Getting started
Protect your first database in one guided flow — the dashboard connects it, schedules encrypted backups, and stores them for you.
The fastest way to a first backup is Protect a database — a single guided flow that connects your database, picks a schedule and retention, and stores encrypted backups on Norcube-managed storage. No backup policy or storage bucket to set up first. About two minutes.
Prerequisites
- A Norcube account (sign up).
- A reachable PostgreSQL or MongoDB database. Your firewall / security
group must allow inbound connections on the database port from
Backup's egress IP
18.196.207.101— see Network access. - A database user with read access to everything you want backed up (read-only role snippets).
You don't need to create a backup policy or a storage destination first — the guided flow creates a schedule for you and lands backups on managed, encrypted storage. Those objects still exist for advanced use (see Build it yourself).
Protect a database
Open the wizard
In the Backup section of the dashboard, click Protect a database — it's the button at the top of the sidebar, and also on the Datasources page. A guided dialog opens.
Connect your database
- Database name — a label you'll recognise (
production-db,analytics-staging). Only you see it. - Engine — PostgreSQL or MongoDB.
- Connection string — the full URI for your database:
- Postgres:
postgres://user:password@host:5432/database?sslmode=require - MongoDB:
mongodb://user:password@host:27017/database?tls=true&authSource=admin
- Postgres:
Click Next.
Choose a schedule
Pick how often backups run:
- Daily — every day at 02:00.
- Every 6 hours — four backups a day.
- Weekly — Sundays at 02:00.
- Advanced — any cron expression; the dialog shows a plain-English preview of what it means.
The timezone defaults to your browser's, so 02:00 means your local
2 a.m. Click Next.
Choose retention
How long to keep backups:
- Standard — 30 days, keep the last 14.
- Extended — 90 days, keep the last 30.
- Long-term — 1 year, keep the last 60.
- Advanced — set the retention window and keep-count yourself.
Older backups are deleted once they age past the window, but the last N are always kept even if they age out. Backups land on Norcube-managed storage, encrypted with SSE-KMS — nothing to configure.
Protect and run
Click Protect database. The dialog creates the datasource, stores the (encrypted) credentials, wires up the schedule, and runs a connection test — all at once. On success you'll see whether the connection verified:
- Verified — the first scheduled run will connect fine. Click Run first backup now to queue one immediately and jump to the datasource to watch it, or just wait for the schedule.
- Test failed — the setup is saved, but fix the credentials on the datasource before the first backup runs (run-now stays disabled until the connection works).
Watch the first backup
On the datasource's detail page, the Backup jobs card fills in as jobs run: queued → running → success, with duration and size per row. The Next Backup field in the details grid shows when the next scheduled run is due. You can also trigger a manual run any time from the ⋯ menu → Run backup now.
Build it yourself (advanced)
The guided flow is the default, not the only path. If you want to reuse one schedule across many databases or bring your own storage bucket, assemble the pieces manually instead:
Connect a datasource
Create the datasource and set credentials as separate steps.
Create a backup policy
Define a reusable schedule + retention + destination.
Attach a policy to databases
One policy, attached to many datasources.
Bring your own bucket
Land backups in storage you control — R2, B2, Wasabi, MinIO, or your AWS account.
Protecting several databases with the same schedule and retention reuses a single backup policy behind the scenes rather than creating duplicates — the same "one policy, many datasources" model you'd build by hand.