Scheduling automatic backups

Scheduling automatic backups

What you'll learn: how to set backups to run automatically every day, so you never have to remember.

Before you start

You need a backup destination already set up. If you haven't done that yet, see Connecting a backup destination first.

Step 1 — Open the Backups page

In the sidebar, under System, click Backups.

Step 2 — Create a schedule

  1. Click New schedule (or Schedule a backup).
  2. Pick what to back up:
    • All accounts — recommended for most setups
    • Specific accounts — useful if some customers want a higher frequency
  3. Pick how often:
    • Daily is the right answer for most people
    • Twice daily if data changes a lot
    • Weekly for very low-traffic sites
  4. Pick what time of day to run. Pick a quiet hour for your customers (often 3–5 AM local time).
  5. Pick how many backups to keep. A common pattern is 7 daily + 4 weekly — that's about a month of restore options.
  6. Pick which destination to use.
  7. Click Save.

Step 3 — Watch the first run

The next morning, open the Backups page. You should see your first scheduled backup completed, with a green status. Click it to see exactly which accounts were backed up and how big they were.

Tips

  • Schedule, then test a restore. A backup you've never restored from is a backup you might not actually have.
  • Use two destinations for important data. S3 to one bucket plus an SFTP copy to a different machine is great peace of mind.
  • Watch the cost. Cheap object storage helps — a few cents per GB per month.

If something goes wrong

  • The backup ran but is empty — your destination might be misconfigured. Check the destination's connection status on the Backups page.
  • The backup failed — open the failed run and read the error. The most common cause is the destination being out of space.
  • Customers reporting slowness during backup — pick a quieter time of day or reduce backup frequency.

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Need help? Contact support.