Configure backup compression¶
By default, Percona Backup for MongoDB uses the s2 compression method when making a backup.
You can start a backup with a different compression method by passing the --compression flag to the pbm backup command.
For example, to start a backup with gzip compression, use the following command:
$ pbm backup --compression=gzip
Supported compression types are: gzip, snappy, lz4, pgzip, zstd. The none value means no compression is done during backup.
Compression level setup¶
You can configure the compression level for backups. Specify the value for the --compression-level flag.
Default compression levels differ per compression method used.
The following table shows available compression levels per compression method:
| Compression method | Supported compression levels | Default |
|---|---|---|
zstd |
1 - fastest speed, 2 - default, 3 - better compression, 4 - best compression | 2 |
snappy |
no levels | |
lz4 |
From 1 (fastest) to 16 | 1 |
gzip and pgzip |
-1 - default compression, 0 - no compression, 1 - best speed, 9 - best compression | -1 |
Note that the higher value you specify, the more time and computing resources it will take to compress the data.
Created: October 7, 2025