How to Set Up Automatic Backups

With a schedule the panel takes a backup of your server files automatically, so a bad update never costs you more than a day of work. This tutorial sets up a daily backup at midnight. Prefer a one-off backup? See how to create a manual backup.

1Open the Schedules Page

• Log in to your game panel and click your server.
• Click Schedules in the left menu under MANAGEMENT.
• Press the New schedule button at the top right.

2Create the Schedule

• Enter a Schedule name, for example Daily backup.
• Under Frequency, click the Daily midnight preset. The text below confirms it: "Runs every day at midnight". You can also fill in the custom cron fields (Minute, Hour, Day/Mo, Month, Day/Wk) for any other timing.
• Turn Only run when the server is online off, so the backup also runs when your server happens to be stopped.
• Leave Schedule enabled on and press Create schedule.

3Add the Backup Task

• Click your new schedule in the list to open it.
• In the Tasks section, press Add task.

• Choose the Create backup action.
• Ignored files (optional): files and folders to exclude, one per line. Leave it blank to back up everything (or to use your .pteroignore file if you have one).
• Leave Time offset (seconds) at 0 and press Add task.

4Test It

• A Run now button appears on the schedule once it has a task. Press it to trigger the schedule immediately.
• Then open Backups in the left menu: your backup appears in the Files tab, with its size and when it auto-deletes.
• Note: the panel accepts one backup per hour per server. If you made a backup recently, Run now reports that limit; simply try again later or wait for the nightly run.

Good to Know

• Backup slots: when all slots are full, the scheduled backup automatically removes the oldest backup to make room. Backups you have locked (see manual backups) are never removed automatically.
• Retention: each backup row shows when it will auto-delete. Lock a backup to keep it beyond that.
• Databases: your MySQL databases are backed up automatically by the panel. You will find those under Backups, in the Databases tab. You can restore or download them there.

Finished

Your server files are now backed up automatically every night at midnight. Restoring is one click away on the Backups page whenever you need it.