diff --git a/chain/store/store.go b/chain/store/store.go
index 28c427b2b..ec7714734 100644
--- a/chain/store/store.go
+++ b/chain/store/store.go
@@ -594,9 +594,13 @@ func (cs *ChainStore) takeHeaviestTipSet(ctx context.Context, ts *types.TipSet)
 // FlushValidationCache removes all results of block validation from the
 // chain metadata store. Usually the first step after a new chain import.
 func (cs *ChainStore) FlushValidationCache() error {
+	return FlushValidationCache(cs.ds)
+}
+
+func FlushValidationCache(ds datastore.Batching) error {
 	log.Infof("clearing block validation cache...")
 
-	dsWalk, err := cs.ds.Query(query.Query{
+	dsWalk, err := ds.Query(query.Query{
 		// Potential TODO: the validation cache is not a namespace on its own
 		// but is rather constructed as prefixed-key `foo:bar` via .Instance(), which
 		// in turn does not work with the filter, which can match only on `foo/bar`
@@ -616,7 +620,7 @@ func (cs *ChainStore) FlushValidationCache() error {
 		return xerrors.Errorf("failed to run key listing query: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	batch, err := cs.ds.Batch()
+	batch, err := ds.Batch()
 	if err != nil {
 		return xerrors.Errorf("failed to open a DS batch: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/lotus/backup.go b/cmd/lotus/backup.go
index aec0000c9..5517bd9f4 100644
--- a/cmd/lotus/backup.go
+++ b/cmd/lotus/backup.go
@@ -1,14 +1,121 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"os"
+
+	dstore "github.com/ipfs/go-datastore"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/go-homedir"
 	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
+	"golang.org/x/xerrors"
+	"gopkg.in/cheggaaa/pb.v1"
 
 	"github.com/filecoin-project/go-jsonrpc"
 
+	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/chain/store"
 	lcli "github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/cli"
+	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/lib/backupds"
+	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/node/config"
 	"github.com/filecoin-project/lotus/node/repo"
 )
 
 var backupCmd = lcli.BackupCmd("repo", repo.FullNode, func(cctx *cli.Context) (lcli.BackupAPI, jsonrpc.ClientCloser, error) {
 	return lcli.GetFullNodeAPI(cctx)
 })
+
+func restore(cctx *cli.Context, r repo.Repo) error {
+	bf, err := homedir.Expand(cctx.Path("restore"))
+	if err != nil {
+		return xerrors.Errorf("expand backup file path: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	st, err := os.Stat(bf)
+	if err != nil {
+		return xerrors.Errorf("stat backup file (%s): %w", bf, err)
+	}
+
+	f, err := os.Open(bf)
+	if err != nil {
+		return xerrors.Errorf("opening backup file: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer f.Close() // nolint:errcheck
+
+	lr, err := r.Lock(repo.FullNode)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer lr.Close() // nolint:errcheck
+
+	if cctx.IsSet("restore-config") {
+		log.Info("Restoring config")
+
+		cf, err := homedir.Expand(cctx.String("restore-config"))
+		if err != nil {
+			return xerrors.Errorf("expanding config path: %w", err)
+		}
+
+		_, err = os.Stat(cf)
+		if err != nil {
+			return xerrors.Errorf("stat config file (%s): %w", cf, err)
+		}
+
+		var cerr error
+		err = lr.SetConfig(func(raw interface{}) {
+			rcfg, ok := raw.(*config.FullNode)
+			if !ok {
+				cerr = xerrors.New("expected miner config")
+				return
+			}
+
+			ff, err := config.FromFile(cf, rcfg)
+			if err != nil {
+				cerr = xerrors.Errorf("loading config: %w", err)
+				return
+			}
+
+			*rcfg = *ff.(*config.FullNode)
+		})
+		if cerr != nil {
+			return cerr
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			return xerrors.Errorf("setting config: %w", err)
+		}
+
+	} else {
+		log.Warn("--restore-config NOT SET, WILL USE DEFAULT VALUES")
+	}
+
+	log.Info("Restoring metadata backup")
+
+	mds, err := lr.Datastore("/metadata")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	bar := pb.New64(st.Size())
+	br := bar.NewProxyReader(f)
+	bar.ShowTimeLeft = true
+	bar.ShowPercent = true
+	bar.ShowSpeed = true
+	bar.Units = pb.U_BYTES
+
+	bar.Start()
+	err = backupds.RestoreInto(br, mds)
+	bar.Finish()
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return xerrors.Errorf("restoring metadata: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	log.Info("Resetting chainstore metadata")
+
+	chainHead := dstore.NewKey("head")
+	if err := mds.Delete(chainHead); err != nil {
+		return xerrors.Errorf("clearing chain head: %w", err)
+	}
+	if err := store.FlushValidationCache(mds); err != nil {
+		return xerrors.Errorf("clearing chain validation cache: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/cmd/lotus/daemon.go b/cmd/lotus/daemon.go
index 581238d4b..457fb1efb 100644
--- a/cmd/lotus/daemon.go
+++ b/cmd/lotus/daemon.go
@@ -144,6 +144,14 @@ var DaemonCmd = &cli.Command{
 			Name:  "api-max-req-size",
 			Usage: "maximum API request size accepted by the JSON RPC server",
 		},
+		&cli.PathFlag{
+			Name:  "restore",
+			Usage: "restore from backup file",
+		},
+		&cli.PathFlag{
+			Name:  "restore-config",
+			Usage: "config file to use when restoring from backup",
+		},
 	},
 	Action: func(cctx *cli.Context) error {
 		isLite := cctx.Bool("lite")
@@ -203,9 +211,11 @@ var DaemonCmd = &cli.Command{
 			r.SetConfigPath(cctx.String("config"))
 		}
 
-		if err := r.Init(repo.FullNode); err != nil && err != repo.ErrRepoExists {
+		err = r.Init(repo.FullNode)
+		if err != nil && err != repo.ErrRepoExists {
 			return xerrors.Errorf("repo init error: %w", err)
 		}
+		freshRepo := err != repo.ErrRepoExists
 
 		if !isLite {
 			if err := paramfetch.GetParams(lcli.ReqContext(cctx), build.ParametersJSON(), 0); err != nil {
@@ -223,6 +233,15 @@ var DaemonCmd = &cli.Command{
 			genBytes = build.MaybeGenesis()
 		}
 
+		if cctx.IsSet("restore") {
+			if !freshRepo {
+				return xerrors.Errorf("restoring from backup is only possible with a fresh repo!")
+			}
+			if err := restore(cctx, r); err != nil {
+				return xerrors.Errorf("restoring from backup: %w", err)
+			}
+		}
+
 		chainfile := cctx.String("import-chain")
 		snapshot := cctx.String("import-snapshot")
 		if chainfile != "" || snapshot != "" {