Common Issues
Solutions for the most frequently encountered problems: connection errors, storage limits, and slow backups.
Agent Not Starting
If the BackupEngine desktop agent fails to start or crashes on launch, try the following steps.
- •Check that the BackupEngine service is running. On Windows, open Services (services.msc) and look for 'BackupEngine Agent Service'. Restart it if it is stopped.
- •Verify system requirements: Windows 10/11 or Server 2016+, macOS 12+, or Ubuntu 20.04+/Fedora 36+.
- •Check for conflicting software: Some antivirus or endpoint protection tools may block the agent. Add BackupEngine to the exclusion list.
- •Clear the agent cache: Delete the cache directory and restart. This forces a fresh sync with the server.
- •Reinstall: If other steps fail, uninstall and reinstall the agent. Your backup data and configuration are stored in the cloud and will be restored on sign-in.
Restart the agent service
# Windows (PowerShell, run as Administrator) Restart-Service "BackupEngineAgent" # macOS launchctl stop com.backupengine.agent launchctl start com.backupengine.agent # Linux sudo systemctl restart backupengine-agent
Connection Timeouts
Connection timeouts occur when the agent cannot reach BackupEngine servers or cloud storage.
- •Check your internet connection by browsing to a website or running a ping test.
- •Verify that your firewall allows outbound HTTPS (port 443) to *.backupengine.com and *.idrivee2.com.
- •If you use a proxy server, configure the proxy settings in the agent under Settings → Network → Proxy.
- •Corporate networks may block S3-compatible storage endpoints. Contact your IT team to whitelist the storage URLs.
- •Try temporarily disabling VPN to rule out VPN-related routing issues.
Test connectivity
# Test connection to the control plane
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" https://api.backupengine.com/health
# Expected: 200
# Test connection to storage (US region example)
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" https://e2-us.backupengine.com/
# Expected: 200 or 403 (access denied is OK — it means the endpoint is reachable)
# Windows PowerShell equivalent
(Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://api.backupengine.com/health" -UseBasicParsing).StatusCode💡 Tip
If connections are intermittent, the issue may be DNS-related. Try switching to a public DNS resolver (Google 8.8.8.8, Cloudflare 1.1.1.1) temporarily to rule out DNS problems.
Storage Quota Exceeded
When your storage usage reaches 100% of your plan's allocation, new backups cannot upload data. Existing backups and restore points remain accessible.
- •Check your current usage in the Customer Portal under Dashboard → Storage Usage.
- •Reduce usage by deleting unnecessary backup sets or reducing retention periods.
- •Remove old devices that are no longer active — their backup data may still be consuming storage.
- •Purchase additional storage from Billing → Add-Ons, or upgrade to a higher-tier plan.
- •Review exclude patterns: You may be backing up unnecessary files (caches, temp files, build artifacts).
⚠ Warning
When storage is full, backups are paused but not deleted. Resolve the storage issue promptly to avoid gaps in your backup history. The agent will automatically resume backups once storage is available.
Slow Backups
If backups are taking longer than expected, several factors could be contributing.
- •Check bandwidth throttling: If throttling is enabled, backups may be intentionally limited. Review Settings → Network.
- •Initial backup: The first backup uploads all data and is always slower. Subsequent incremental backups are much faster.
- •Large files with small changes: Files like databases and virtual disks may change slightly but require re-chunking. FastCDC minimizes this, but very large files will always take longer.
- •Antivirus scanning: Real-time antivirus scanning may slow down file reads. Add the BackupEngine data directory to your AV exclusion list.
- •Disk I/O: If the source disk is slow (e.g., an old HDD), file scanning will be limited by disk speed. Consider scheduling backups during low-activity periods.
- •Network congestion: Run a speed test during backup hours to check for network saturation.
Diagnose slow backup performance
# Check current backup speed and progress
backupengine backup status --json | jq '{
speed_mbps: (.bytes_uploaded / .elapsed_seconds / 131072 | floor),
progress_pct: (.chunks_uploaded / .chunks_total * 100 | floor),
estimated_remaining: (.elapsed_seconds / .chunks_uploaded * (.chunks_total - .chunks_uploaded) / 60 | floor | tostring + " minutes")
}'
# Check if throttling is active
backupengine config get network.throttle
# Run agent diagnostics
backupengine agent diagnostics