Backups: creating, restoring and scheduling

How to create a backup of your server, restore one when something goes wrong, and set up automatic backups on a schedule.

4 min read · Updated Oct 5, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team

A backup is a saved copy of every file on your server at a point in time. If an update breaks something, a plugin misbehaves, or you just want a safety net before a big change, a backup lets you roll things back. It is the cheapest insurance you have, so get in the habit of taking one before anything risky.

The backups in this guide are quick backups: free with your plan and stored on the same machine as your server, which makes them the right tool before you add a plugin, change settings or update. If your server is one you can't afford to lose, Daily Off-site Backups also copy it to separate cloud storage every day and keep the last 7, so a problem with the machine itself can't take your backups with it. Off-site copies never use up your backup slots.

Creating a backup

1. Sign in at customer.guavahost.com, open My servers and click Manage on your server.
2. Open Backups in the server menu.
3. Click Create backup.
4. Give it a Name you will recognise later, something like before 1.21 update. It is optional.
5. Click Create backup to start it. The server keeps running while it saves.
6. Wait for it to finish. Larger servers take longer, and the backup shows Ready in the list when it is done.

Want to leave something out, such as a big logs folder? Open Leave some files out in the same window and list one file or folder per line. Leaving it empty backs up everything, which is the safe choice.

How many backups you can keep depends on your plan. The Backup slots bar on the Backups page shows how many you have used. If your plan has no backup slots, the page says so, and you can add some with Manage plan.

Keeping a backup safe with Lock

Click Lock on a backup you never want to lose, such as the one from just before a big change. Locked backups are never removed to make room, and they cannot be deleted until you click Unlock.

Downloading a backup

Click Download next to a backup to save a copy on your own computer. A copy off the server is worth having before you cancel, reinstall or try anything drastic.

Restoring a backup

Restoring puts your server back to how it was when that backup was taken.

1. Open Backups.
2. Find the backup you want in the list and click Restore.
3. Choose what happens to files added since that backup:
   • Keep them: recommended. Only files that are in the backup are put back, and anything newer is left alone.
   • Also delete files added since this backup: a clean restore, so the server ends up exactly as it was. Use this to completely undo a mod or plugin install.
4. Click Restore backup (or Restore and delete newer files) to confirm.
5. The server shows Restoring backup while it works and restarts when it is done.

Important: restoring overwrites your current files with the contents of the backup. Anything changed since that backup was taken is lost. If you are not totally sure, take a fresh backup of the current state first, so you can get back to it if you change your mind.

Scheduling automatic backups

You can have the panel take backups for you on a timer using Scheduled tasks.

The quick way, if you have no scheduled tasks yet:

1. Open Scheduled tasks in the server menu.
2. Click the Back up every week starter. It takes a backup at 3:00 am every Monday.

To choose your own timing:

1. Open Scheduled tasks and click New schedule (or Build your own if the list is empty).
2. Give it a Name, for example Nightly backup.
3. Under How often, pick Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Custom, then set At what time. The preview underneath shows when it runs next and which time zone it uses.
4. Leave Skip if the server is offline unticked for backups, so they still happen while the server is off.
5. Under What should it do?, choose Take a backup, then click Create schedule.

From then on the panel takes a backup on that schedule without you lifting a finger. It is worth checking back after the first run or two to confirm the backups are appearing on the Backups page.

Keep your plan's limit in mind here. When your backup slots are full, a scheduled backup replaces the oldest unlocked backup, so lock the ones you want to keep for good.

Troubleshooting

• Backup fails or gets stuck: this can happen if the server is very large or low on space. Delete the failed backup and try again, and if it keeps failing, reach out on Discord so we can take a look.
• Cannot create a new backup: you may have used every backup slot. Delete an old backup you no longer need, or unlock one, and try again.
• Scheduled backup did not run: open Scheduled tasks and check the schedule is not Paused, that the timing is right and that it has a Backup step. Run now tests it straight away.
• Restored but the change is still there, or the world looks wrong: make sure you picked the right backup. If newer files are the problem, restore again and choose Also delete files added since this backup.

Still stuck? Jump into our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and the team will help you out.

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