Timezones

How DBackup handles timezones across scheduling, display, and backup filenames.

Overview

DBackup separates timezone concerns into two independent roles:

Role	Setting	Purpose
Scheduler Timezone	Settings - General - Scheduler Timezone	Controls when cron jobs fire. 0 3 * * * means "3:00 AM in this timezone."
Display Timezone	User Profile - Timezone	Controls how timestamps are shown to each user in the UI.

These two settings are completely independent. You can schedule jobs to run at 3:00 AM Berlin time while one user views timestamps in UTC and another in Tokyo time - both are correct.

Scheduler Timezone

The scheduler timezone defines the timezone in which cron expressions are interpreted. It applies to:

• All backup job schedules (e.g., 0 3 * * * fires at 3 AM in this zone)
• System task schedules (retention cleanup, storage snapshots, etc.)
• The timestamp embedded in backup filenames

How to configure

1. Open Settings in the sidebar.
2. Go to the General tab.
3. Under Scheduler Timezone, select your timezone from the list.
4. The setting is saved immediately.

After changing the scheduler timezone, the scheduler restarts automatically and all jobs are rescheduled with the new timezone.

Schedule picker preview

When you create or edit a backup job, the schedule picker preview shows the time in the scheduler timezone with the timezone name appended:

Runs every day at 03:00 (Europe/Berlin)

This ensures you always know exactly when the job will fire, regardless of your profile timezone.

Backup filename timestamps

Backup filenames that include time tokens (e.g., {job_name}_yyyy-MM-dd_HH-mm-ss) use the scheduler timezone for the timestamp. A job running at 3:00 AM Europe/Berlin produces a filename like MyJob_2026-05-09_03-00-00 regardless of the server clock.

Display Timezone (User Profile)

Each user can set their own timezone in their profile. This controls how all timestamps are displayed throughout the UI:

• Execution history "Started At" column
• Dashboard recent activity
• Notification logs
• Any other timestamp in the interface

How to configure

1. Click your avatar or name in the bottom-left corner.
2. Open Profile.
3. Under Timezone, select your timezone - or choose Auto (Browser Timezone) to always follow your browser's local timezone.
4. Changes apply immediately without reloading.

Auto (Browser Timezone)

New users start with UTC. Switch to Auto (Browser Timezone) to have DBackup automatically use your browser's detected timezone. This is the recommended setting when users are in a single timezone or when each user works from their own device.

Multi-user scenarios

Because display timezones are per-user, two users in different countries can both use DBackup simultaneously and each see timestamps in their local time:

• User A (Europe/Berlin) sees "09 May 2026 03:00"
• User B (America/New_York) sees "08 May 2026 21:00"

Both are looking at the exact same backup execution.

The TZ Environment Variable

The TZ environment variable sets the timezone of the Node.js process itself. It is not required for DBackup to work correctly - the scheduler timezone is managed through the UI setting described above.

TZ serves as a low-level process fallback for any system library that does not accept an explicit timezone parameter. It has no effect on how DBackup schedules jobs or displays timestamps.

# docker-compose.yml - optional, not required for DBackup
services:
  dbackup:
    environment:
      - TZ=Europe/Berlin  # optional process fallback

Dashboard Activity Chart

The Jobs Activity chart on the dashboard groups executions by day using the scheduler timezone. If your scheduler timezone is Europe/Berlin, a backup that runs at 23:30 UTC (01:30 Berlin) appears on the next day's bar in the chart.

Troubleshooting

Schedule picker shows wrong time

The preview in the schedule picker always reflects the scheduler timezone (shown in brackets). If the time looks unexpected, check:

1. Go to Settings - General - Scheduler Timezone and confirm the correct timezone is set.
2. The preview updates after the page loads the setting from the server.

Dashboard chart shows jobs on the wrong day

The activity chart groups by the scheduler timezone. If jobs appear on an unexpected day:

1. Verify the Scheduler Timezone in Settings - General.
2. A backup running near midnight may fall on different days depending on the timezone.

History timestamps look wrong

Each user's history table shows timestamps in their own profile timezone. If the times look off, check Profile - Timezone. Select Auto (Browser Timezone) to automatically use your browser's timezone.

Changing the scheduler timezone mid-operation

Changing the scheduler timezone immediately reschedules all jobs. A job that was set to 0 3 * * * will now fire at 3:00 AM in the new timezone. No cron expressions are rewritten in the database - only the timezone applied to them changes.

Next Steps

• Scheduling - Cron expression format and common schedule examples
• Profile Settings - How to change your display timezone, date format, and time format
• System Tasks - Built-in scheduled maintenance tasks