Backup Jobs

Backup jobs are the core of DBackup. They connect a database source to a storage destination and define when and how backups should run.

Overview

A job defines:

• What to backup (source database)
• Where to store it (one or more destinations)
• When to run (schedule)
• How to process (compression, encryption)
• How long to keep (retention per destination)

Creating a Job

1. Navigate to Jobs in the sidebar
2. Click Create Job
3. Configure the job settings
4. Save

Basic Settings

Setting	Description
Name	Descriptive name (e.g., "Daily MySQL Backup")
Source	Database connection to backup
Destinations	One or more storage locations for backups (see Multi-Destination below)
Enabled	Toggle job on/off
Filename Template	Override the global filename pattern with a per-job naming template (configured in Settings → Templates)
Skip Verification	Disable post-upload checksum verification for this job (see Backup Verification)

Compression

Reduce backup size significantly:

Algorithm	Speed	Compression	Best For
None	Fastest	0%	Quick backups, already compressed
Gzip	Fast	60-70%	General use
Brotli	Slower	70-80%	Maximum compression

PostgreSQL Native Compression

PostgreSQL jobs have an additional PostgreSQL Compression setting that controls native pg_dump compression (GZIP, LZ4, ZSTD). See PostgreSQL → PostgreSQL Compression.

Encryption

Protect sensitive data:

1. Create an Encryption Profile first
2. Select the profile in job settings
3. Backups are encrypted with AES-256-GCM

Schedule

Automate backups with cron expressions. See Scheduling.

Retention

Automatically clean up old backups. Retention is configured per destination - each destination can have its own retention policy. See Retention Policies.

Filename Pattern

Customize the filename of backup files globally in Settings → General → Backup Filename Pattern, or override it per job via a Naming Template (see Templates below). The pattern supports the following tokens:

Token	Description	Example
{job_name}	Job name (canonical token)	Daily MySQL Backup
{name}	Job name (legacy alias, still supported)	Daily MySQL Backup
{db_name}	Database name	mydb
yyyy	4-digit year	2026
MM	2-digit month (zero-padded)	05
MMM	Short month name	May
MMMM	Full month name	January
dd	2-digit day	03
HH	2-digit hour (24h)	14
mm	2-digit minute	30
ss	2-digit second	00

A live preview and clickable token chips (grouped by category) are shown in the settings form. Token chips insert at the current cursor position. The default pattern produces filenames like JobName_2026-05-03T14-30-00.sql.

Notifications

Get alerts when backups complete:

1. Create a Notification first
2. Select notification in job settings
3. Choose trigger: Success, Failure, or Both

Multi-Destination

A job can upload to multiple storage destinations simultaneously - ideal for implementing the 3-2-1 backup rule.

Adding Destinations

1. In the job form, click Add Destination
2. Select a storage adapter from the dropdown
3. Repeat to add more destinations
4. Drag to reorder upload priority

Per-Destination Retention

Each destination uses a Retention Policy from the Templates system. In the job form, expand a destination row and use the Retention Policy picker to assign a named policy. To create or manage policies, go to Administration → Templates → Retention Policies.

• Example: assign a "30-day daily" policy to local storage and a "12-month monthly" policy to S3
• A system-wide default policy can be set in Templates - it applies automatically to any destination without an explicit assignment

Upload Behavior

• The database dump runs once - the resulting file is uploaded to each destination sequentially
• Destinations are processed in priority order (top to bottom)
• If one destination fails, the others still continue
• The same storage adapter cannot be selected twice in one job

Partial Success

If some destinations succeed and others fail, the execution is marked as Partial (see Job Status).

Job Actions

Run Now

Execute the job immediately:

1. Click the ▶ Run button on the job
2. Monitor progress in real-time
3. View results in History

Enable/Disable

Toggle the job without deleting:

• Disabled jobs don't run on schedule
• Can still be triggered manually

Clone

Create a copy with the same settings:

1. Click the Clone icon on a job row
2. A dialog opens - customize the name before creating (default: "Original Name (Copy)")
3. Click Clone to confirm

Cloned jobs start disabled to prevent accidental execution. Enable the clone once you have reviewed or adjusted its settings.

Browse Backups

Click the Browse (folder icon) button on a job row to open the Storage Explorer pre-filtered to that job's backups. If the job has multiple destinations, a dropdown lets you choose which one to open.

Exclude from Restore

Database sources can be individually excluded from the Restore target dropdown. Open the source's edit form and enable the Exclude from Restore toggle. Backups can still be created from an excluded source - it is only hidden from the restore wizard target list.

