Skip to main content

Bareos Schedules

Bareos schedules define when and what level of backup (Full, Incremental, Differential) runs. Schedules are read by bareos-dir and stored as plain text files under /etc/bareos/bareos-dir.d/schedule/.

Bareos Schedule Basics​

A Schedule block contains one or more Run directives.

  • Full: complete backup
  • Incremental: changes since last backup
  • Differential: changes since last Full
  • Days: mon tue wed thu fri sat sun or ranges like mon-sat
  • Time format: HH:MM (24-hour)

Bareos evaluates schedules top-down and applies the first matching rule for the current day and time.

DailyCycle Schedule​

This schedule runs:

  • Full backup every Sunday at 21:00
  • Incremental backup Monday–Saturday at 21:00

Configuration File​

Edit file on /etc/bareos/bareos-dir.d/schedule/DailyCycle.conf

Input:

cat /etc/bareos/bareos-dir.d/schedule/DailyCycle.conf
Schedule {
  Name = "DailyCycle"
  Run = Full sun at 21:00
  Run = Incremental mon-sat at 21:00
}

This means Bareos checks the current weekday; if it is Sunday, it runs a Full backup, otherwise it runs Incremental.

DailyCycleAfterBackup Schedule​

This second schedule is not for client data. It is typically used after normal backups finish.

It runs:

  • Full backup every day (sun–sat) at 23:00

Configuration File​

Edit file on /etc/bareos/bareos-dir.d/schedule/DailyCycleAfterBackup.conf

Input:

nano /etc/bareos/bareos-dir.d/schedule/DailyCycleAfterBackup.conf

Add:

Schedule {
  Name = "DailyCycleAfterBackup"
  Description = "This schedule does the catalog backup after DailyCycle."
  Run = Full sun-sat at 23:00
}

This ensures the catalog is backed up after all client backups complete.

Validate Schedule Syntax​

Input:

bareos-dir -t

This confirms schedule syntax and file placement are correct.

Reload Bareos Director​

Input:

systemctl restart bareos-dir

This activates the new schedules.

Verify Scheduled Runs​

Input:

bconsole

Inside bconsole:

show schedule=DailyCycle

Output:

Schedule {
  Name = "DailyCycle"
  Run = Full Sun at 21:00
  Run = Incremental Mon-Sat at 21:00
}

This confirms Bareos parsed the schedule correctly.