Proxmox VE

How to Schedule Automatic Backups - Complete Guide

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How to Schedule Automatic Backups - Complete Guide

Question: How do I schedule automatic backups in Proxmox VE?

Answer: Multiple options available

Option 1: Web UI Scheduled Jobs (Easiest)

Step-by-Step:

1. Go to Backup Section

  • Navigate to Datacenter → Backup

2. Create New Job

  • Click Add

3. Configure Schedule Choose your frequency:

  • Daily - Runs every day
  • Weekly - Runs once a week (Sunday)
  • Monthly - Runs 1st of month
  • Custom - Use cron expression

4. Set Time

  • Default: 2:00 AM (off-peak)
  • Click time to change

5. Select VMs/Containers

  • Choose “Include specific VMs”
  • Select all or specific VMs

6. Save Job

  • Click Create
  • Job appears in list - enabled by default

Option 2: Custom Cron Schedule

Common Schedules

# Edit crontab
crontab -e
 
# Add these lines:
 
# Daily at 2 AM
0 2 * * * vzdump --mode snapshot --vmid all --storage local --compress lzo
 
# Every 6 hours
0 */6 * * * vzdump --mode snapshot --vmid all --storage local
 
# Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 2 AM
0 2 * * 1,3,5 vzdump --mode snapshot --vmid all --storage local
 
# Weekly Sunday at 3 AM (full backup)
0 3 * * 0 vzdump --mode suspend --vmid all --storage local --compress zstd

Cron Expression Guide

FieldValuesExample
Minute0-590 = top of hour
Hour0-232 = 2 AM
Day1-31* = every day
Month1-12* = every month
Day of week0-60 = Sunday

Option 3: Systemd Timers (Modern)

Create Timer

# Create service
nano /etc/systemd/system/pvebackup.service
 
[Unit]
Description=Proxmox Backup
 
[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/vzdump --mode snapshot --vmid all --storage local

Create Timer

nano /etc/systemd/system/pvebackup.timer
 
[Unit]
Description=Backup Timer
 
[Timer]
OnCalendar=*-*-* 02:00:00
Persistent=true
 
[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

Enable Timer

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable pvebackup.timer
systemctl start pvebackup.timer

How to Set Retention (Keep Backups)

Using Web UI

  1. Backup Job → Edit
  2. Find Retention
  3. Set number:
    • Daily: 7 (keep 7 days)
    • Weekly: 4 (keep 4 weeks)
    • Monthly: 3 (keep 3 months)

Using CLI

# Auto-cleanup with job
vzdump --mode snapshot --vmid all --storage local \
  --prune-backup keep-daily=7,keep-weekly=4,keep-monthly=3

How to Verify Schedule is Working

# Check scheduled task
systemctl list-timers | grep backup
 
# Check logs
journalctl -u vzdump -n 20

Troubleshooting Scheduling Issues

Backup Not Running

# Check cron service
systemctl status cron
 
# Enable cron
systemctl enable cron

Wrong Time

# Check timezone
timedatectl
 
# Set correct timezone
timedatectl set-timezone America/New_York

Pro Tips

  1. Off-peak hours: 1-5 AM best
  2. Test first: Manual backup before scheduling
  3. Monitor: Enable email notifications

Keywords

schedule cron how-to automation backup

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