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Managing Storage Sync Plans

This guide covers how storage sync plans behave after creation: running syncs, tracking progress, pausing schedules, editing settings, restoring data, and removing plans safely.

Storage sync plans share most of their behavior with sync backup plans. This page focuses on what is specific to a storage source and links to the shared pages for the rest.

Finding Storage Sync Plans​

On the Backup Plans page:

  • Storage sync plans use their own plan icon
  • Each row shows the source storage provider logo and name instead of a device
  • The method filter has a separate Storage Sync entry
  • Storage sync plans do not appear under any device filter, because they are not attached to a device

Running Syncs​

Scheduled Runs​

Once a storage sync plan is active, Pluton runs it on the saved schedule.

Scheduled syncs:

  • mirror source-storage changes to the destination storage
  • record a sync task entry in history
  • update tracked change metadata
  • follow the current plan settings for revisions, exclusions, and performance
  • run on the main Pluton server, never on a remote agent

Manual Sync​

Use Sync Now when you want to run a sync immediately instead of waiting for the next interval.

Manual sync is useful when:

  • you just changed the plan settings
  • you want to catch up after a pause
  • you want to verify the destination right away

Current behavior:

  • you cannot start a second sync while one is already running for that plan
  • manual sync does not replace the saved schedule
  • pausing a plan pauses scheduled runs only; manual sync is a separate action

Replication Runs​

If replication is enabled, each additional destination is synced from the same source in its own run.

  • Replications run in sequence, or in parallel when concurrent replication is enabled
  • A failed replication is retried using the plan's retry settings
  • A failure on one destination does not undo the others

Monitoring an Active Sync​

During an active sync, the plan details page shows live status for the running task.

Available progress details include:

  • bytes transferred
  • transfer speed
  • active transfers
  • file checks
  • estimated time remaining
  • error count

If a sync is stuck or started by mistake, you can cancel it from the active progress view.

The Syncing panel on the plan page shows the source storage logo and name, and the tooltip lists the full source path and the exclude patterns.

Reviewing Sync History​

Each completed sync creates an entry under Sync Tasks on the plan details page.

Use sync history to review:

  • when a sync ran
  • whether it completed or failed
  • which files were added, modified, or removed
  • which sync task you may want to inspect or restore from later

Keep in mind:

  • file-change history is capped by the plan's tracked-change limit
  • very large runs may not keep a complete per-file list in the UI
  • sync plans do not create snapshots, so no snapshot count is shown

Pausing and Resuming​

What Pause Does​

Pausing a plan disables its schedule.

It does not:

  • delete any synced data
  • remove revision history
  • change the destination contents immediately

Use pause when:

  • the source or destination provider is temporarily unavailable
  • you want to stop scheduled propagation of changes
  • you are doing maintenance on either storage

What Resume Does​

Resuming re-enables the schedule.

Important behavior:

  • resume does not trigger an immediate sync by itself
  • use Sync Now if you want an immediate catch-up run after resuming

Things to Expect After a Pause​

  • source and destination can drift while the plan is paused
  • the next sync reconciles those accumulated changes
  • a long pause may make the next run noticeably larger and more expensive

Editing a Storage Sync Plan​

Most settings can be updated after creation, but the plan identity fields are fixed.

Settings You Can Change​

  • plan name and description
  • source path inside the source storage
  • exclude patterns
  • schedule
  • revision settings
  • performance settings
  • integrity settings
  • notification settings
  • replication destinations
  • tags

Settings You Cannot Change​

  • the source storage
  • the source type
  • the destination storage and destination path
  • the plan strategy

The source storage picker is disabled in edit mode, with the tooltip "The source storage can't be changed after a plan is created." If you need a different source storage, create a new plan.

Source and Exclude Updates​

  • keep the plan focused on one source root
  • review exclude patterns carefully before saving
  • when you add newly excluded paths, Pluton removes matching files from the destination on update so the mirror stays aligned

Revision Updates​

You can change:

  • whether revisions are enabled
  • how long revisions are retained
  • the threshold for skipping revisions on very large change sets
  • the number of tracked file-change records per sync

Remember:

  • revision retention is age-based
  • disabling revisions stops creating new revision copies, but existing revision data remains until cleaned up

For the details, see Sync File Revisions.

Checking Integrity​

Use Check Integrity from the plan actions to compare the source and the destinations on demand.

For a storage sync plan:

  • Pluton first probes the source storage path; if it cannot be listed, the check reports "Source path does not exist" and stops
  • the primary destination and every replication destination are then compared
  • Pluton's .pluton area is ignored
  • the check reports differences but does not repair them

If the source is authoritative and differences are found, run Sync Now to reconcile.

Full guidance is on Sync Recovery and Integrity Checks.

Restoring Data​

A storage sync plan restores data back into the source storage, at the original relative path. You cannot select a different restore target for a sync plan.

Restore from the Live Destination​

  1. Open the plan details page.
  2. Use Browse Files to open the destination storage.
  3. If the plan has more than one destination, choose which one to browse.
  4. Select the files or folders you want.
  5. Confirm the restore. Pluton warns that this overwrites the current object in the source.

Restore from a Past Sync Run​

  1. Open a sync task from the plan history.
  2. Browse the changed files recorded for that run.
  3. Preview, download, or restore items that still have revision data available.

Behavior to understand:

  • past-run restore depends on revision data still existing for that run
  • if revision cleanup already removed the folder, that content is no longer restorable
  • only one restore can run per plan at a time

See Sync File Revisions for what is usually restorable and what is not.

Maintenance​

Revision cleanup, log review, and storage monitoring work the same way as for sync backup plans.

Storage-sync-specific points:

  • revision cleanup also purges the matching revision folders from replication destinations
  • a destination added after some revisions already existed will not have those older folders, and Pluton skips them quietly

Use Clean Up from the plan actions for a manual cleanup run. The full routine is on Sync Plan Maintenance.

Removing a Single Sync Run​

Removing one sync task from the history:

  • removes the run from the plan history
  • deletes the revision folder for that run on the primary destination and on every replication destination
  • removes the stored file-change list for that run

Do this only when you are sure you no longer need to restore anything from that run.

Removing a Storage Sync Plan​

Removing a plan deletes the plan configuration and stops future syncs.

You can choose whether to also remove the destination data.

Remove Plan Only​

Choose this when:

  • you want to stop using Pluton for the mirror
  • you still want the mirrored objects to remain in the destination storage

Remove Plan and Remote Data​

Choose this only when you are sure the mirrored destination should be deleted.

This removes:

  • the mirrored destination data
  • any sync revision data stored under .pluton
  • the plan record and sync history in Pluton

Removing a plan never deletes anything from the source storage.

Before confirming removal:

  • make sure no sync is currently running
  • confirm the destination is not your last remaining copy
  • decide whether you want to preserve the mirrored objects outside Pluton

Deleting a Source Storage​

A storage that is used as a plan source is protected. If you try to delete it, Pluton refuses and lists the plans that depend on it:

This Storage is used as a backup source by the following plans: ... Please remove them before deleting the Storage.

Remove or replace those plans first, then delete the storage.

Practical Management Tips​

  1. Use Sync Now after major plan edits so you can verify the result immediately.
  2. Pause schedules before planned provider maintenance windows.
  3. Review recent sync history after changing excludes or retention settings.
  4. Keep separate plans for separate source roots.
  5. Run manual integrity checks for important plans after large changes or provider incidents.
  6. Watch provider request and egress costs on frequently scheduled mirrors.
  7. Confirm the plan is restoring to the source storage you expect before you restore a large folder.

Next Steps​