cPanel has introduced a new backup system in 11.38, this is most robust, has more options, and is easy to use. I personally like the option of additional backup destinations.
/usr/local/cpanel/bin/backup --force
The above command with –force makes a new backup, even if the last scheduled backup was run and successful.
If you do not want to force backup, run without -force parameter. It would make a new backup if the last backup failed. If the last backup was successful and backups are up to date, then cPanel will create no new backup.
/usr/local/cpanel/bin/backup
After running the command, you will see an output like this, with cPanel backup process id and a backup log file path in the end.
Started at Tue Aug 10 22:52:10 2021 [2021-08-10 22:52:10 +0500] info [backup] The backup is now running in the background in process 15870. [2021-08-10 22:52:10 +0500] info [backup] The backup process’s log file is “/usr/local/cpanel/logs/cpbackup/1628617930.log”.
You can tail the logs with -F switch with log file path from above to see the current backup domain and progress.
Tail -F /usr/local/cpanel/logs/cpbackup/1628617930.log
You can configure a new backup system from “configure backup” whereas the old one is still in place but has been moved to “legacy backup”.
If you have to force start a new backup system, you can use, and if you are still using the legacy backup system, it can be done using the same
/scripts/cpbackup --force