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Backup

Windows Backup

Use the Windows Backup check to monitor the age of the last Windows Server Backup and catch missed backups in time.

The Windows Backup check reads the most recent available Windows Server Backup version through wbadmin and alerts if it is too old. This catches backup failures before they become a disaster recovery problem. The check does not evaluate the failure itself: a failed backup shows up as the age of the last backup keeps growing. The check runs on Windows only (x64 and ARM64), every 60 minutes on the agent; the interval is not configurable.

Prerequisites

  • You need the Monitoring Check Management permission. Your administrator assigns permissions under Administration → Groups.
  • The target device must be a Windows Server with the Windows Server Backup feature installed and a connected agent. octoja publishes the check for both client and server editions, but it reads its data through the Windows Server Backup feature.
  • The check uses the wbadmin command-line utility to query status. It does not work with third-party backup solutions — for Veeam Backup & Replication, use the Veeam check instead.

Steps

Add Check dialog with Windows Backup selected; Display Name pre-filled and Show advanced options collapsed; the primary Add Check button at the bottom-right is outlined in red.

  1. Go to Devices and open the device.
  2. Click the Checks tab → Add Check → Windows Backup.
  3. Expand Show advanced options to reveal the threshold fields, and adjust Warning after (hours) and Critical after (hours) if needed. The defaults of 24 and 48 hours suit daily backups.
  4. Click Add Check.

After the first check interval, the result appears in the device's Checks tab.

Settings

FieldTypeRequiredDefaultDescription
Show advanced optionsbooleanNooffReveals the two threshold inputs below. Off by default — the check ships with sensible defaults and works out of the box.
Warning after (hours)numberNo24Hours since the last successful backup before a warning is raised. Visible only when Show advanced options is enabled.
Critical after (hours)numberNo48Hours since the last successful backup before a critical result. Visible only when Show advanced options is enabled.

If Warning after (hours) is set higher than Critical after (hours), the check swaps the two values so the thresholds still evaluate in the expected order.

Results

The OK / Warning / Critical status is derived from the backup age against the configured thresholds.

ConditionStatus
The backup age meets or exceeds Critical after (hours)Critical
The backup age meets or exceeds Warning after (hours)Warning
wbadmin returns no data — no backup has run yet, the output cannot be parsed, the timestamp is missing, the Windows Server Backup feature is not installed, or the command times outWarning
The last backup is within the thresholdsOK

Metrics collected

  • Last backup (lastBackupTime) — timestamp of the most recent backup reported by wbadmin
  • Age (ageHours) — hours elapsed since the last backup, rounded to one decimal place
  • Location (backupLocation) — target location reported by wbadmin (drive or network path)
  • Recoverable (canRecover) — the recoverability value wbadmin reports for the last backup

The status is reported as the check result, not as a separate metric.

Tips

  • Set the warning threshold to match the backup schedule. For daily backups, 24 hours is a good value — the warning fires as soon as a nightly backup is missed and the age reaches 24 hours.