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Docs/Desktop Agent/Scheduling

Scheduling

Choose when each backup set runs: once, every few hours, daily, weekly, every 2 weeks or monthly, plus continuous protection.

Schedule Types

Each backup set has its own schedule, and times are the computer's local time. For scheduled backups to run when the app is closed, install the Windows Background Service — see Background Service for details.

  • •One time: runs once, on the date and at the time you pick. A set with no date runs only when you click Run Now or start it with backupengine backup start.
  • •Hourly: runs every 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 hours at fixed times of day. From sets the time the runs line up with, Only until stops them at a time of day, and the days limit them to the days you choose. See Backing Up Every Few Hours below. An Hourly schedule can also be an extra time next to another schedule, for example every 2 hours during the working day plus daily at 02:00.
  • •Daily: runs every day at the time you pick.
  • •Weekly: runs once a week, on the day and at the time you pick.
  • •Every 2 weeks (Bi-Weekly in the app): runs every other week, on the day and at the time you pick.
  • •Monthly: runs on the day of the month you pick. From v1.37.0, days 29 to 31 run on the last day of shorter months; older agents skip those months.
  • •Continuous (CDP): monitors file changes in real time and backs up modified files within minutes. Best for critical data that changes frequently.

Configuring a Schedule

Schedules are set in the app or in the customer portal. The CLI is read-only for schedules: it lists them, so scripts and monitoring tools can check what is configured.

  • •Open the Backup tab and edit the set, or create a new one.
  • •In the Schedule section, choose the frequency: One Time, Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Bi-Weekly or Monthly.
  • •Set the time, plus the day for Weekly, Bi-Weekly and Monthly, or the date for One Time. Hourly has its own options, described below.
  • •Save. The set card shows the new schedule, and the set runs on it from then on.
  • •The Schedule tab lists every set with its schedule and can change it too. The server backup wizards (SQL Server, Hyper-V, System State, system image) have the same choices in their Schedule step.
  • •In the customer portal, open Devices, choose the device and edit the backup set. The change reaches the device on its next sync.

Running a Set More Than Once a Day

From v1.37.0 a backup set can run on several schedules, for example daily at 08:00, 12:00 and 20:00. Each extra time is a full schedule of its own, so you can also combine a daily run with a weekly or monthly one, or back up every 2 hours during working hours and once more at night. Extra times can be added under any repeating schedule (Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Every 2 weeks or Monthly), not under One Time, and a set can have up to 23 of them.

  • •Open the Backup tab and edit the set, or open its Schedule step in the wizard.
  • •Set the first schedule as usual, for example Daily at 08:00, or Hourly every 2 hours from 08:00 until 18:00.
  • •Click Add another time. Under a Daily, Weekly, Every 2 weeks or Monthly schedule the new row copies that frequency and appears four hours after the last time; under an Hourly schedule the first new row is Daily at 02:00. Change its frequency, time or day as needed.
  • •To make a row Hourly, choose Hourly as its frequency. Its time becomes From, and it gets its own Every, Only until and days, as described in Backing Up Every Few Hours.
  • •Repeat for each extra time, and use the cross on a row to remove it.
  • •Save. The set card shows the times, for example "at 08:00, 12:00, 20:00", or the first schedule followed by "+1 more". The customer portal and backupengine schedule list spell out every schedule, for example "Every 2 hours from 08:00 to 18:00 on Mon–Fri · Daily at 02:00", and the Schedule tab reads "Runs every 2 hours from 08:00 to 18:00 on Mon–Fri · also daily at 02:00".
  • •In the customer portal, open Devices, choose the device and edit the backup set. The same Add another time button is there, with Hourly among the frequencies, and the change reaches the device on its next sync.

ℹ Note

Each time runs once. If the computer was off or asleep through several times, it catches up with a single run: a Daily, Weekly, Every 2 weeks or Monthly time when it wakes later the same day (a time missed on an earlier day is not run), an Hourly time within one interval of the missed time. Times that fall due together, such as an hourly 02:00 and a daily 02:00, give one backup, and if a backup is still running when the next time arrives, that run covers it rather than starting a second copy. Devices on an agent older than v1.37.0 keep running only the first schedule until they update.

Backing Up Every Few Hours

From v1.37.0 an Hourly schedule can run every 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 hours, at fixed times of day. From sets the time the runs line up with: every 4 hours from 08:00 runs at 00:00, 04:00, 08:00, 12:00, 16:00 and 20:00. Add an end time to stop at a time of day, for example every 2 hours from 08:00 until 18:00, and choose days to leave out weekends. The set card then reads "Every 2 hours from 08:00 to 18:00 on Mon–Fri".

