--- title: GitLab backup for Nordic partners | ARJ Distribution description: GitProtect protects GitLab at both project and group level — policies, push rules, members and variables. And what changes when a merge request is restored. --- [Skip to content](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/gitlab-backup#main-content) - [English](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/gitlab-backup) - [Svenska](https://www.arjdistribution.se/sv/backup-gitlab) English Show submenu for translations [Contact us](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/contact-arj-distribution-ab?hsLang=en) [![](https://www.arjdistribution.se/hs-fs/hubfs/ARJ%20Teams%20Webinar%20Bild.png?width=920&height=230&name=ARJ%20Teams%20Webinar%20Bild.png)](https://www.arjdistribution.se/?hsLang=en) - [Home](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/arj-distribution-value-added-distributor-for-nordics) Show submenu for Home - [Read our Blog](https://www.arjdistribution.se/arjblog) - [Become Partner](https://www.arjdistribution.se/partner-registration) - [Deal Registration](https://www.arjdistribution.se/deal-registration) - [Read our Code of Conduct](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/code-of-conduct) - Backup Show submenu for Backup - 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[Tricerat](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/tricerat-print-management-solutions) - [Xopero](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/xopero-backup-recovery) - - [English](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/gitlab-backup) - [Svenska](https://www.arjdistribution.se/sv/backup-gitlab) English Show submenu for translations - [Contact us](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/contact-arj-distribution-ab) # GitLab backup GitLab differs from the other platforms on one point that goes straight to what is worth protecting: **much of what governs how an organisation works does not sit in the projects, but in the groups above them.** Policies, push rules, members and roles, variables and group settings are shared by every project under the group. If they disappear, each individual repository is still there — but the rules that held them together are gone, and those are far harder to reconstruct than code. ARJ Distribution sells exclusively through resellers and MSPs in the Nordics — Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. We never sell directly to end customers. > The projects can be cloned back. The push rules, policies and permission structure in the group above them cannot. On this page - [Two levels, and the upper one gets missed](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/gitlab-backup#tva-nivaer) - [What is protected](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/gitlab-backup#skyddas) - [What does not look the same afterwards](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/gitlab-backup#aterstallning) - [Cloud and self-managed](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/gitlab-backup#self-managed) - [Four questions to ask the customer](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/gitlab-backup#fraga) - [Why through a distributor](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/gitlab-backup#distributor) - [Getting started](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/gitlab-backup#kom-igang) ## Two levels, and the upper one gets missed GitProtect protects GitLab at both project level and group level. It is worth setting them side by side, because it is the right-hand column that tends to slip past in a customer conversation. Project level and group level in GitLab At project level GitProtect protects the repository, issues, merge requests, pipelines and jobs, releases and feature flags, environments and incidents, snippets and requirements, issue boards, labels and milestones, project settings and deploy keys, and analytics. At group level it protects approval and scan policies, push rules, members and roles with expiration dates, variables including masked and protected ones, group settings, subgroups, invited groups, webhooks and the group wiki. Group level applies to every project beneath it. What is protected at each level PROJECT LEVEL Repository, wiki and LFS Issues and merge requests Pipelines, jobs and test cases Releases, feature flags and Pages Environments and incidents Issue boards, labels, milestones Snippets and requirements Project settings and deploy keys Analytics GROUP LEVEL Approval and scan policies Push rules Members, roles and expiration dates Variables, masked and protected included Group settings and badges Subgroups and invited groups Webhooks and group wiki Labels, milestones and analytics Applies to every project under the group Both levels are included. The right-hand one rarely comes up — and it is the hardest to rebuild by hand. Labels, milestones and analytics appear at both levels in the vendor's list. **Why group level deserves its own paragraph in the quote:** push rules and approval policies are often what satisfies a traceability requirement at the customer. Required signed commits, blocking secrets from being pushed, rules for commit messages, protection against deleted tags — this is the kind of thing somebody once set up to pass an audit, and that nobody remembers the details of two years later. ## What is protected In detail, from the vendor's own list: | Area | What it covers | | --- | --- | | **Repository** | Branches, tags, refs, commits with text and creator, logs, objects, LFS, wiki and project name. | | **Issues** | Open and closed, with assignees, labels, due dates, confidentiality, attachments, comments, description, creator and creation date. | | **Merge requests** | Open, merged and closed, with assignees, reviewers, comments, commits, description, labels and milestones. **See the limitation below.