The Schedules area is where you create, run, and maintain backup policies for each production server. A schedule defines what to back up (files / databases), where to store it (storage + partition), when to run (cron), and how to move data (SSH or Direct/Tunnel), including retention and merge rules.

Who can do what

• View: view_schedules_page
• Create/Clone/Edit: create_schedule, edit_schedule
• Run/Stop: run_schedule, stop_running_schedule
• Install/Remove plugin (cPanel/Plesk): install_schedule_api_plugin, remove_schedule_api_plugin
• Browse points: view_backup_points_page
• Delete: delete_schedule

Top counters

• Total backup schedules — all policies.
• Running schedules — jobs in progress.
• Merging schedules — jobs currently promoting/cleaning points per retention.

Create schedule (Files)

• Schedule name — any label you like.
• Production server — only “Up” servers are selectable; down links are shown as “link down”.
• Frequency — classic cron: minute hour day month weekday (the UI lists presets + exact values).
• Storage server — pick a storage (Linux or Cloud). For Linux also set Storage partition (e.g. /backups).
• Backup points — how many daily points to retain before promotion/cleanup.
• Incremental backup — on by default after the first full; uses rsync-based hard-link structure where available.
• Specify folders/files — default is / (full system). If you list paths, only those are included; everything else is excluded.
Note: limiting to subsets can disable Disaster Recovery and full cPanel account restores unless those paths are included.
• Exclude — one pattern per line (wildcards allowed). System virtual mounts are excluded by default (/dev, /proc, /sys, /run).

Create schedule (MySQL/MariaDB)

• Enable Databases if you want SQL dumps alongside files.
• Choose SQL storage + SQL partition and set SQL points (retention for DB dumps).
• Credentials — username/password/host/port if required. On cPanel/Plesk, root credentials are resolved automatically (you can leave empty).
• Exclude databases — comma-separated (e.g., information_schema,performance_schema).

Transfer options

• Secure Transfer (SSH) — encrypted/authenticated; safest, a bit slower / more CPU.
• Fast Transfer (Direct 59123/TCP) — rsync daemon over a controlled port; up to ~70% faster, lower CPU, but data is unencrypted in transit. Use only inside trusted networks and make sure 59123/TCP is allowed from Storage → Production.

Compression

• Yes — compress during transfer (good for slow links and texty data, higher CPU).
• No — skip compression (better for already-compressed files or fast links).

Retention & promotion

• Daily points — controlled by “Backup points”. When the count is exceeded, oldest daily points are scheduled for deletion (or promotion below).
• Weekly — if enabled, on Mondays the oldest daily is renamed to _weekly. Keep N weekly points.
• Monthly — if enabled, on the 1st the oldest weekly (or daily if no weekly) is renamed to _monthly. Keep N monthly points.
• Merge timing — “daytime / nighttime / after backup”. “After” blocks other actions until cleanup finishes.

Schedule list (what the columns mean)

• Frequency shows the cron string; Schedule next run is computed and displayed.
• Debug (terminal icon) opens a live log modal for running jobs.
• Files/SQL icons: spinning red cog = running, spinning blue cog = merging, green check = completed, gray X = disabled.
• Plugin + / − installs or removes the cPanel/Plesk end-user restore plugin on the schedule’s server.
• Backup points (cubes icon) opens the points browser for that schedule.
• ⚙ opens the Edit page for the schedule.

Run / Stop

• Run now — executes the schedule immediately (Files and/or SQL depending on what’s enabled).
• Stop — stops the running job. To avoid broken incrementals, the in-progress FILES point is removed. During merge, Stop is disabled until the merge finishes.

Mass edit & actions (selected schedules)

• Actions: Run now, Stop running, Install/Remove plugin, Disable schedules.
• Settings: change Weekly/Monthly retention, Merge timing, Transfer mode (SSH/Direct), Compress (Yes/No), and add Excludes in bulk.

Good to know

• Only linked (Up) storages/servers can be selected in forms; “link down” entries are disabled to prevent failures.
• If you list multiple Specify paths, do not also include /. Use either full-system (/) or a clean include set.
• Disaster Recovery requires a full-system backup point; partial points cannot rebuild an entire server.
• “Direct 59123/TCP” requires firewall allowance and is recommended only in secure/internal networks.

Typical flow

1) Create schedule → 2) Run now to seed the first full → 3) Verify logs/point → 4) Adjust retention/merge → 5) (Optional) install panel plugin for end-user restores.