Backup policy settings

This page lists every backup.* setting a profile can set, as the settings catalog in Depot 0.4.1 defines it. For how to use them together, see Configure backups with policy.

Scope

• Depot 0.4.1. The list is complete for that release.
• Every backup setting applies to endpoints. It is resolved from the whole client, the site, the device group, and the endpoint, never from a user group or a person, so a backup setting assigned to a person has no effect.
• Every backup setting can be made mandatory.
• Every setting is applied the same way on Windows, Linux, and macOS, except where a row says otherwise.

Merge is how two values combine when two profiles at the same rank set the setting, or when two mandatory values meet. Between different ranks, the higher rank wins. See How profiles merge.

Merge	Result
On wins	On if any value is on.
Off wins	Off if any value is off.
Smallest above 0	The smaller number, where 0 loses to any positive value.
Largest	The larger number.
Combined	Every path from every list.
Single value	No combining. Two different values at the same rank are reported as a conflict.

Settings

Key	Type	Default	Merge	What it does
backup.allow_metered	Boolean	false	Off wins	Whether backups may run on a metered connection such as a phone hotspot. A skipped run shows as skipped, not failed.
backup.allow_on_battery	Boolean	false	Off wins	Whether backups may run while a laptop is on battery. Otherwise the run waits for mains power.
backup.browser_download_max_bytes	Bytes	2000000000 (2 GB)	Smallest above 0	The largest selection a technician may download from a backup as a zip in the browser. Larger restores go to an endpoint.
backup.delete_floor_days	Integer	7	Largest	How many days every backup object is protected from deletion. Outpost refuses to sign a delete for anything younger.
backup.enabled	Boolean	false	On wins	Whether Outpost Backup protects this endpoint.
backup.exclude_paths	List	Empty	Combined	Files and folders never to back up, as paths or glob patterns. Temporary files, browser caches, Outlook .ost files, and cloud placeholder files are always excluded.
backup.image_retention	Object	4 weekly, 3 monthly	Single value	Which system images to keep. See Retention values.
backup.image_schedule	String	0 2 * * 0	Single value	When the system image runs, as a five-field cron expression in the endpoint’s local time. The default is Sundays at 02:00.
backup.include_downloads	Boolean	false	On wins	Whether each user’s Downloads folder is backed up with their other standard folders.
backup.include_paths	List	Empty	Combined	Extra files and folders to back up, as paths or glob patterns, in addition to each user’s standard folders.
backup.object_lock	Boolean	true	On wins	Whether to apply S3 Object Lock retention to backup objects when the bucket supports it, so even someone holding the bucket’s keys cannot delete them early.
backup.post_script_id	String	Empty	Single value	The id of a script from the library to run after every backup. See Pre and post scripts.
backup.pre_patch	Boolean	false	On wins	Whether to take a backup before installing patches. A failed or slow backup is reported but never blocks patching.
backup.pre_script_id	String	Empty	Single value	The id of a script from the library to run before every backup. See Pre and post scripts.
backup.primary_interval_minutes	Integer	240	Smallest above 0	How often the primary file backup runs, in minutes.
backup.primary_retention	Object	6 most recent, 14 daily, 8 weekly, 12 monthly	Single value	Which primary file snapshots to keep. See Retention values.
backup.primary_storage_profile_id	String	Empty	Single value	The id of the storage destination for the primary copy. See Destinations.
backup.secondary_interval_minutes	Integer	1440	Smallest above 0	How often the secondary file backup runs, in minutes.
backup.secondary_retention	Object	3 most recent, 7 daily, 4 weekly, 6 monthly	Single value	Which secondary snapshots to keep. See Retention values.
backup.secondary_storage_profile_id	String	Empty	Single value	The id of the storage destination for an optional secondary copy. Empty means no secondary copy.
backup.self_service_restore	Boolean	true	Off wins	Whether people can restore their own files from the tray app. They see only their own folders, and restored files never replace existing ones.
backup.system_image	Boolean	false	On wins	Whether to back up the whole system as well as files: a disk image on Windows, every local filesystem and the disk layout on Linux, and the data volume on macOS (Preview).
backup.upload_limit_kbps	Integer	0	Smallest above 0	The most bandwidth backup may use to upload, in kilobits per second. 0 means no limit.
backup.verify_interval_days	Integer	7	Smallest above 0	How often the endpoint verifies a sample of its backups and test-restores a few files to a temporary folder. A failed check raises an alert. 0 turns verification off.

Notes on individual values

Retention values

The three retention settings each take a JSON object with six whole-number keys. The profile editor shows them as six fields:

Key	Field in the editor	Keeps
latest	Most recent	The newest snapshots, whatever their age
hourly	Hourly	One snapshot for each of this many hours
daily	Daily	One snapshot for each of this many days
weekly	Weekly	One snapshot for each of this many weeks
monthly	Monthly	One snapshot for each of this many months
annual	Yearly	One snapshot for each of this many years

A missing key counts as 0, which keeps none for that period. The profile editor refuses any other key, such as a misspelling. A value that cannot be read at all falls back to the default. The defaults are:

{
  "backup.primary_retention": {"latest": 6, "hourly": 0, "daily": 14, "weekly": 8, "monthly": 12, "annual": 0},
  "backup.secondary_retention": {"latest": 3, "hourly": 0, "daily": 7, "weekly": 4, "monthly": 6, "annual": 0},
  "backup.image_retention": {"latest": 0, "hourly": 0, "daily": 0, "weekly": 4, "monthly": 3, "annual": 0}
}

Destinations

backup.primary_storage_profile_id and backup.secondary_storage_profile_id take a storage destination’s id, not its name. When the primary is empty, or names a destination that has been retired, the primary copy goes to the client’s default destination, then the MSP’s default, then the Outpost server’s own disk. Outpost Cloud Storage is the MSP’s default unless you set another, except on Home Lab. A Windows network share applies to Windows endpoints only. Other endpoints skip it and use the next destination.

When a copy’s destination changes, the endpoint starts a separate repository at the other destination. The old one stays readable for restores and is never written again.

Pre and post scripts

backup.pre_script_id and backup.post_script_id name a script in the script library. The script runs with its normal signature checks. If the pre-backup script fails, the backup run fails. The post-backup script runs after every run that opened the repository and never changes the run’s result. If the script cannot be found or does not run on the endpoint’s operating system, the backup runs without it.

Both scripts follow the endpoint’s script policy, the same rules as a technician’s run. If script_execution.allowed_script_repository or script_execution.approval_required refuses either script, the backup run fails, takes no snapshot, and runs neither script. The run’s error starts with The pre-backup script was refused, so this backup did not run. (or post-backup) and then says which rule refused it and which profile or security framework requires it. For example, client_library_only refuses a script from the shared library, and approval_required refuses a version that no second person approved. Fix the script or the setting, and the next run picks up the change. Verify runs, repository maintenance, and restore browsing do not run the scripts, so a refusal does not affect them.

Related

• Configure backups with policy
• Policy settings reference
• Storage destinations