** | | **Build and test** | Jobs, pipelines and test cases — both open and archived, with title, description, labels and confidentiality. | | **Deployment** | Feature flags with strategies, Pages, and releases with assets, links, milestone and release notes. | | **Operations and monitoring** | Environments with name, external URL and state, plus incidents. | | **Planning** | Issue boards with title and label columns, labels, milestones, requirements and snippets. | | **Group level** | Merge request approval policies and scan execution policies, push rules in detail, members with role and expiration date, variables with type, environment scope and whether they are masked or protected, group settings, subgroups, invited groups, webhooks and the group wiki. | ## What does not look the same afterwards The vendor lists no resources as missing from the GitLab backup. But two things change *during a restore*, and according to them both come from GitLab's API. - **Merged and closed merge requests are restored as closed issues.** The content comes along, but the record is no longer a merge request. For a customer who wants to go back and see how a particular change was reviewed and approved, that is a real difference — and it is better said in a sales meeting than discovered by the customer. - **Restored comments are attributed to the restore account.** The same applies to creation date, creator and description on issues, which are restored in comment form. The vendor states that the original details are written into the comment text itself — **but the formal authorship in the field is not the one it was.** **When this matters and when it does not:** for most customers it is a curiosity. For a customer under audit, or working under rules where it must be possible to show who approved a change, it is a question to raise early. The question that separates them is simple: *do you need to prove who did what, or just get the content back?* ## Cloud and self-managed The vendor's resource page opens by saying it describes resources in **GitLab cloud and GitLab self-managed**, and then gives **one shared list** without separating the two in any individual entry. So both being mentioned is what the documentation says — but it does not state entry by entry that everything applies equally to a self-hosted installation. **If the customer runs self-managed, we confirm that with the vendor before you quote.** ## Four questions to ask the customer 1. **How much sits at group level?** Push rules, approval policies and permission structure — if the customer has built that up, it is often worth more than the repositories themselves. 2. **Do you need to show how a change was reviewed?** Merged merge requests come back as closed issues, and for that customer it is decisive. 3. **Are secrets kept in group variables?** They are covered, masked and protected ones included — but it is worth knowing where they are before anything happens. 4. **Cloud or self-managed?** The list is shared, but we check the self-hosted case first. ## Why through a distributor > We do not sell to end customers. That is not a courtesy — it is the business model: everything goes through you, and we never compete with you at your customer. What you get besides the licences: technical pre-sales help, support during a proof of concept, support in English and Swedish, and a named contact who knows your business instead of a ticket number. ## Getting started Tell us how the customer's groups and projects are structured, whether it is cloud or self-managed, and whether there are traceability requirements. Then we will tell you what can be promised, and what it costs. ### Read more - [GitHub backup](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/github-backup?hsLang=en) - [Azure DevOps backup](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/azure-devops-backup?hsLang=en) - [Bitbucket backup](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/bitbucket-backup?hsLang=en) - [GitProtect — DevOps backup](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/gitprotect.io-enterprise-grade-backup-disaster-recovery?hsLang=en) ### Tell us about your project *[or book a short technical call](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/contact-arj-distribution-ab?hsLang=en)* **About the content on this page.** This is a sales-oriented overview — not complete product documentation. The information is taken from **GitProtect's own documentation in October 2026** and we review it regularly, but features and support change — and a change can get past us. **So always check against the vendor's current documentation before anything is promised to a customer:** [GitProtect's knowledge base](https://helpcenter.gitprotect.io/). If you are unsure, it is faster to [ask us](https://www.arjdistribution.se/en/contact-arj-distribution-ab?hsLang=en) — we take the question to the vendor and come back with an answer you can put in a quote. **And if something does not work the way it is described — here or in the vendor's documentation — tell us.** We report it to the vendor and correct the page. 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