For incremental backups, do I need 2 backup schedules, 1 for incremental, and 1 for full?

Hello,

It is not clear from the docs whether one needs a full backup schedule after configuring an incremental backup? Or does the incremental backup take care of the less frequent full backup?

So, for example if I configure a daily incremental schedule, do I also need to configure a weekly or monthly full backup?

Basically, the incremental mode backups all files that were changed since the last full run - or all files if no full run has taken place yet.

So if you don’t configure a full schedule, your incremental one will make one full, and from then on only incrementals. It does not do automatic less frequent fulls.

So yes, if you want regular full backups, you need two schedules.

Please note though that what Virtualmin calls “incremental” is actually “differential” – it always backups changes since the last full backup, not since the previous backup of any type.

Also note that the full/incremental mode only applies to files. Everything else, most noteworthy database contents, is always backed up full.

Much appreciated Locutus.

It’s great to know the incremental does one full backup at the beginning, but I started to have doubts when I realized it might be deleted if I set auto deletion of backups older than x days. So, if this one full backup gets deleted, eventually one is left with only incremental backups.So, it seems unavoidable to have another schedule for weekly full backups for example.

But then I was wondering if Webmin/Virtualmin backup schedules are aware of each other. So, if I have an incremental backup it will be checking the date of the last full backup in the full backup schedule…Phew.