Delete

Remove the job permanently:

• Does not delete existing backups
• Schedule is removed

Job Status

Status	Description
🟢 Active	Enabled and scheduled
⚪ Disabled	Not running on schedule
🔵 Running	Currently executing
� Partial	Some destinations succeeded, others failed
�🔴 Failed	Last run failed

Execution Monitoring

Live Progress

During execution, view:

• Current step (Initialize → Dump → Upload → Complete)
• File size progress
• Live log output

Execution History

After completion:

1. Go to History
2. View all past executions
3. Check logs for details
4. See success/failure status

Best Practices

Naming Convention

Use descriptive names:

• prod-mysql-daily - Production MySQL, daily
• staging-postgres-hourly - Staging PostgreSQL, hourly
• mongodb-weekly-archive - MongoDB weekly archive

One Source Per Job

For clarity, create separate jobs for:

• Different databases
• Different retention requirements
• Different schedules

Test Before Scheduling

1. Create job with no schedule
2. Run manually
3. Verify backup in Storage Explorer
4. Test restore
5. Then enable schedule

Resource Considerations

• Schedule during low-traffic periods
• Avoid overlapping large backups
• Monitor system resources during backup

Concurrent Execution

By default, one backup runs at a time. Configure concurrency:

1. Go to Settings → System
2. Set Max Concurrent Jobs
3. Higher values = more parallel backups

Resource Usage

More concurrent jobs = higher CPU/memory/disk usage

Stuck Job Timeout

A running job occupies one of those slots until it finishes. If a run stops making progress - a source that stopped answering, a network path that went away without closing the connection - it would hold its slot indefinitely and every job queued behind it would silently never start.

Settings → System → Stuck Job Timeout sets how long a run may go without reporting progress before it is cancelled and marked failed. The default is 6 hours, and Never (disabled) switches the check off.

The measure is progress, not age. A twelve-hour transfer that keeps reporting is left alone; a five-minute one that went quiet is not. The watchdog runs every five minutes and can be disabled per instance under History → System Tasks.

Job Pipeline

When a job runs, it goes through these steps:

1. Initialize
   └── Fetch job config
   └── Decrypt credentials
   └── Validate source connection
   └── Resolve all destination adapters

2. Dump
   └── Execute database dump
   └── Apply compression (if enabled)
   └── Apply encryption (if enabled)

3. Upload (Fan-Out)
   └── For each destination (by priority):
       └── Transfer backup file
       └── Create metadata file
       └── Verify checksum (local storage)
   └── Evaluate results → Partial if mixed

4. Completion
   └── Cleanup temp files
   └── Record per-destination results
   └── Update execution status
   └── Send notifications

5. Retention (per destination)
   └── For each destination (successful uploads only):
       └── List existing backups
       └── Apply that destination's retention policy
       └── Delete expired backups

Troubleshooting

Job Stuck in "Running"

If a job shows running but isn't progressing:

1. Check History for the execution
2. View logs for errors
3. The server may have restarted mid-backup
4. Manually cancel if needed

Backup Too Slow

1. Enable compression (smaller transfer)
2. Schedule during off-peak hours
3. Check network between DBackup and destination
4. Consider faster storage

Out of Disk Space

Temp files are stored locally during processing:

1. Increase available disk space
2. Enable compression to reduce temp file size
3. Clean up old temp files: /tmp/dbackup-*

Templates

The Administration → Templates page provides three reusable template types that keep job configuration consistent across your setup:

Retention Policies

Named retention rules assignable per destination. Each policy defines Simple (keep N backups) or Smart (GFS - Grandfather-Father-Son rotation: daily, weekly, monthly, yearly buckets) behavior.

• One policy can be marked as the system default - it applies automatically to any destination without an explicit assignment
• Assign via the Retention Policy picker inside the job's destination row

Naming Templates

Custom backup filename patterns saved as named templates. Supports all tokens listed in Filename Pattern above.

• One template can be set as the system default
• Override per job using the Filename Template picker in the job's Basic Settings

Schedule Presets

Named cron expressions that can be used as quick-fill presets or live-linked to jobs. When a live-linked preset is updated, all jobs using it pick up the new schedule automatically.

• Enable via the Preset toggle in the Schedule field of the job form
• Selecting a preset auto-fills the cron expression

Jobs Table Columns

The jobs table includes the following columns:

Column	Description
Name	Job name with enabled/disabled indicator
Source	Database source adapter
Destinations	Number of storage destinations
Schedule	Cron expression or preset name
Last Run	Start time of the most recent execution
Next Run	Calculated next run time (based on cron + Scheduler Timezone)
Status	Last execution result
Actions	Run, Browse Backups, Clone, Edit, Delete

Next Steps

• Scheduling - Configure when jobs run
• Retention Policies - Automatic cleanup
• Encryption - Secure your backups
• Templates - Retention Policies, Naming Templates, Schedule Presets