Creating a backup#
Open the Backups tab and click "New Backup". A "Create server backup" dialog opens. The first field is "Backup name", which is optional, but a name makes a backup much easier to recognise later, so it is worth filling in.
The next field is "Ignored Files & Directories", and it controls what gets left out of the archive. If you type anything here, it takes over completely. Leave it blank and the backup falls back to the .pyroignore file in the root of your server directory if one is present. Either way you can match files and folders with wildcards, and you can negate a rule by prefixing the path with an exclamation point, so you can skip a whole folder and then pull one file back in.
You can also lock a backup as you create it by turning on the "Locked" switch. A locked backup is held back from a normal delete and from the automatic count rotation described further down. The switch only appears if your account has permission to delete backups on the server.
The button at the bottom of the dialog reads "Start backup". Click it and the dialog closes once the backup has been queued.
To make backups run on their own, use the Automated backups button at the top of the tab. Backups created that way carry an "Automatic" badge in the list so you can tell them apart from ones you made by hand.
Watching progress#
A new backup appears in the list right away with a progress bar and a running percentage. Large servers take longer, because every included file has to be read and packed into the archive, but you can keep using the rest of the panel while it works. The status badge moves through "Pending", then "Running" with the live percentage, and the entry settles once it finishes.
If a backup fails, the entry shows a "Failed" badge and the error message, along with a retry button beside it. Click the retry button to run the same backup again without re-entering anything.
Downloading#
A finished backup's actions live in the menu behind the icon at the end of its row. Backups are kept in a deduplicated store, so to download one the panel first rebuilds it into a single archive. Open the menu and click Prepare download. The rebuild happens in the background, which can take a few minutes for a small backup and longer for a large one.
You get an email when it is ready, and the menu item changes to Download with a link that stays valid for 48 hours. If the prepared link expires, prepare it again. The menu also offers Discard prepared archive to clear it, and if a prepare attempt fails it shows Retry prepare download.
Restoring#
Restoring rolls the server back to the exact state captured in that backup, and it is destructive. The panel stops the server, deletes all of the current files and server configuration, and then unpacks the backup over the now-empty directory. While this runs you cannot change the power state, use the file manager, or create more backups until it finishes.
To start, open the backup's menu and click "Restore". The "Restore Backup" dialog warns that this is a "Destructive Action - Complete Server Restore" and asks for your account password. If you have two-factor authentication turned on, it also asks for a 2FA code. The confirmation button counts down for five seconds before it unlocks, reading "Delete All & Restore (5s)" while it waits and then settling on "Delete All & Restore Backup", which is a fair description of what it does.
If you do not have two-factor auth set up yet and want it for this kind of action, you can turn it on from the profile security page first.
Once the restore finishes, start the server again from the console.
Rename, lock, delete#
A finished backup's menu lets you rename it, lock or unlock it, and delete it. "Rename" opens a "Rename Backup" dialog where you type a new name and click "Rename Backup", and "Lock" takes effect on a single click with no extra confirmation.
Unlocking a locked backup asks you to confirm, since it removes the protection that keeps the backup safe from automated and accidental deletions. Deleting a single backup is more guarded: it asks for your account password, and for a 2FA code as well if you have two-factor auth enabled, because deletion is permanent and the backup cannot be recovered afterwards.
A locked backup has no "Delete" entry in its menu at all. To remove one, unlock it first, then delete it. The one exception is the bulk "Delete All Backups" action covered below, which clears everything.
Deleting in bulk#
When you have completed backups, a selection bar appears above the list reading "Select backups". Tick the backups you want, or use the checkbox in the bar to select them all, then click "Delete Selected", which shows the count of selected backups. As with a single delete, this asks for your password and, if you use it, a 2FA code, and the selected backups and their snapshots are removed for good. A "Clear" button drops the selection without deleting anything.
There is also a "Delete All Backups" button near the top of the tab. This is the heaviest option: it wipes every backup, including locked ones, and tears down the whole backup repository for the server. It can take a few minutes to finish, and none of those backups can be restored once it runs, so it asks for your password and a 2FA code before going ahead.
Automated backups#
The "Automated backups" button at the top of the tab lets the panel snapshot the server on a schedule and prune old copies for you, without having to set up a schedule task yourself. You pick how often it runs and a retention policy, and the panel keeps a rolling set of backups for you. When a policy is active, a small pill near the top of the tab summarises the cadence, roughly how many backups it keeps, and when the next run is due.
Backups created this way show an "Automatic" badge in the list. The button only appears if your account has permission to manage automated backups and the feature is enabled for your server.
Limits and storage#
Your plan sets a backup count limit and a storage limit, and the tab shows where you stand against both. When the count limit is reached and you make another backup, the oldest unlocked backup is rotated out to make room, which is one more reason to lock the backups you really want to keep.
Storage works differently here than on most hosts. Pyro only counts the unique, compressed bytes your backups actually add, not the full size of every backup. Because successive backups share the data that did not change, each new one usually adds very little, so the same storage limit holds far more backups than the raw totals would suggest.
The New Backup button goes away once you hit either the count limit or the storage limit. Delete a backup to free up room, or upgrade your plan, and the button comes back. If your plan does not include backups at all, the tab shows Backups disabled and no backups can be created.