diff --git a/startup.sh b/startup.sh
index d9ad0159..99fc581f 100755
--- a/startup.sh
+++ b/startup.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 # https://vaneyckt.io/posts/safer_bash_scripts_with_set_euxo_pipefail
 set -Eeuo pipefail
 
+echo create a backup before migrating...
+sqlite3 /litefs/data/sqlite.db '.backup /data/backup.db'
+ls -lh /data/backup.db
+
 npm run migrate
 
 npm start