Why Delete Old Backups?

To automate backup deletion and retain only the last X days of files, you can set up a cron job that runs a script to delete older backups while keeping only the most recent ones.

The first step is to write a bash script that will identify and delete backups older than your specified retention period (X days). Below is a sample bash script:

# Define the backup directory
BACKUP_DIR="/path/to/your/backups"


# Define the retention period (in days)
RETENTION_DAYS=7


# Find and delete backups older than the retention period
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -type f -mtime +$RETENTION_DAYS -exec rm -f {} \;


echo "Old backups older than $RETENTION_DAYS days have been deleted."

In this script, we:

• Set the path to the backup directory.
• Define how many days of backups to retain (RETENTION_DAYS).
• Use the find command to search for backups older than the defined period and delete them.
  

Now that the script is ready, it's time to automate its execution using cron. A cron job will run this script at a specified interval (e.g., daily), ensuring that your backups are cleaned up regularly.

• To edit your cron jobs, open the crontab:
  

crontab -e

• Then, add an entry to run the script daily (or adjust the time as needed). For example, to run the script every day at midnight:

0 0 * * * /path/to/your/script.sh

This cron job will execute the script every day at midnight, ensuring that only the backups from the last 7 days are retained.

It’s important to test the script manually to ensure it works as expected. Run the following command:

This will help confirm that backups older than the defined period (e.g., 7 days) are deleted successfully.

By automating the deletion of old backups, you ensure that your storage remains organised and that your system has enough room for new data without manually deleting old files. This simple cron job can be tailored to your specific needs and adjusted for different retention periods or backup schedules.