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Nexterm includes a built-in backup system that archives your data and ships it to a configured storage provider. You can trigger backups manually or let the scheduler run them on a regular interval. Restoring from a backup restarts the server automatically so your data is in a consistent state the moment Nexterm comes back up.

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What gets backed up

A backup is a .tar.gz archive that can contain three categories of data, each of which you can toggle independently:
ItemDefaultDescription
Database (nexterm.db)EnabledAll entries, identities, folders, organizations, settings, and user accounts.
Session recordingsEnabledRecorded terminal and graphical sessions stored in the recordings/ directory.
LogsDisabledAudit and application log files stored in the logs/ directory.
The archive file is named backup-<ISO-timestamp>.tar.gz and uploaded to your configured provider.

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Storage providers

Nexterm supports three provider types. You must add at least one before you can create a backup.

Local

Writes backups to a directory on the host filesystem or a mounted volume.

SMB / CIFS

Uploads backups to a Windows file share or any SMB-compatible NAS.

WebDAV

Uploads backups to any WebDAV-compatible endpoint, including Nextcloud.

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Adding a backup provider

1

Open backup settings

Go to Settings → Backup. The page shows your current providers and storage statistics.
2

Add a provider

Click Add provider, choose a type (Local, SMB, or WebDAV), give it a name, and fill in the connection details. Nexterm tests the connection before saving — the provider is only created if the test succeeds.
3

Configure what to include

Under Backup contents, toggle the Database, Recordings, and Logs switches to match what you want archived. The database is included by default; logs are excluded by default.
4

Set a retention limit

The Retention field controls how many backups are kept per provider. When a new backup is created and the count exceeds the limit, the oldest backups are deleted automatically. The default is 5.

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Scheduling automatic backups

Nexterm can run backups on a fixed interval without any manual intervention.
1

Set the schedule interval

In Settings → Backup, set Schedule interval to the number of hours between automatic backups. Set it to 0 to disable scheduling.
2

Save

Click Save. The scheduler starts immediately and runs against all configured providers at the specified interval.
A daily backup (interval of 24) is a reasonable baseline for most deployments. If you capture many session recordings, consider increasing the retention limit or disabling recording inclusion to keep archive sizes manageable.

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Creating a manual backup

1

Open backup settings

Go to Settings → Backup and locate the provider you want to use.
2

Trigger the backup

Click Create backup next to the provider. Nexterm builds the archive and uploads it. When complete, the new entry appears in the provider’s backup list with its timestamp and size.

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Restoring a backup

1

Open the backup list

Go to Settings → Backup and click View backups next to the provider that holds the snapshot you want to restore.
2

Select a backup

Find the backup you want to restore by its timestamp and click Restore.
3

Confirm

Nexterm downloads the archive, unpacks it, and writes the files back to the data directory. The server restarts automatically once the restore is complete.
Restoring a backup overwrites your current database, recordings, and logs with the contents of the archive. Any changes made after the backup was created will be lost. Make sure you want to proceed before confirming the restore.

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Exporting the database directly

If you want a raw copy of the SQLite database without going through the backup UI, you can download it directly via the export endpoint: 
GET /backup/export/database?token=<auth-token>
The response is a binary download of nexterm.db named nexterm-<timestamp>.db. This is useful for one-off snapshots or scripted exports.

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Backing up the Docker volume directly

As an alternative to the built-in backup system, you can snapshot the Docker volume that Nexterm uses for its data directory. All persistent state — the database, recordings, and logs — lives under /app/data inside the container. 
docker run --rm \
  --volumes-from nexterm \
  -v "$(pwd)":/backup \
  alpine \
  tar czf /backup/nexterm-volume-backup.tar.gz /app/data
Stop or pause the Nexterm container before taking a volume snapshot to avoid backing up a database file that is mid-write. For production deployments, prefer the built-in backup system, which handles consistent state automatically.

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