Scheduled Plesk backups do not run at the scheduled time

Batyr Tarpakov

Updated January 13, 2026 19:04

Plesk for Linux kb: technical ABT: Group B

Applicable to:

Plesk for Linux

Symptoms

Plesk scheduled backups (local, FTP, cloud storage) do not run at a scheduled time.
Cron job is executed correctly:

# grep backupmng /var/log/syslog | tail -n3
CRON[1329826]: (root) CMD ([ -x /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng ] && /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng >/dev/null 2>&1)

Note: On RedHat based OS it can be seen in the /var/log/cron file while, on Debian based OS can be seen in /var/log/syslog

Cause

A new scheduled backup task does not start because of other stuck backup processes which are stuck (in this case, - from June, 20):

# ps auxfw | grep backupmng | grep -v grep
root 15212 0.0 0.0 4268 96 ? Ss jun20 0:00 \_ /bin/sh -c [ -x /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng ] && /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng >/dev/null 2>&1
psaadm 15213 0.0 0.0 45064 596 ? S jun20 0:00 \_ /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng
psaadm 15216 0.0 0.0 45064 568 ? S jun20 2:07 \_ /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng
psaadm 15217 0.0 0.4 301544 19624 ? S jun20 0:01 \_ /usr/bin/sw-engine -c /opt/psa/admin/conf/php.ini /opt/psa/admin/plib/backup/scheduled_backup.php --dump 12
root 15523 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? Z jun20 0:00 \_ [pmmcli] <defunct>
root 15526 0.0 0.3 121476 13096 ? S jun20 0:00 \_ /usr/bin/python -Estt /opt/psa/admin/sbin/pmmcli --pmmras-exec /opt/psa/tmp/prevIOHp2 --get-ftp-dump-list
root 15527 0.0 0.0 113852 1188 ? S jun20 0:00 \_ /opt/psa/admin/bin/pmm-ras --get-ftp-dump-list --dump-storage=ext://one-drive-backup/subscription/23/
root 15822 0.0 0.4 375080 16904 ? S jun20 2:38 \_ /usr/bin/sw-engine -c /opt/psa/admin/conf/php.ini /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backup_restore_helper --exte

Resolution

Debian-based OS

Connect to the Plesk server via SSH
Stop cron service:

# systemctl stop cron
Kill these processes by their PID:

# kill -9 `ps auxfw | grep backupmng | grep -v grep | awk {'print $2'}`
Start cron sercive:

# systemctl start cron
Either wait until the next scheduled backup is launched or launch the process manually through the following command:

# /opt/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng

Warning: If the tasks are launched manually through the command above, all the pending scheduled backups will be launched at the same time. Consider this for resource usage.

RHeL-based OS

Connect to the Plesk server via SSH
Stop cron service:

# systemctl stop crond
Kill these processes by their PID:

# kill -9 `ps auxfw | grep backupmng | grep -v grep | awk {'print $2'}`
Start cron sercive:

# systemctl start crond
Either wait until the next scheduled backup is launched or launch the process manually through the following command:

# /usr/local/psa/admin/sbin/backupmng

Warning: If the tasks are launched manually through the command above, all the pending scheduled backups will be launched at the same time. Consider this for resource usage.