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Scheduled Backup Tasks in TrueNAS SCALE

This document describes how to automate backups in TrueNAS SCALE using scheduled tasks. These include local snapshot creation, remote cloud sync (e.g., Google Drive), and dataset replication (if applicable).

1. Automatic Snapshot Tasks

Snapshots are lightweight backups of datasets that can be scheduled periodically.

Steps to Configure:

  1. Go to Data Protection → Periodic Snapshot Tasks.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Select the dataset to snapshot (e.g., core-pool/lab, core-pool/agency).
  4. Configure:
  5. Recursive: Yes (to include all child datasets).
  6. Lifetime: e.g., 2 weeks or 1 month.
  7. Schedule: Define a cron-style schedule or use presets (e.g., daily at 02:00).
  8. Click Save and Enable the task.

Example:

Setting Value
Dataset core-pool/lab
Recursive Yes
Lifetime 1 month
Schedule Daily at 02:00 AM

Snapshots can later be used for manual rollback or replication.

2. Cloud Sync Tasks (Backups to Cloud)

A Cloud Sync Task uploads or downloads data between a dataset and a cloud storage provider.

Existing Setup:

  • A Cloud Sync task is already configured to upload snapshots to Google Drive.
  • Runs daily at 3:00 AM.

Steps to Configure:

  1. Go to Data Protection → Cloud Sync Tasks.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Configure:
  4. Direction: Push.
  5. Transfer Mode: Sync or Copy (we recommend Copy for backups).
  6. Path: Select dataset path (e.g., /mnt/core-pool/lab/backups).
  7. Credential: Google Drive OAuth (already configured).
  8. Remote Path: e.g., truenas/lab-backups.
  9. Schedule: Daily at your preferred time.
Task Schedule Destination
Lab backups to GDrive Daily at 03:00 AM Google Drive
Agency backups Weekly on Sunday Google Drive (or other)

3. Local Replication Tasks (Optional)

If you have a second disk or another dataset for internal backup, TrueNAS allows local replication.

Steps:

  1. Go to Data Protection → Replication Tasks.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Select:
  4. Source Dataset: e.g., core-pool/lab.
  5. Destination Dataset: e.g., core-pool/lab/backups.
  6. Enable Recursive, Snapshot Replication, and configure schedule.

Maintenance Recommendations

  • Review Cloud Sync logs weekly to ensure successful uploads.
  • Ensure snapshots are retained long enough for rollback if needed.
  • Consider exporting critical snapshots manually before system upgrades.
  • See snapshots.md for snapshot management and rollback.
  • See cloud_sync.md for cloud provider setup.