# Unable to restore databases or collections from PBM logical backup **URL:** \ **Category:** Percona Backup for MongoDB\ **Tags:** pbm\ **Created:** [March 25, 2026, 8:24am UTC](https://forums.percona.com/t/unable-to-restore-databases-or-collections-from-pbm-logical-backup/40400 "2026-03-25T08:24:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MoosEsooM](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forums.percona.com/moosesoom/32/23401_2.png) [@MoosEsooM](https://forums.percona.com/u/MoosEsooM)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 8:24am UTC](https://forums.percona.com/t/unable-to-restore-databases-or-collections-from-pbm-logical-backup/40400/1 "2026-03-25T08:24:56Z")
**# Selective restore with --ns does nothing - collections silently skipped (PBM 2.13.0)** Hello, I have a 4-node MongoDB replica set: - Node 1: Primary - Node 2: Secondary - Node 3: Secondary - Node 4: Hidden (PBM CLI runs here) PBM agents run on all nodes. Both MongoDB and PBM run in Docker containers: - percona/percona-server-mongodb:8.0.17-6 - percona/percona-backup-mongodb:2.13.0 **## What I did** 1. Created `testdb_B` with 2 collections: `testdb_B.logs` and `testdb_B.prodotti`, populated with data 2. Took a logical backup: `2026-03-20T16:17:15Z logical no no 2026-03-20T16:17:20` 3. Dropped `testdb_B` entirely 4. Attempted selective restore: `pbm restore 2026-03-20T16:17:15Z --ns="testdb_B.*"` **## What I expected** `testdb_B` restored with both collections and their data. **## What I got** The restore completes successfully (`recovery successfully finished`) but `testdb_B` does not appear in `show dbs` and no collections are restored. **## Investigation** `pbm describe-backup` confirms the collections are present in the backup: collections: - testdb\_B.logs - testdb\_B.prodotti The backup files exist on the filesystem and have meaningful size: ```auto 1863 bytes /backups/2026-03-20T16:17:15Z/rs0/testdb_B.prodotti.s2 1717 bytes /backups/2026-03-20T16:17:15Z/rs0/testdb_B.logs.s2 ``` The `metadata.json` inside the backup confirms both collections with data: ```auto { "db": "testdb_B", "collection": "logs", "size": 7112 } { "db": "testdb_B", "collection": "prodotti", "size": 7165 } ``` Primary node logs during restore show the collections being **\*\*silently skipped\*\*** : ```auto skipping restoring testdb_B.logs, it is not included skipping restoring testdb_B.logs metadata, it is not included skipping restoring testdb_B.prodotti, it is not included skipping restoring testdb_B.prodotti metadata, it is not included ``` And during the index rebuild phase: ```auto no indexes for testdb_B.logs no indexes for testdb_B.prodotti ``` While all other collections show: ```auto skip restore indexes for "testdb_A.ordini" skip restore indexes for "graylog.streams" ... etc ``` `pbm describe-restore` confirms PBM is aware of the namespace filter: ```auto name: "2026-03-24T10:27:08.525910563Z" backup: "2026-03-24T10:17:46Z" type: logical status: done namespaces: - testdb_B.prodotti ``` Yet the collection is never written to MongoDB. Debug logs show **\*\*zero mentions of testdb\_B\*\*** during the actual restore phase: ```auto pbm logs --severity=D --event=restore/2026-03-24T08:14:24.392628273Z | grep -i "testdb_B" # (no output) ``` **## Additional tests performed** - Tested with PBM **\*\*2.12.0\*\*** → same behavior - Tested with PBM **\*\*2.13.0\*\*** → same behavior - Tested restoring a **\*\*single collection\*\*** (`–ns=“testdb_B.prodotti”`) → same behavior - Tested with a **\*\*fresh backup + immediate restore\*\*** on the same day → same behavior - Tested with **\*\*selective backup\*\*** (`pbm backup --ns=“testdb_B.*”`) followed by selective restore → same behavior - Full restore (no `–ns` filter) works correctly - Verified `pbmuser` has all required roles: `pbmAnyAction`, `readWrite`, `backup`, `restore`, `clusterMonitor` **## PBM connection URI used by agents** mongodb://pbmuser:\*\*\*@\:27017/admin?replicaSet=rs0&authSource=admin&tls=true&tlsCAFile=/certs/ca.crt&tlsCertificateKeyFile=/certs/pbm-clientcert.pem **## Question** Is selective restore (`–ns`) from a full logical backup supported and expected to work in this configuration? Are we missing any configuration or is this a known bug? Thank you MoosEsooM ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_Ilijic](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forums.percona.com/boris_ilijic/32/24165_2.png) [@Boris\_Ilijic](https://forums.percona.com/u/Boris_Ilijic)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2026, 9:41am UTC](https://forums.percona.com/t/unable-to-restore-databases-or-collections-from-pbm-logical-backup/40400/2 "2026-03-25T09:41:16Z")
Hello, Thank you for a well described issue. The issue here is `pbm-agent’s` connection string, which is not correctly specified because it targets specific database (`admin` in this case): > mongodb://pbmuser:\*\*\*@\:27017/admin?replicaSet=rs0&authSource=admin&tls=true&… So it should be without database name: > mongodb://pbmuser:\*\*\*@\:27017/?replicaSet=rs0&authSource=admin&tls=true&… After that change, you’ll be able to restore the specified database from existing backups. The issue is described within the following jira ticket: > **[Jira](https://perconadev.atlassian.net/browse/PBM-1254?focusedCommentId=425195)**