Bi-monthly Backup Policy

Introduction

This policy creates a remote snapshot every two months and retains them for up to 6 months, ensuring a balance between storage conservation and restore availability.

Scheduler Configuration

Snapshot Frequency: Every two months on the 1st day at 17:00 UTC
Months: February, April, June, August, October, December
Retention Rule: Keep all snapshots for the last 6 months
Time Window: The backup window runs daily from 07:00 to 19:00 UTC. This policy only uses it to scope execution.

Snapshot Timeline (1 Year)

Let’s break it down over one calendar year:

Snapshots are taken on: - Feb 1, Apr 1, Jun 1, Aug 1, Oct 1, Dec 1
At any given time, up to 3 most recent snapshots will be retained, due to the 6-month retention rule. - Example: In July, only Feb 1, Apr 1, and Jun 1 snapshots remain.

Total retained snapshots after 1 year:

3 snapshots. Snapshots older than 6 months are automatically deleted.

API Summary

Endpoint:

POST /api/2.0/backupschedulers/

JSON Payload:

{
  "type": "backup",
  "name": "BiMonthly Snapshot Policy",
  "enable_backup_policy_notifications": true,
  "enable_retention_policy_notifications": false,
  "is_default": false,
  "is_enabled": true,
  "manual_incremental_backup": "",
  "retention_policy": {
    "name": "Keep 12 Month",
    "rules": [
      {
        "period": "months",
        "quantity": 6
      }
    ]
  },
  "incremental_backup": {
    "day_of_week": [],
    "day_of_month": "1",
    "month": "2,4,6,8,10,12",
    "hour": "17",
    "minute": "0",
    "repeat": {
      "hour": "",
      "minute": ""
    },
    "start_time": {
      "hour": 7,
      "minute": 0
    },
    "end_time": {
      "hour": 19,
      "minute": 0
    }
  },
  "user_timezone": "Etc/UTC"
}