Postpone a Running QCBM Backup

Postpone lets you temporarily stop a persistent QCBM backup and tell QC Backup Manager when the same saved job should continue automatically. It is useful when backup activity needs to get out of the way for a deployment, maintenance window, hosting restriction, or other short-term workload.

Postponing is different from cancelling. QCBM keeps the job and its saved progress, records a resume time, releases the backup operation lock when it can do so safely, and later resumes that same Backup Set instead of starting a replacement.

Where the Postpone Control Appears

Start a manual backup from Components > QC Backup Manager > Backups. While the persistent backup is active, the progress panel includes Continue in Background, Pause, Postpone, and Cancel.

Open Postpone to choose one of the current quick options:

  • 15 minutes
  • 30 minutes
  • 1 hour
  • a specific date and time using Postpone until

Postpone for a Fixed Amount of Time

  1. Leave the current backup job open in the progress panel.
  2. Click Postpone.
  3. Choose 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or 1 hour.
  4. Confirm the status changes to postponed and that QCBM reports the saved resume time.

The job is not discarded. Its current phase, progress, Backup Set association, and saved checkpoint remain available for continuation.

Postpone Until a Specific Time

  1. Open the Postpone menu.
  2. Choose a future value in the Specific time field.
  3. Click Postpone until.
  4. Verify QCBM accepts the time and reports that the same saved job will resume automatically.

The date/time field is interpreted using the Joomla site's configured timezone. Internally QCBM stores the resume moment in UTC, so the job can continue consistently even though administrators work in the site's local timezone.

How Automatic Resume Works

QCBM's QC Backup Manager Backup Continuation Joomla Scheduled Task checks persistent backup jobs every minute by default. When a postponed job reaches its saved resume time, the continuation task asks QCBM to resume that existing job and then advances it through the next bounded checkpoint.

This means you do not need to keep the browser tab open until the postpone period expires. The job survives the browser session because its state is stored server-side.

Postpone Compared with Pause

Pause and Postpone both preserve the current persistent job, but they differ in how work starts again:

  • Pause waits for an administrator to choose Resume.
  • Postpone stores a future resume time and is designed to continue automatically when that time arrives.

You can also manually resume a postponed job before its saved time. When QCBM successfully resumes it, the stored postpone time is cleared.

What Happens to Locks and In-Progress Work

QCBM changes the job to a postponed state and saves its current phase before trying to release the persistent backup-create operation lock. If a bounded worker is still finishing its current unit of work, the job state remains preserved while QCBM reaches a safe checkpoint.

When the job resumes, QCBM obtains the per-job worker lock and then reacquires the normal backup-create operation lock. If another QCBM operation is using that lock, the backup remains postponed/paused rather than racing the other operation.

Verify the Backup After It Resumes

After the postpone period, return to Backups and review the same job. Confirm it moves back into running work and eventually reaches a complete, verified Backup Set. Do not start a second backup just because the original progress window is no longer open.

If the saved resume time passes and nothing advances, check Joomla Scheduled Tasks and the QCBM Status scheduler information. A postponed job depends on the Backup Continuation task, or on an administrator manually resuming it.

When to Cancel Instead

Use Cancel when the Backup Set is no longer wanted. Postpone is appropriate when the work should continue later. Cancelling an incomplete backup intentionally removes its partial Backup Set material; postponing preserves the job for continuation.

Community Discussion

Want to compare workflows, share practical tips, or discuss how you use this QCBM feature? Visit the QC Backup Manager Community. For private support, bug reports, account-specific issues, or feature requests, use the QuantaCade support system.