Stanza

In plain English

A stanza is pgBackRest’s configuration unit for a single PostgreSQL cluster — it ties together that cluster’s data directory, its repository location, and its backup/archive settings under one name. You initialise it once with stanza-create and then reference it on every command via --stanza.

Why it matters

The stanza is how pgBackRest keeps multiple clusters’ backups cleanly separated in one (or shared) repository. Every backup, restore, and archive command is scoped to a stanza, so getting the stanza right is the foundation of a correct backup setup.