Cron Backup

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name: cron-backup description: Set up scheduled automated backups with version tracking and cleanup. Use when users need to (1) Schedule periodic backups of directories or files, (2) Monitor version changes and backup on updates, (3) Automatically clean up old backups to save space, (4) Create backup strategies for configuration files, code repositories, or user data.

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Cron Backup

Automated backup scheduling with version detection and intelligent cleanup.

Quick Start

One-Time Backup

# Backup a directory with timestamp
./scripts/backup.sh /path/to/source /path/to/backup/dir
Backup with custom name
./scripts/backup.sh /path/to/source /path/to/backup/dir my-backup

Schedule Daily Backup

# Set up daily backup at 2 AM
./scripts/setup-cron.sh daily /path/to/source /path/to/backup/dir "0 2 * * *"

Version-Aware Backup

# Backup only when version changes
./scripts/backup-versioned.sh /path/to/source /path/to/version/file /path/to/backup/dir

Cleanup Old Backups

# Keep only last 7 days of backups
./scripts/cleanup.sh /path/to/backup/dir 7

Core Capabilities

1. Directory Backup

Creates timestamped tar.gz archives

Preserves file permissions and structure

Excludes common temp files (node_modules, .git, etc.)

2. Version-Triggered Backup

Monitors version file or command output

Backs up only when version changes

Useful for software updates

3. Scheduled Execution

Integrates with system cron

Supports custom schedules

Logs execution results

4. Automatic Cleanup

Deletes backups older than N days

Keeps minimum number of backups

Prevents disk space exhaustion

Scripts

All scripts are in scripts/ directory:

backup.sh - Single backup execution

backup-versioned.sh - Version-triggered backup

setup-cron.sh - Cron job setup

cleanup.sh - Old backup cleanup

list-backups.sh - List available backups

Backup Naming Convention

Backups follow the pattern: {name}_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.tar.gz

Examples:

openclabak_20260204_101500.tar.gz

myapp_20260204_000000.tar.gz

Workflow

Setting Up Automated Backups

1. Decide backup strategy - What to backup (source directory) - Where to store (backup directory) - How often (schedule) - Retention policy (cleanup days)

2. Run initial backup

   ./scripts/backup.sh /source /backup
   

3. Set up schedule

   ./scripts/setup-cron.sh daily /source /backup "0 2 * * *"
   

4. Configure cleanup

   ./scripts/setup-cron.sh cleanup /backup "" "0 3 * * *" 7
   

Version-Aware Backup Workflow

For software that changes version (like OpenClaw):

1. Identify version source - Command: openclaw --version - File: /path/to/version.txt

2. Set up versioned backup

   ./scripts/backup-versioned.sh /app /app/version.txt /backups/app
   

3. Schedule version check

   ./scripts/setup-cron.sh versioned /app /backups/app "0 */6 * * *"
   

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Daily User Data Backup

# Backup workspace daily, keep 30 days
./scripts/setup-cron.sh daily /home/user/workspace /backups/workspace "0 2 * * *"
./scripts/setup-cron.sh cleanup /backups/workspace "" "0 3 * * *" 30

Pattern 2: Version-Aware Application Backup

# Backup when application updates
./scripts/setup-cron.sh versioned /opt/myapp /backups/myapp "0 */6 * * *"
./scripts/setup-cron.sh cleanup /backups/myapp "" "0 4 * * 0" 10

Pattern 3: Multi-Directory Backup

# Backup multiple directories
./scripts/backup.sh /home/user/.config /backups/config
./scripts/backup.sh /home/user/projects /backups/projects

Cron Schedule Format

Standard cron format: minute hour day month weekday

Common schedules:

Daily at 2 AM: 0 2 * * *

Every 6 hours: 0 */6 * * *

Weekly on Sunday: 0 0 * * 0

Every 30 minutes: */30 * * * *

Cleanup Policies

Time-based: Keep backups for N days

Count-based: Keep last N backups

Combined: Default keeps 7 days minimum, but at least 3 backups

Troubleshooting

Permission denied: Ensure scripts are executable (chmod +x scripts/*.sh)

Cron not running: Check cron service status (systemctl status cron)

Disk full: Run cleanup manually or reduce retention period

Backup fails: Check source directory exists and is readable

One-Time Backup

# Backup a directory with timestamp
./scripts/backup.sh /path/to/source /path/to/backup/dir
Backup with custom name
./scripts/backup.sh /path/to/source /path/to/backup/dir my-backup

Schedule Daily Backup

# Set up daily backup at 2 AM
./scripts/setup-cron.sh daily /path/to/source /path/to/backup/dir "0 2 * * *"

Version-Aware Backup

# Backup only when version changes
./scripts/backup-versioned.sh /path/to/source /path/to/version/file /path/to/backup/dir

Cleanup Old Backups

# Keep only last 7 days of backups
./scripts/cleanup.sh /path/to/backup/dir 7

Permission denied: Ensure scripts are executable (chmod +x scripts/*.sh)

Cron not running: Check cron service status (systemctl status cron)

Disk full: Run cleanup manually or reduce retention period

Backup fails: Check source directory exists and is readable