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Beginner8 min readUpdated Mar 13, 2026

How to Enable Backups and Monitoring on DigitalOcean

Quick Answer

Enable backups by navigating to your Droplet's Backups tab in the control panel, selecting usage-based or automated plans with your preferred frequency and retention, then clicking Enable backups. Monitoring activates automatically on all Droplets and displays CPU, memory, and disk I/O metrics in the dashboard.

Prerequisites

  1. Active DigitalOcean account with billing enabled
  2. Existing Droplet or GPU Droplet
  3. Control panel access or doctl CLI installed
  4. Sufficient account credits for backup storage charges
1

Log in to DigitalOcean Control Panel

Navigate to the DigitalOcean Control Panel at cloud.digitalocean.com and log in with your credentials. Ensure your account has billing enabled, as backups incur usage-based charges based on stored backup size.

Tip
Keep your personal access token handy if you plan to use doctl CLI for automation.
2

Navigate to Droplets and Select Your Target

From the main menu, click Droplets to view your list of Droplets. Click the name of the Droplet you want to enable backups for to open its details page.

Tip
You can enable backups on new Droplets during creation or on existing ones at any time.
3

Access the Backups Tab

In the left sidebar menu of your Droplet's details page, click Backups. This section displays your current backup status and configuration options.

Tip
If backups are already enabled, you can modify settings by clicking Edit Settings.
4

Enable Automated Backups

Click Setup Automated Backups or Enable backups depending on your interface version. This expands a panel with backup configuration options.

Tip
For new Droplets, check the Enable automated backup plan checkbox during the creation process instead.
5

Select Backup Plan Type

Choose between Plans (basic weekly backups at 20% of Droplet cost per month with 4-week retention) or Usage-Based (custom intervals with flexible retention). Click the Usage-Based tab for more granular control.

Tip
Usage-based backups offer more flexibility: custom weekly (up to 6 months retention), daily (up to 30 days), or intraday every 4, 6, or 12 hours (up to 7 days retention).
6

Configure Backup Frequency and Retention

Select your desired backup frequency from the available options. Then choose your retention period, which determines how long backups are stored before automatic deletion. Set a backup window, which is the time period during which backups may be initiated. Multiple intraday backups may overlap depending on your window settings.

Tip
For production systems, consider daily or intraday backups with longer retention periods for better recovery options.
7

Activate Backups

Click Enable backups to activate your backup plan. The status will appear in your control panel, and backups will begin automatically according to your configured schedule.

Tip
Backups are automatically-created disk images; you can convert them to snapshots for indefinite retention by clicking the More menu on any backup.
8

Verify Monitoring is Active

Scroll to the Monitoring section on your Droplet's details page. Basic monitoring (CPU percentage, memory use, disk input/output) is active by default on all Droplets and displays graphs automatically. No additional setup is required for basic metrics collected every minute.

Tip
For advanced alerting, install the Monitoring agent via the Marketplace during Droplet creation or from the Monitoring menu in the left sidebar.
9

Optional: Enable Monitoring Agent for Advanced Alerts

To set up advanced monitoring with custom alerts, navigate to Monitoring in the left menu and click Install agent. The agent collects metrics at 1-minute intervals and enables threshold-based alerting. Alternatively, install it during Droplet creation via the Marketplace.

Tip
The monitoring agent is optional; basic graphs display without it.
10

Test Your Backup and Restore Process

Return to the Backups tab and wait for your first backup to complete. Once available, click the More menu on a backup and select Restore Droplet to test restoration. Note that restoring turns your Droplet off during the process and automatically restarts it when complete. Alternatively, create a new Droplet from the backup to test without affecting your current one.

Tip
Testing restores regularly ensures your backups are functional and you understand the recovery process.

Troubleshooting

Backups not available or option grayed out
Some Droplet images or older plans do not support backups. Upgrade your Droplet plan or switch to a compatible image. Ensure your account has billing enabled and sufficient credits.
Backup costs higher than expected
Backup charges are usage-based on the size of retained backups. Reduce retention periods or backup frequency, or convert old backups to snapshots and delete the originals to lower costs.
Monitoring graphs not displaying
Basic monitoring is enabled by default, but graphs may take a few minutes to populate after Droplet creation. Refresh the page or wait 5-10 minutes. If still missing, install the Monitoring agent from the Monitoring menu.
Restore operation fails or takes too long
Ensure your Droplet has sufficient disk space and is not running resource-intensive processes. Restoring from a backup turns the Droplet off; allow 10-30 minutes depending on backup size. Check your account credits to ensure the operation can complete.
Cannot enable backups via doctl CLI
Verify doctl is installed and authenticated with doctl auth init using a valid personal access token. Use doctl compute droplet list to confirm your Droplet ID, then run doctl compute droplet-action enable-backups <droplet-id>.

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