Backups

Backups

Watchtower can tell you whether backups are recent and configured — but only after you tell it where backups live. It does not guess backup folders or panel jobs.

---

At a glance — pick your setup

Where your backups are	Where to set up	Time
Folder on this server (zip/tar files you can browse)	Backups tab → Choose backup folder	~1 min
On your host panel or cloud (bloom, S3, etc.)	Settings → Backups wizard	~2 min
Both	Settings → Backups	~2 min

---

Folder backups (files on this server)

1. Open Backups tab (or Settings → Backups → local section)
2. Click Choose backup folder
3. Browse to where your panel stores .zip / .tar.gz backups
4. Confirm — Watchtower scans and saves the path
5. Click Rescan after new backups run

Until configured, the Backups tab shows setup help and Issues may say backups are not set up.

---

Panel or cloud backups (files not on this server)

Common on bloom.host, Docker, and S3-style backups.

Settings → Backups — two-step wizard:

1. Choose On my panel only (or Both) → Continue
2. Copy the command → paste into your panel’s “after backup” task → Test it worked

Watchtower shows steps tailored to Crafty, Pterodactyl, bloom, and others.

---

What you see on the Backups tab

• Last backup age and status
• Panel backups section when panel signal is configured
• Table of archive files (name, size, date)
• Plain “what to do” steps when something is wrong

---

When backups look wrong

Message	Meaning	Fix
Not configured	No folder or panel signal	Settings → Backups or choose folder
Not found	Path empty or wrong	Check path, rescan
Stale	Nothing recent	Check panel backup schedule

---

Tips by host type

Host	Tip
Crafty	Often under crafty-4/backups
Pterodactyl	Path varies — check panel docs
bloom / VPS	Use SFTP to find path, then pick in browser
Manual	Point at your .tar.gz / .zip exports

---

Technical details

Config keys (watchtower.conf)

BACKUP_DIRS, BACKUP_WEBHOOK_TOKEN, BACKUP_EXTERNAL_MARKER, BACKUP_SUPPRESS_LOCAL_MISSING

Manual panel heartbeat (curl)

curl -sS -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:8787/api/backups/heartbeat" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your-secret" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"last_at":"'"$(date -Iseconds)"'","source":"panel","status":"success"}'

Status file JSON (backup-heartbeat.json)

Fields: last_at (required), source, status, detail, size_gb, remote_uri.

Supported archives: .tar.gz, .zip, common panel formats.

---

See also

• Quick Start Checklist
• Hosting Panels
• Configuration