[SOLVED] Backup schedule menu PVE7

lDemoNl · Dec 7, 2021

Hi guys! I'm using Proxmox VE6, and there I had very flexible backup schedule. Now I've started using Proxmox VE7 with ceph. And I was surprised when I found awful backup schedule there.
I thought, maybe I can add task manualy by editing /etc/cron.d/vzdump but in PVE7 that file is empty (but I have backup task for VM)
Maybe Am I doing something wrong?
For backups use Proxmox Backup Server 2.1-2

t.lamprecht · Dec 7, 2021

What's wrong with the more flexible and powerful schedules?
https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/pve-admin-guide.html#chapter_calendar_events

The PVE 6.x and earlier ones couldn't do most of that via API, and even manually editing cron files was more limited.

FWIW, you can still create cron jobs calling to vzdump, it's just that Proxmox VE doesn't use that anymore.

lDemoNl · Dec 7, 2021

t.lamprecht said:
What's wrong with the more flexible and powerful schedules?
https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/pve-admin-guide.html#chapter_calendar_events

The PVE 6.x and earlier ones couldn't do most of that via API, and even manually editing cron files was more limited.

FWIW, you can still create cron jobs calling to vzdump, it's just that Proxmox VE doesn't use that anymore.

In PVE6 I can select days and time free. But in PVE7 I have only preselected variations.
Differents attached in pic
Maybe I don't understand something right

t.lamprecht · Dec 7, 2021

lDemoNl said:
In PVE6 I can select days and time free. But in PVE7 I have only preselected variations.

In PVE 6. you only got a fixed day-of-week with single time selectable, in Proxmox VE 7.1+ you can edit the schedule form with any calendar event format supported (see my link and the schedule simulator available) as the "Editable" empty text suggests..
Those shown are just a few examples to get one easier started, the input box is freely editable.

lDemoNl · Dec 7, 2021

t.lamprecht said:
In PVE 6. you only got a fixed day-of-week with single time selectable, in Proxmox VE 7.1+ you can edit the schedule form with any calendar event format supported (see my link and the schedule simulator available) as the "Editable" empty text suggests..
Those shown are just a few examples to get one easier started, the input box is freely editable.

Yes, thank you. On my first time read I didn't understand correctly. Now it's clear

AngryAdm · Jan 3, 2022

Whats wrong with the scheduler? Well, inconsistency for once.

Every 2 hours: */2:00

Mon-fri between 7-18 every 15 minuttes:
mon..fri 7..18:00/15

Ok, so mon-fri 7-18 every 2 hours should be
mon..fri 7..18:00/2:00 Nope...
How about
mon..fri 7..18:00/*/2:00 Nope...

So I am considering just entering 1,3,5,7pm etc...

Alright, deducting from the schedule "every day at 2 and 22:30" I get 2,22:30
So, if 2 is 2 Am and 22:30 is 10.30 PM
Then 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,0
is 2am 4 am 6am etc...
NOPE!!!!! and here is where I start going crazy.

So what is the syntax here?
I want to do backup daily from 16PM -> 07AM each 2 hours.

t.lamprecht · Jan 3, 2022

AngryAdm said:
So what is the syntax here?

Did you read the docs I linked, syntax is explained there.

AngryAdm said:
Well, inconsistency for once.

There's no inconsistency just because there are multiple ways to express similar cale dar events...

heldigard · Feb 2, 2022

AngryAdm said:
Whats wrong with the scheduler? Well, inconsistency for once.

Every 2 hours: */2:00

Mon-fri between 7-18 every 15 minuttes:
mon..fri 7..18:00/15

Ok, so mon-fri 7-18 every 2 hours should be
mon..fri 7..18:00/2:00 Nope...
How about
mon..fri 7..18:00/*/2:00 Nope...

So I am considering just entering 1,3,5,7pm etc...

Alright, deducting from the schedule "every day at 2 and 22:30" I get 2,22:30
So, if 2 is 2 Am and 22:30 is 10.30 PM
Then 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,0
is 2am 4 am 6am etc...
NOPE!!!!! and here is where I start going crazy.

So what is the syntax here?
I want to do backup daily from 16PM -> 07AM each 2 hours.

