# Your VPS backed up every week, without shutting it down

Every 7 days, a full copy of your VPS is made from a live snapshot, without interrupting your app. It includes the instance, port forwards, nginx config and your domains' certificates, plus restore instructions.

URL: https://ardumaker.com/en/servicios/backups/

- Every 7 days
- Live, no downtime
- Last 4 copies

## Here's what it looks like in the panel

Real screenshots of the ArduMaker panel, not mockups.

![Automatic backups: VPS backups](https://ardumaker.com/screenshots/servicios/backups-1.jpg)
**VPS backups**. Automatic weekly copies, size and download.

## A backup that actually works

Not just the disk: everything you need to bring the server back up.

- **Automatic**: Every 7 days, nothing to configure. Powered-off VPS get backed up too.
- **No downtime**: A live snapshot is taken and the export runs from it: your app keeps working.
- **The whole copy**: The entire instance with its port forwards and plan limits, the nginx config, the Let's Encrypt certificates, a manifest with plan, domains and repos, and SHA256 checksums.
- **Instructions included**: Every copy comes with a README of the restore steps, already written for your VPS and your domains.
- **Retention**: The last 4 copies are kept.
- **Final copy on deletion**: When you delete a VPS a final copy is kept forever; if that copy fails, the VPS is not deleted.
- **Integrity verified**: md5 check of the archive and SHA256 of each piece.
- **Retries**: If something fails, it retries with increasing waits until it goes through.
- **Included in the price**: Not an extra billed separately, and not an option you have to remember to switch on.

## How it works

1. **Live snapshot**: Without shutting the VPS down.
2. **Full export**: Instance, nginx, certificates and manifest.
3. **Verify and store**: With checksums and 4-copy retention.

## How it works under the hood, and what to watch for

What you should know before you start, no fine print.

- The copy comes from a live snapshot and is exported from there, so your app doesn't go down. The trade-off is that the snapshot is consistent at the disk level, not at the application level.
- That difference matters for databases: a disk snapshot of a database mid-write can end up in a state the database has to recover from at startup. For databases it is worth adding your own dump as a scheduled task. n8n already does it daily on its own.
- The last 4 copies are kept, one every 7 days. Powered-off VPS get backed up too.
- The copy includes the entire instance with its port forwards and plan limits, the nginx config, the Let's Encrypt certificates for your domains, a manifest with plan, domains and repos, and SHA256 checksums for each piece.
- Every copy comes with a README of the restore steps already written for your VPS and your domains, not a generic how-to.
- When you delete a VPS a permanent final copy is kept. And if that copy fails, the VPS is not deleted: we would rather leave you an extra server than delete data with no backup.
- Integrity is checked with an md5 of the archive and SHA256 of each piece. If something fails, it retries with increasing waits.
- A VPS with Docker takes up quite a bit more, because the images and volumes travel along too.
- Certificates for the platform domains (arducloud.com) are not included; the ones for your own domains are.
- Real root over SSH: the panel is a shortcut, not a cage. Anything it does with a button, you can also do by hand.

## Or just ask Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor

Everything you see in the panel, your AI agent can do through the ArduMaker MCP server: with your authorization, within the scope you grant, and with every action audited. [See what the MCP does](https://ardumaker.com/en/mcp/vps/)

## Automatic backups: frequently asked questions

### How often does it run?

Every 7 days, automatically.

### How many copies are kept?

The last 4.

### Does my app go down during the backup?

No, it is done from a live snapshot.

### What happens to my data if I delete the VPS?

A permanent final copy is kept, and if it can't be made, the VPS is not deleted.

### Is a weekly backup enough for a database?

For the server, yes; for a database that is being written to, it is worth adding your own dump. The snapshot is consistent at the disk level, not the application level: the database may have to recover at startup. A pg_dump or mysqldump as a scheduled task covers that part, and n8n already does it daily.

### How do I restore a copy?

Every copy comes with a README of the steps already written for your VPS and your domains, and you request the download from the panel.

### Do backups cost extra?

No, they come with the VPS. There is nothing to enable or configure.

## Services that go well together

Everything runs on the same VPS and is managed from the same panel.

- [PostgreSQL](https://ardumaker.com/en/servicios/postgresql/): Install PostgreSQL and manage databases, users and permissions without the command line.
- [Services and scheduled tasks](https://ardumaker.com/en/servicios/servicios-y-tareas/): Create systemd services for your app and cron-style scheduled tasks with logs, without writing systemctl.
- [Domains and SSL](https://ardumaker.com/en/servicios/dominios-ssl/): A free subdomain or your own domain with Let's Encrypt, an nginx proxy with rollback, and port forwarding.

**Sleep easy** Every ArduMaker VPS backs itself up every week. Not a separate product: it's in the panel of every ArduMaker VPS, right next to real root over SSH. [See plans](https://ardumaker.com/en/precios/)