---
title: "Enable backups on a node"
description: "Turn on automatic backups for a node, at creation or afterward, and know what a restore gives back."
content_type: "how-to"
product: "node"
platform: "MyAccount"
url: "/myaccount/node/how-to/enable-backups-on-a-node/"
topic: ["images-and-snapshots"]
---

# Enable backups on a node

Backup copies the node's files and folders automatically, every six hours on the default plan, so
you have something to restore from later. It runs on CDP Backup, short for Continuous Data Protection, E2E's backup
service for nodes. It is off by default, whether you turn it on while creating the node or
afterward. Turning it on during creation is simplest for a new node: it is one checkbox on the
form you are already filling in. Use the **CDP Backup Details** tab instead once the node is
already running.

## Turn on backups when you create the node

Check **Enable Backup.** on the create-node form. Backups cost a flat monthly fee plus storage
charged on the month's peak size in GB; see [E2E's pricing page](https://www.e2enetworks.com/pricing) for the
rates. Backups also need inbound TCP port 1167 allowed from **Any Network** in the node's security
group, and in its own firewall. Keep that rule even if the group is otherwise locked down: a
narrower source can stop backups in some regions.

You can also set a passphrase to encrypt the backup. It runs 8 to 50 characters, with a digit, a
special character, and both an uppercase and a lowercase letter. E2E does not store this
passphrase. Keep it somewhere safe: losing it means losing access to your backups.

If backup is not available in your region yet, the node still launches. **Enable Backup.** stays
on the form but is unavailable, with a note to turn it on later.

## Turn on backups for an existing node

Open the node's **CDP Backup Details** tab and turn on backup from there. For every setting, see
[Turn on CDP Backup for a node](/myaccount/cdp-backup/how-to/turn-on-cdp-backup/).

You can also make backup on by default for every future node you create, and change an existing
node's backup schedule once its first backup has finished.

## What you keep

Retention depends on your plan:

- Recent backups: a set number, one for each run, every four, six, or 10 hours depending on the
  plan.
- Daily backups: the last one taken before midnight.
- Weekly backups: the last one taken on Saturday.
- Monthly backups: the last one taken on the last day of the month.
- Yearly backups, on some plans: the last backup of the last day of the year.

Restoring a backup restores the files and folders you choose, rather than the whole disk. See
[Restore files from a recovery
point](/myaccount/cdp-backup/how-to/restore-files-from-a-recovery-point/) for the full procedure.

For a restore point of the whole node before a risky change, take a snapshot as well; see
[Create a snapshot of a node](/myaccount/node/how-to/create-a-snapshot/).