Monitoring Database Backups

Database backups are scheduled jobs that run pg_dump, mysqldump, or custom backup scripts. A failed backup often goes unnoticed until you need to restore—by then it’s too late.

Configuration

Set your API key as an environment variable. For cron jobs, add it to your crontab:

# Edit crontab
crontab -e

# Add at top of crontab
PAKYAS_API_KEY=pk_live_xxxxx

# Then your backup job
0 3 * * * pakyas monitor pg-backup -- pg_dump mydb > /backups/mydb.sql

Or source from a file:

0 3 * * * . ~/.pakyas_env && pakyas monitor pg-backup -- pg_dump mydb > /backups/mydb.sql

See Environment Variables for all options.

When to use this

• Backups run on a schedule
• Missing a backup is a serious failure
• You need to know immediately when a backup fails

Basic example

pakyas monitor pg-backup -- pg_dump mydb > backup.sql

Pakyas wraps your backup command, reports start time, and alerts you if the backup fails or doesn’t run.

Scheduler setup

# crontab example - runs every night at 3am
0 3 * * * pakyas monitor pg-backup -- pg_dump mydb > /backups/mydb-$(date +\%Y\%m\%d).sql

What Pakyas detects

• Backup script exits non-zero
• Backup runs longer than expected
• Backup never runs (missed schedule)