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Sync Backup Plan Maintenance

This guide covers the maintenance tasks that matter for sync plans: revision cleanup, logs, storage usage, and routine health checks.

Revision Cleanup​

If revisions are enabled, Pluton stores older file copies under .pluton/revisions before overwriting or deleting mirrored files.

How Retention Works​

Sync revision retention is age-based.

That means cleanup removes revision folders older than your configured retention window. It does not keep a fixed number of versions per file.

Automatic Cleanup​

Pluton runs a background sync-revision cleanup job for active sync plans that have revisions enabled.

This automatic cleanup:

  • removes expired revision folders
  • leaves current mirrored files untouched
  • updates sync revision metadata after cleanup

Manual Cleanup​

Use Clean Up from the plan actions when you want to reclaim space immediately.

Manual cleanup is especially useful when:

  • you just reduced the revision retention period
  • the destination is running low on space
  • the plan is paused and you still want to clean old revisions

Important limits:

  • cleanup affects only revision data
  • cleanup does not delete the current mirrored files
  • cleanup cannot restore anything it removed

Logs and History​

Use the plan logs and sync history together.

Sync History Helps You See​

  • when syncs ran
  • whether they completed or failed
  • what kind of changes happened
  • which runs are worth reviewing or restoring from

Logs Help You Diagnose​

  • storage connectivity failures
  • source path permission issues
  • exclude-pattern mistakes
  • long-running or interrupted syncs
  • cancellation results

If you are troubleshooting a failed sync, check the logs first and then compare them with the recorded sync task in history.

Storage Monitoring​

Sync plans can consume more space than expected when revisions are enabled.

Watch storage usage when:

  • the source changes frequently
  • large files are often overwritten
  • retention is set too generously for the workload

If space starts to climb too quickly:

  1. shorten revision retention
  2. run manual cleanup
  3. exclude generated or temporary files
  4. split busy data into more focused plans
  5. disable revisions for data that does not need version protection

Integrity and Drift Checks​

Sync plans do not currently run automatic recurring integrity checks.

For important plans, add a routine manual check to your maintenance workflow:

  • run Check Integrity from the plan page in Pluton PRO
  • review differences before forcing another sync
  • run Sync Now if you intentionally want the destination to be brought back in line with the source

This is especially useful after:

  • storage maintenance
  • manual intervention at the destination
  • a long pause
  • large migrations or file moves

Weekly​

  • review recent sync failures or warnings
  • spot-check destination contents for a critical plan
  • confirm storage usage is stable

Monthly​

  • review revision retention against actual storage growth
  • run a manual integrity check for important plans
  • confirm exclude patterns still match the workload

After Major Changes​

  • run Sync Now after changing source paths or exclusions
  • inspect the next sync task carefully
  • verify revisions still behave the way you expect

Common Maintenance Scenarios​

Destination Storage Is Filling Up​

Usually caused by:

  • revisions enabled for a busy dataset
  • large file rewrites
  • too many unnecessary files being mirrored

Start with:

  • shorter retention
  • manual cleanup
  • better excludes

A Plan Was Paused for a Long Time​

Before resuming normal operations:

  • review recent source-side changes
  • consider running a manual integrity check first
  • trigger Sync Now after resume if you want an immediate catch-up run

The Change List Looks Incomplete​

This often means the sync hit the tracked-change limit for that plan.

If you need more visible per-file history in the UI, increase the tracked-change setting and review logs alongside the sync task.

Maintenance Rules of Thumb​

  1. Revisions are for short-term safety, not long-term archival.
  2. Keep retention as short as your recovery needs allow.
  3. Use manual integrity checks for high-value sync plans.
  4. Treat destination-side manual edits as temporary; the next sync can overwrite them.
  5. Use the logs whenever a sync behaves differently than expected.

For a dedicated explanation of revision behavior, recovery limits, and setup guidance, see Sync File Revisions.

Regular maintenance ensures your sync plans remain efficient, reliable, and effective at keeping your data synchronized.