableName 
 , 
  
 recoverTableName 
 ); 
  
 } 
  
 public 
  
 static 
  
 void 
  
 undeleteTable 
 ( 
 String 
  
 datasetName 
 , 
  
 String 
  
 tableName 
 , 
  
 String 
  
 recoverTableName 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 try 
  
 { 
  
 // Initialize client that will be used to send requests. This client only needs to be created 
  
 // once, and can be reused for multiple requests. 
  
  BigQuery 
 
  
 bigquery 
  
 = 
  
  BigQueryOptions 
 
 . 
 getDefaultInstance 
 (). 
 getService 
 (); 
  
 // "Accidentally" delete the table. 
  
 bigquery 
 . 
  delete 
 
 ( 
 TableId 
 . 
 of 
 ( 
 datasetName 
 , 
  
 tableName 
 )); 
  
 // Record the current time.  We'll use this as the snapshot time 
  
 // for recovering the table. 
  
 long 
  
 snapTime 
  
 = 
  
 System 
 . 
 currentTimeMillis 
 (); 
  
 // Construct the restore-from tableID using a snapshot decorator. 
  
 String 
  
 snapshotTableId 
  
 = 
  
 String 
 . 
 format 
 ( 
 "%s@%d" 
 , 
  
 tableName 
 , 
  
 snapTime 
 ); 
  
 // Construct and run a copy job. 
  
  CopyJobConfiguration 
 
  
 configuration 
  
 = 
  
  CopyJobConfiguration 
 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 ( 
  
 // Choose a new table ID for the recovered table data. 
  
  TableId 
 
 . 
 of 
 ( 
 datasetName 
 , 
  
 recoverTableName 
 ), 
  
  TableId 
 
 . 
 of 
 ( 
 datasetName 
 , 
  
 snapshotTableId 
 )) 
  
 . 
 build 
 (); 
  
  Job 
 
  
 job 
  
 = 
  
 bigquery 
 . 
  create 
 
 ( 
 JobInfo 
 . 
 of 
 ( 
 configuration 
 )); 
  
 job 
  
 = 
  
 job 
 . 
  waitFor 
 
 (); 
  
 if 
  
 ( 
 job 
 . 
  isDone 
 
 () 
 && 
 job 
 . 
 getStatus 
 (). 
 getError 
 () 
  
 == 
  
 null 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "Undelete table recovered successfully." 
 ); 
  
 } 
  
 else 
  
 { 
  
 System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
  
 "BigQuery was unable to copy the table due to an error: \n" 
  
 + 
  
 job 
 . 
 getStatus 
 (). 
 getError 
 ()); 
  
 return 
 ; 
  
 } 
  
 } 
  
 catch 
  
 ( 
  BigQueryException 
 
  
 | 
  
 InterruptedException 
  
 e 
 ) 
  
 { 
  
 System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 "Table not found. \n" 
  
 + 
  
 e 
 . 
 toString 
 ()); 
  
 } 
  
 } 
 }

    Node.js

    Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in the BigQuery quickstart using client libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Node.js API reference documentation .

    To authenticate to BigQuery, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

      // Import the Google Cloud client library 
 const 
  
 { 
 BigQuery 
 } 
  
 = 
  
 require 
 ( 
 ' @google-cloud/bigquery 
' 
 ); 
 const 
  
 bigquery 
  
 = 
  
 new 
  
  BigQuery 
 
 (); 
 async 
  
 function 
  
 undeleteTable 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 // Undeletes "my_table_to_undelete" from "my_dataset". 
  
 /** 
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment the following lines before running the sample. 
 */ 
  
 // const datasetId = "my_dataset"; 
  
 // const tableId = "my_table_to_undelete"; 
  
 // const recoveredTableId = "my_recovered_table"; 
  
 /** 
 * TODO(developer): Choose an appropriate snapshot point as epoch milliseconds. 
 * For this example, we choose the current time as we're about to delete the 
 * table immediately afterwards. 
 */ 
  
 const 
  
 snapshotEpoch 
  
 = 
  
 Date 
 . 
 now 
 (); 
  
 // Delete the table 
  
 await 
  
 bigquery 
  
 . 
 dataset 
 ( 
 datasetId 
 ) 
  
 . 
 table 
 ( 
 tableId 
 ) 
  
 . 
 delete 
 (); 
  
 console 
 . 
 log 
 ( 
 `Table 
 ${ 
 tableId 
 } 
 deleted.` 
 ); 
  
 // Construct the restore-from table ID using a snapshot decorator. 
  
 const 
  
 snapshotTableId 
  
 = 
  
 ` 
 ${ 
 tableId 
 } 
 @ 
 ${ 
 snapshotEpoch 
 } 
 ` 
 ; 
  
 // Construct and run a copy job. 
  
 await 
  
 bigquery 
  
 . 
 dataset 
 ( 
 datasetId 
 ) 
  
 . 
 table 
 ( 
 snapshotTableId 
 ) 
  
 . 
  copy 
 
 ( 
 bigquery 
 . 
 dataset 
 ( 
 datasetId 
 ). 
 table 
 ( 
 recoveredTableId 
 )); 
  
 console 
 . 
 log 
 ( 
  
 `Copied data from deleted table 
 ${ 
 tableId 
 } 
 to 
 ${ 
 recoveredTableId 
 } 
 ` 
  
 ); 
 }

    Python

    Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in the BigQuery quickstart using client libraries . For more information, see the BigQuery Python API reference documentation .