Check this link:

https://pbs.proxmox.com/docs/calendarevents.html

There are some special values that have a specific meaning:

Value	Syntax
minutely	--* ::00
hourly	--* *:00:00
daily	--* 00:00:00
weekly	mon --* 00:00:00
monthly	--01 00:00:00
yearly or annually	*-01-01 00:00:00
quarterly	*-01,04,07,10-01 00:00:00
semiannually or semi-annually	*-01,07-01 00:00:00

Here is a table with some useful examples:

Example	Alternative	Explanation
mon,tue,wed,thu,fri	mon..fri	Every working day at 00:00
sat,sun	sat..sun	Only on weekends at 00:00
mon,wed,fri	--	Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 00:00
12:05	--	Every day at 12:05 PM
*:00/5	0/1:0/5	Every five minutes
mon..wed *:30/10	mon,tue,wed *:30/10	Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 30, 40 and 50 minutes after every full hour
mon..fri 8..17,22:0/15	--	Every working day every 15 minutes between 8 AM and 6 PM and between 10 PM and 11 PM
fri 12..13:5/20	fri 12,13:5/20	Friday at 12:05, 12:25, 12:45, 13:05, 13:25 and 13:45
12,14,16,18,20,22:5	12/2:5	Every day starting at 12:05 until 22:05, every 2 hours
:	0/1:0/1	Every minute (minimum interval)
*-05	--	On the 5th day of every Month
Sat *-1..7 15:00	--	First Saturday each Month at 15:00
2015-10-21	--	21st October 2015 at 00:00

bcnx · Apr 20, 2022

Hi all, allow me to chime in: I have 7.0 and 7.1 nodes. The 7.0 nodes show the old scheduling way and the 7.1 show the new way, is that correct?

Cheers,
BC

Neobin · Apr 20, 2022

bcnx said:
The 7.0 nodes show the old scheduling way and the 7.1 show the new way, is that correct?

Yes, the new scheduling options got introduced with PVE 7.1. [1]

[1] https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Roadmap#Proxmox_VE_7.1

djdonnerwolke · Jul 3, 2022

Hey People

I am currently thinking about how to choose the second Monday of the month. Is this possible?
The background is that I do my backup to external in the first week and I want the data to remain consistent. Can anyone here support me with this?

Alternatively, it may be the 7th day of the month, then the 14th again, then the 21st and then the 28th day of the month. That would almost be a better solution for me.
However, I think I have to create a new job for each backup. Do I see that right?

Thank you.

fiona · Jul 4, 2022

Hi,

djdonnerwolke said:
Hey People

I am currently thinking about how to choose the second Monday of the month. Is this possible?

should be Mon *-8..14 (matches Monday that's between the eight and fourteenth day of each month).

djdonnerwolke said:
The background is that I do my backup to external in the first week and I want the data to remain consistent. Can anyone here support me with this?

Alternatively, it may be the 7th day of the month, then the 14th again, then the 21st and then the 28th day of the month. That would almost be a better solution for me.

If I understood correctly, it should be *-7/7.

djdonnerwolke said:
However, I think I have to create a new job for each backup. Do I see that right?

Thank you.

In recent versions, there also is a Schedule Simulator button in the upper right corner of the backup job UI.

EDIT: fixed off-by-one error.

djdonnerwolke · Jul 4, 2022

Fabian_E said:
Hi,

thank you for your help. I will try it out. Thank you!

EDIT:
Thank you, your attitude worked well for me. My server did backups tonight and will do the next backup again in 7 days.
Thanks for your time!

Elder_adm · Nov 18, 2022

Been trying to figure this out so if I wanted to run a backup bi-weekly or bi-monthly on Saturday would the schedule entry look something like:
sat *-*/14 20:00
sat */2-* 20:00

t.lamprecht · Nov 18, 2022

See https://forum.proxmox.com/threads/request-optional-monthly-backups.37123/page-2#post-508506

Snowiness7674 · Aug 30, 2024

I wanted a schedule of every 10 days (3 backups per month) that runs at 3 AM and I used *-10,20,30 03:00
I'm not sure if this is the best approach but seems like it'll work based on the Job Schedule Simulator result:

sw-omit · Aug 30, 2024

Snowiness7674 said:
I wanted a schedule of every 10 days (3 backups per month) that runs at 3 AM and I used *-10,20,30 03:00
I'm not sure if this is the best approach but seems like it'll work based on the Job Schedule Simulator result:

View attachment 73962

Might want to do it on day 7 17 and 27 though, else in feb you'll only have 2 backups (and 17/18 days in-between the 2nd februari and 1st march backup)

Snowiness7674 · Aug 31, 2024

sw-omit said:
Might want to do it on day 7 17 and 27 though, else in feb you'll only have 2 backups (and 17/18 days in-between the 2nd februari and 1st march backup)

Good call!

djdonnerwolke · Aug 31, 2024

Snowiness7674 said:
I wanted a schedule of every 10 days (3 backups per month) that runs at 3 AM and I used *-10,20,30 03:00
I'm not sure if this is the best approach but seems like it'll work based on the Job Schedule Simulator result:

View attachment 73962

I have a completely different question: where can you find the simulator? I didn't know it existed until now. Thank you.

Snowiness7674 · Aug 31, 2024

djdonnerwolke said:
I have a completely different question: where can you find the simulator? I didn't know it existed until now. Thank you.

Under Datacenter > Backup you can find it at the top right corner.

[SOLVED] Backup schedule menu PVE7

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