WARNING: JetBackup 4 is set to reach its End-of-Life (EOL) on July 1st, 2024. For More Information, please visit: JetBackup 4 EOL Announcement.
NOTICE: JetBackup 5 is now available in the Stable Tier. For more information, please visit our Jetbackup 5 Documentation.

Backup Job Types

JetBackup can perform several types of backups. Here's a brief explanation for each type:

  • Accounts - Copy files/folders from each cPanel account that you choose to include (i.e. similar to "/scripts/pkgacct" for those who understand this cPanel process).
  • Directories - Copy server files/folders that you choose to include (not necessarily related to cPanel accounts).
  • Replicate - Creates a one-to-one copy of the included files/directories to the backup destination. Please note that backup retentions are not supported for this type.

Backup Structures

JetBackup supports the following backup structures - specify how backups are generated and stored.

  • Incremental - Backup new and changed data since the previous backup.
  • Archived - Backup data in an uncompressed archive (.tar file format). Uncompressed backups are faster to generate but require more space.
  • Compressed - Backup data in a compressed archive (.tar.gz file format). Compressed backups use less space but take more time to generate.

Limitations & Known Issues

Invalid characters

JetBackup can't restore files and/or directories with the following characters: ? *

For FTP/SFTP destinations, JetBackup does not support incremental backups for files and/or directories with the following character: |

For a list of recommended special characters to avoid in filenames, please visit: Special Characters and Filenames.

Mysql & Postgresql compressed backup issue

We are aware of a bug in JetBackup 4 for cPanel where compressed backups for accounts that are using both MySQL and PostgreSQL fail to dump MySQL Databases. Please visit the following link for the patch to this issue: MySQL & PostgreSQL - Compressed Backup Patch


Additional Information

What's the difference between "Directories incremental" and "Replicate"?

The "Directories incremental" backup job copies files/folders in a "snapshots" based file structure. This allows you to have multiple backup retentions on supported destinations (SSH / Local / Amazon).

The "Replicate" job takes the included files/folders "as is" and generates a one-to-one copy of the backup. With the use of rsync, the backup process is optimized by solely copying changes from the latest full backup. However, it won't have the ability to create backup retentions, lacking a "backup history" of the included files/folders


Optimizing your backups on supported destinations.

"Point-In-Time" incremental backups - For retentions on incremental backups, JetBackup generates "point-in-time" incremental backups that use as little space as possible (using hard links). For Example, on a 2GB cPanel account with 30-day backup retention, it will only consume 2GB + 30 Days worth of new/changed data. (**For databases, JetBackup generates a full dump of the database for each incremental backup).



How do I backup my server config/system files?

JetBackup can backup generic system files and folders on your server. That way you have a backup of important files and/or server config files that are not directly related to cPanel accounts. Please navigate to Backup generic system and server files for instructions on how to create this type of backup job, along with a list of system files/folders we recommend including in that backup job.