    To authenticate to BigQuery, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries .

      import 
  
 time 
 from 
  
 google.cloud 
  
 import 
  bigquery 
 
 # Construct a BigQuery client object. 
 client 
 = 
  bigquery 
 
 . 
  Client 
 
 () 
 # TODO(developer): Choose a table to recover. 
 # table_id = "your-project.your_dataset.your_table" 
 # TODO(developer): Choose a new table ID for the recovered table data. 
 # recovered_table_id = "your-project.your_dataset.your_table_recovered" 
 # TODO(developer): Choose an appropriate snapshot point as epoch 
 # milliseconds. For this example, we choose the current time as we're about 
 # to delete the table immediately afterwards. 
 snapshot_epoch 
 = 
 int 
 ( 
 time 
 . 
 time 
 () 
 * 
 1000 
 ) 
 # ... 
 # "Accidentally" delete the table. 
 client 
 . 
  delete_table 
 
 ( 
 table_id 
 ) 
 # Make an API request. 
 # Construct the restore-from table ID using a snapshot decorator. 
 snapshot_table_id 
 = 
 " 
 {} 
 @ 
 {} 
 " 
 . 
 format 
 ( 
 table_id 
 , 
 snapshot_epoch 
 ) 
 # Construct and run a copy job. 
 job 
 = 
 client 
 . 
  copy_table 
 
 ( 
 snapshot_table_id 
 , 
 recovered_table_id 
 , 
 # Must match the source and destination tables location. 
 location 
 = 
 "US" 
 , 
 ) 
 # Make an API request. 
  job 
 
 . 
 result 
 () 
 # Wait for the job to complete. 
 print 
 ( 
 "Copied data from deleted table 
 {} 
 to 
 {} 
 " 
 . 
 format 
 ( 
 table_id 
 , 
 recovered_table_id 
 ) 
 )

    If you anticipate that you might want to restore a table later than what is allowed by the time travel window, then create a table snapshot of the table. For more information, see Introduction to table snapshots .

    You cannot restore a logical view directly. For more information, see Restore a view .

    Troubleshoot table recovery

    Querying the deleted table using a timestamp in the past

    You cannot restore table data by querying a deleted table in the past using a timestamp decorator or by using FOR SYSTEM_TIME AS OF to save the result in a destination table. Using either of these methods generates the following error:

    Not found: Table myproject:mydataset.table was not found in location LOCATION

    Instead, to copy the table, follow the steps in Restore a table .

    Error: VPC Service Controls: Request is prohibited by organization's policy

    When you attempt to run the copy command from Google Cloud Shell you may encounter an error like the following:

    BigQuery error in cp operation: VPC Service Controls: Request is prohibited by organization's policy

    Using Cloud Shell from the Google Cloud console with VPC SC is not supported , because it gets treated as a request outside of the service perimeters and access to data that VPC Service Controls protects is denied. To work around this issue, launch and connect to Cloud Shell locally with the Google Cloud CLI.

    Error: Latest categories are incompatible with schema

    If you run the copy command from Google Cloud Shell, you may receive an error like the following:

    Latest categories are incompatible with schema at TIMESTAMP

    There are several possible causes for this error:

    • The destination table schema is different from the schema of the original table (extra columns are allowed as long as they don't have any column-level policy tags attached).
    • The destination table column-level policy tags are configured differently from the source table.

    To resolve this error:

    1. Ensure that the schema of the destination table is identical, and ensure that none of the columns in the original table are missing from the destination table.
    2. Remove any column-level policy tags from the destination table that aren't in the original table's schema.

    Error: BigQuery error in cp operation: Invalid time travel timestamp

    If you run the bq copy command from Google Cloud Shell, you may receive an error like the following:

    BigQuery error in cp operation: Invalid time travel timestamp 1744343690000 for
table PROJECT_ID:DATASET_ID.TABLE_ID@1744343690000.
Cannot read before 1744843691075

    This error indicates that you are trying to recover data from the table state prior to the time travel window or before the table was created. This is not supported. The error message contains the latest timestamp that can be used to read the table data. Use the timestamp in the error in the bq copy command.

    This error can also occur when you provide a negative timestamp value, for example, TABLE@-1744963620000 . Instead, use a time-offset that can be used with the - sign.

    BigQuery error in cp operation: Invalid time travel timestamp 584878816 for
table PROJECT_ID:DATASET_ID.TABLE_ID@584878816.
Cannot read before 1744843691075

    This error message indicates that the bq cp command contains a negative timestamp value as an offset, and that you attempted to read the table at CURRENT_TIMESTAMP - PROVIDED TIMESTAMP . This value is normally a timestamp in 1970. To work around this issue, verify the offset or timestamp values when you set the table decorator value and use the - sign appropriately.

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