Backup retention, pinning and cleanup, disk space

By default, the tracker keeps all backups. For each storage server you can turn on cleanup: keep only the latest backups and pin the ones you need. Everything is on the Settings → Backups («Настройки → Резервные копии») tab.

Owners and admins can see the tab. Only the installation owner can act on backups.

Backups that cleanup does not touch

Open the list with the Backups and restore («Копии и восстановление») button in the server's row. The list runs from newest to oldest; backups without a confirmed date are at the end. Under each backup's date are its size, a label from the table below and an encryption label:

Cleanup also does not touch backups whose origin the tracker cannot confirm:

• “encrypted · another tracker's key” («зашифрована · ключ другого трекера») and “failed authenticity check” («не прошла проверку подлинности»);
• a backup that the tracker sent encrypted but that turned out to be unencrypted on the storage server.

Backups that cleanup does not touch are kept on top of the number in the rule. Example: the Last 3 («Последние 3») rule with two backups pinned — the two pinned backups and the three newest unpinned backups of this installation will remain.

Retention rule

1. Click Backups and restore in the server's row. The “Backups · server name” («Копии · название сервера») block opens.
2. Choose a value in the Unpinned backup retention («Хранение незакреплённых копий») list: Keep all («Хранить все») or Last («Последние») 2, 3, 5, 7, 14, 30, 90, 180, 365.
3. Click Save rule («Сохранить правило»).
4. Confirm the browser prompt: “After a new backup is created successfully, old unpinned backups of this tracker will be deleted. Keep the last N?” («После успешного создания новой копии будут удаляться старые незакреплённые копии этого трекера. Оставлять последние N?»)

Each storage server has its own rule. To turn off cleanup, save Keep all — there is no prompt in this case. After the server is disconnected and connected again, the rule is Keep all again.

Saving the rule does not delete anything. Cleanup runs after each successfully created backup — manual or scheduled. If a new backup was not created, the old ones stay in place. Cleanup does not delete the backup that was just created.

Which backups the rule counts

The Last N number includes the backups that can be opened right now:

• unencrypted backups;
• backups encrypted with the current key.

Backups of the previous key, labeled “encrypted · previous key No. …” («зашифрована · прежний ключ № …»), are not counted: if the previous key file is lost, there is nothing to open them with. Such a backup is deleted once N newer backups that can be opened right now have accumulated.

Example: the Last 3 rule, and the key was replaced. While fewer than three backups have been created after the replacement, the backups of the previous key remain. After the third backup with the new key, cleanup deletes the previous key's backups created before them.

Pinning a backup

1. Open the backup list with the Backups and restore button.
2. Click Pin in the row of the backup you need. The label changes to “pinned”.

A pinned backup is deleted by neither automatic nor manual cleanup. To remove the protection, click Unpin («Открепить»). For a backup labeled “failed authenticity check”, the Pin button is inactive.

Manual cleanup

Manual cleanup deletes old backups according to the saved rule right away, without waiting for the next backup. The Check cleanup («Проверить очистку») button is active when the Last N rule is saved.

1. Click Check cleanup. The tracker deletes nothing and shows the outcome: “N old backups can be deleted” («Можно удалить N старых копий») with the total size, or “Nothing to delete under the current rule.” («По текущему правилу удалять нечего.»)
2. Expand Which backups will be deleted («Какие копии будут удалены») and check the dates and sizes.
3. Pin the backups in the list that you want to keep.
4. Click Check cleanup again if you pinned anything.
5. Click Clean up by rule («Очистить по правилу»).
6. Confirm the prompt: “Delete old backups according to the saved rule? This action cannot be undone. Pinned and retained backups will remain.” («Удалить старые копии по сохранённому правилу? Это действие необратимо. Закреплённые и сохраняемые копии останутся.»)

Checking the result

The backup list refreshes by itself after cleanup. Click Check cleanup again: the response “Nothing to delete under the current rule.” means there are no extra backups left on the storage server.

Disk space on the server

The Server disk space («Место на сервере») block shows what takes up the disk of the tracker server, not of the storage server. The check does not stop traffic.

1. Expand Server disk space.
2. Click Check space («Проверить место»). The “Space check” («Проверка места») banner appears at the top of the tab.
3. Wait for the result: the line “X free of Y on the backup disk” («Свободно X из Y на диске копий»), the check time and the amount per category.

The values are approximate. The result is kept until the next check; its time is shown in the “Checked” («Проверено») line.

Local restore backups

The Local restore backups · N block appears when operation files remain on the tracker's disk: emergency backups created before a restore, backups downloaded for verification, and snapshots that failed to upload to the storage server. Local backups are stored unencrypted, including a backup downloaded from an encrypted one. Each row has a date, a size and a state:

• “Pinned” («Закреплена») — pinned with the Pin button, cleanup does not delete it.
• “Old emergency backup · can be cleaned up” («Старая аварийная копия · можно очистить») — files of a successfully completed restore, except the last two.
• “Protected” («Защищена») — cleanup does not delete it: it is one of the last two emergency backups, the backup being verified, or the files of an operation that ended with an error.

To free up space:

1. Expand Local restore backups.
2. Click Pin for the backups you want to keep.
3. Click Clean up old local backups («Очистить старые локальные копии»). The button is visible when there is something to delete.
4. Confirm the prompt: “Delete N old local emergency backups (size)? This cannot be undone; protected backups will be kept.” («Удалить N старых локальных аварийных копий (размер)? Это необратимо; защищённые копии сохранятся.»)

The tracker deletes a backup downloaded for verification from the disk by itself when the verification expires. Pinning keeps its files on disk but does not extend the verification.

A snapshot of a backup that failed to upload to the storage server is kept until the next backup to the same server. Once the new backup has produced its own snapshot, the previous failed snapshot is deleted. A pinned snapshot remains.

If something went wrong

Buttons are inactive

Another operation is running: creating a backup, including a scheduled one, verifying a backup, restoring or checking disk space. Wait for it to finish — the buttons become active by themselves.

If the top of the tab shows the message “Automatic rollback not completed…” («Автоматический возврат не завершён…»), waiting will not help — see Backup verification and in-place restore.

An update or restore is in progress («Сейчас идёт обновление или восстановление»)

A tracker update or another operation on the Settings → Updates («Настройки → Обновления») tab is running on the server, or a previous update or restore has not finished. During this time, Check cleanup, Clean up by rule, pinning and cleanup of local backups are unavailable. Try again after the operation finishes.

Cleanup not completed. Some old backups may have been deleted; retained and pinned backups are not affected. («Очистка не завершена. Часть старых копий могла быть удалена; сохранённые и закреплённые копии не затронуты.»)

The tracker could not delete backups: the storage server is unavailable, the connection dropped or the backup folder contains extraneous files. The backups the rule keeps and the pinned backups are intact. A backup whose deletion had started disappears from the list and is not used for restore.

Check that the storage server is available, then repeat Check cleanup and Clean up by rule.

Backup created, cleanup of old backups not completed («Копия создана, очистка старых копий не завершена»)

This result in the Operation history («История операций») block means that the new backup was uploaded, but the automatic cleanup after it failed. Run the cleanup manually: Check cleanup, then Clean up by rule.