  • •Open the Backup tab and edit the set, or create a new one. The Schedule tab and the server backup wizards have the same options.
  • •Set the frequency to Hourly (Every few hours in the server backup wizards).
  • •In Every, choose how often it runs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 hours.
  • •In From, choose the time the runs line up with, for example 08:00. A new set starts at 00:00, so every 12 hours runs at 00:00 and 12:00.
  • •To stop at a time of day, tick Only until and choose the end time, for example 18:00. It must be later than From on the same day (windows past midnight are not supported), and a run exactly at the end time is included.
  • •Untick the days it should not run, for example Saturday and Sunday. At least one day stays selected.
  • •Check the preview line, which lists the times the set will run, and save.
  • •To back up once more at night as well, click Add another time under the hourly options: the first new row is Daily at 02:00 (see Running a Set More Than Once a Day).
  • •In the customer portal, open Devices, choose the device and edit the backup set. Choose Hourly, then set Every, From, Only until and the days. The change reaches the device on its next sync.

ℹ Note

Times are the computer's local time. A backup still running at the next time covers it instead of starting a second copy. A computer that was off or asleep runs one catch-up backup when it is back, if that is within one interval of the missed time: a set that runs every 12 hours from 08:00 and missed 20:00 still runs if the computer is back at 03:00. Several missed times give one backup, never a burst. Days you did not choose have no backup times of their own, but the last time of a chosen day can still be caught up after midnight, within one interval of it: with every 12 hours from 08:00 on Monday to Friday, a missed Friday 20:00 backup runs if the computer is back before 08:00 on Saturday.

ℹ Note

On the night the clocks go back, the repeated hour runs once. On the night they go forward, a time that does not exist (such as 02:00) runs right after the change, and an end time inside the skipped hour can lose that night's last run.

⚠ Warning

Computers on an agent older than v1.37.0 ignore the interval, the end time and the days: they back up an hourly set every hour, all day, every day, until they update. The customer portal shows a warning next to the set. See Auto-Update Checker.

Backup Windows

A backup window belongs to one backup set; there is no window for the whole computer. To keep a set's backups to part of the day, give it an Hourly schedule with Only until: every hour from 08:00 until 18:00 starts backups at 08:00, 09:00 and so on up to 18:00, and none overnight. Other sets keep their own schedules.

  • •From is the first start of the day, and the scheduled starts stop at the Only until time; a run exactly at that time is included. The end time must be later than From on the same day.
  • •One schedule cannot run past midnight, so a window such as 20:00 to 06:00 takes two Hourly schedules: for example every hour from 20:00 until 23:00, plus an extra time every hour from 00:00 until 06:00. The after-midnight part runs in the mornings, so for Monday to Friday nights choose Monday to Friday for the evening part and Tuesday to Saturday for the after-midnight part. Without an end time the runs go around the clock: every 12 hours from 08:00 runs at 08:00 and 20:00.
  • •The days limit the window to the days you choose, for example Monday to Friday.
  • •The end time limits when backups start, not how long they run: a backup still running at the end time finishes.
  • •A run missed at the end time can still start until one interval after it, and no later: until 20:00 for every 2 hours from 08:00 until 18:00, or until 08:00 the next morning for every 12 hours from 08:00 until 20:00, even when that morning falls on a day you did not choose.

Continuous Data Protection (CDP)

CDP mode uses the operating system's file-change notification APIs to detect modifications as they happen. When a file is saved, BackupEngine waits for a brief stabilization period (default: 30 seconds), then processes and uploads the changed chunks.

ℹ Note

CDP is available on all plans. It uploads changes often, so a global upload limit (see Bandwidth Throttling) keeps it from saturating your connection. On Windows, CDP uses ReadDirectoryChangesW; on macOS, it uses FSEvents; on Linux, it uses inotify. Enable CDP per backup set in the GUI's Schedule step.

Inspecting Schedules

Both the GUI and the CLI show the configured schedule of every backup set and when it last ran.

  • •Open the Backup tab.
  • •Each set card shows its schedule, for example "Every 2 hours from 08:00 to 18:00 on Mon–Fri", or "Every 2 hours from 08:00 to 18:00 on Mon–Fri +1 more" when it also has an extra time, and its last-run status.
  • •Open the Schedule tab to see the schedule of every set in one list.

Upload Limits and Schedules

Upload limits are not part of a schedule. There is one global limit and an optional limit per backup set, and whichever applies is used whenever a backup runs, scheduled or not. There is no separate limit for day and night. See the Bandwidth Throttling page for the details.

  • •Global limit: in the Schedule tab, the Bandwidth Throttling card has an Upload limit of Unlimited, 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 or 100 Mbps. It is Unlimited by default.
  • •Per-set limit: set from the command line with backupengine sets bandwidth "<set name>" <kbps|off>. For that set it replaces the global limit.
  • •A new limit applies from the next backup that starts; a backup that is already running keeps the limit it started with.
  • •Scheduled backups that the Windows Background Service runs while the app is closed use only the per-set limit; in this release they do not apply the global limit.
  • •To keep a set's backups out of working hours, use its schedule: a Daily time in the evening, or an Hourly schedule with Only until (see Backup Windows above).
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