my-recipes/backend/WEEKLY_BACKUP_SETUP.md

Weekly Backup Setup - Windows Task Scheduler

This guide will help you set up automatic weekly backups of your database.

Setup Instructions

1. Create Batch Script

Create a file run_backup.bat in the backend folder:

@echo off
cd /d "%~dp0"
python backup_db.py >> backup.log 2>&1

2. Open Task Scheduler

1. Press Win + R
2. Type taskschd.msc
3. Press Enter

3. Create New Task

1. Click "Create Task" (not "Create Basic Task")
2. In General tab:
   • Name: Recipe DB Weekly Backup
   • Description: Automatic weekly database backup to Cloudflare R2
   • Select "Run whether user is logged on or not"
   • Check "Run with highest privileges"

4. Configure Trigger

1. Go to Triggers tab
2. Click "New..."
3. Configure:
   • Begin the task: On a schedule
   • Settings: Weekly
   • Recur every: 1 weeks
   • Days: Select Sunday (or your preferred day)
   • Time: 02:00:00 (2 AM)
   • Check "Enabled"
4. Click OK

5. Configure Action

1. Go to Actions tab
2. Click "New..."
3. Configure:
   • Action: Start a program
   • Program/script: C:\Path\To\backend\run_backup.bat (Replace with your actual path)
   • Start in: C:\Path\To\backend\ (Replace with your actual path)
4. Click OK

6. Additional Settings

1. Go to Conditions tab:

   • Uncheck "Start the task only if the computer is on AC power"

2. Go to Settings tab:

   • Check "Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed"
   • If the task fails, restart every: 10 minutes
   • Attempt to restart up to: 3 times

3. Click OK

7. Enter Password

• You'll be prompted to enter your Windows password
• This allows the task to run even when you're not logged in

Verify Setup

Test the Task

1. In Task Scheduler, find your task
2. Right-click → "Run"
3. Check backend/backup.log for results

View Scheduled Runs

• In Task Scheduler, select your task
• Check the "History" tab to see past runs

Troubleshooting

Task doesn't run

• Check Task Scheduler → Task History for errors
• Verify Python is in system PATH
• Try running run_backup.bat manually first

No log file created

• Check file permissions in backend folder
• Verify the "Start in" path is correct

Backup fails

• Check backend/backup.log for error messages
• Verify database credentials in .env
• Verify R2 credentials in .env
• Test by running python backup_db.py manually

Change Backup Schedule

1. Open Task Scheduler
2. Find "Recipe DB Weekly Backup"
3. Right-click → Properties
4. Go to Triggers tab
5. Edit the trigger to change day/time
6. Click OK

Disable Automatic Backups

1. Open Task Scheduler
2. Find "Recipe DB Weekly Backup"
3. Right-click → Disable

View Backup Log

Check backend/backup.log to see backup history:

cd backend
type backup.log

Or open it in Notepad.