Backup policies

A backup policy is per site. It chooses a storage destination, a schedule, and how long ConstellaWP keeps metadata (and deletes the remote object when retention elapses).

Open the site → Backups → Settings. You need at least one destination first; otherwise the form stays disabled.

Fields

Field	What it does
Automatic backups	Enables or pauses the schedule without deleting the policy
Schedule	Daily, Weekly, or Monthly
Destination	One of the organization’s BYOS destinations
Retention period	1–365 days (default 30)

Schedules run at 02:00 in the server timezone (the ConstellaWP workers’ timezone, not the WordPress site timezone):

Preset	Cron
Daily	0 2 * * *
Weekly	0 2 * * 0 (Sunday)
Monthly	0 2 1 * * (1st of the month)

Retention

When a backup is created, ConstellaWP sets expires_at from the policy’s retention days. A purge job removes expired archives from your bucket and then the database record. Retention is metadata-driven: ConstellaWP must still be able to reach the destination to delete the object.

Caution

If you delete the destination from ConstellaWP, existing zips stay in the bucket. ConstellaWP can only remove the local record. Clean up leftover prefixes in the provider console if you need them gone.

Manual backups

You can still run a backup from Backups while a policy is enabled. Manual runs use the policy destination when one exists.

Deleting a policy

Danger Zone → Delete Backup Policy removes the schedule only. It does not delete archives already stored. Owners and admins who can update the site can change or delete the policy.

Free plan note

On the Free plan, backups are manual only. Scheduled policies require a paid plan (Solo or Team) once billing is active on the organization.