diff --git a/handlers/main.yml b/handlers/main.yml
index 5ecb4e8..7a28af2 100644
--- a/handlers/main.yml
+++ b/handlers/main.yml
@@ -1,2 +1,7 @@
 ---
-# handlers file for ansible-drone
\ No newline at end of file
+- name: reload postgres_backup service
+  systemd:
+    name: postgres_backup.service
+    state: reloaded
+    daemon_reload: yes
+# handlers file for ansible-drone
diff --git a/tasks/drone-agent.yml b/tasks/drone-agent.yml
index 353fd1b..e7973b6 100644
--- a/tasks/drone-agent.yml
+++ b/tasks/drone-agent.yml
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
   tags:
     - configuration
 
-- include_tasks: custom_volumes.yml
-
 - name: run drone agent
   docker_container:
     name: "drone-agent"
diff --git a/tasks/drone-database.yml b/tasks/drone-database.yml
index a7581d4..c69c5ff 100644
--- a/tasks/drone-database.yml
+++ b/tasks/drone-database.yml
@@ -1,10 +1,24 @@
 ---
-- name: Creates postgres directory
+- name: Creates postgres backup directory
   file:
-    path: "{{ drone_postgres_data_dir }}"
+    path: "{{ drone_postgres_backup_dir }}/backup"
     state: directory
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: 0755
+  register: drone_postgres_backup_dir_state
+  when: drone_database_driver == "postgres"
+  tags:
+    - postgres
+    - database
+
+- name: Creates postgres recovery directory
+  file:
+    path: "{{ drone_postgres_backup_dir }}/restore"
+    state: directory
+    owner: root
+    group: root
     mode: 0755
-  register: drone_postgres_data_dir
   when: drone_database_driver == "postgres"
   tags:
     - postgres
@@ -19,18 +33,46 @@
     ports:
       - "5432:5432"
     volumes:
-      - "{{ drone_postgres_data_dir }}:/var/lib/postgresql/data"
+      - "postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data"
+      - "{{ drone_postgres_backup_dir }}/backup:/var/lib/pgbackup"
+      - "{{ drone_postgres_backup_dir }}/restore:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d:ro"
     env:
       POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "{{ drone_postgres_password }}"
       POSTGRES_USER: "{{ drone_postgres_user }}"
       POSTGRES_DB: "{{ drone_postgres_db }}"
-  when: drone_postgres_data_dir is defined and drone_postgres_data_dir.changed or
+  when: drone_postgres_backup_dir_state is defined and drone_postgres_backup_dir_state.changed or
         drone_database_driver == "postgres"
   tags:
     - postgres
     - database
     - skip_ansible_lint
 
+- name: create backup service for drone postgres database
+  template:
+    src: "templates/{{ item.src }}"
+    dest: "{{ item.dest }}"
+    owner: root
+    group: root
+    mode: "{{ item.mode }}"
+  vars:
+    backup_frequency: "{{ drone_postgres_backup_frequency|default('daily') }}"
+    backup_path: "{{ drone_postgres_backup_dir }}"
+  with_items:
+    - {src: postgres_backup.service.j2, dest: /etc/systemd/system/postgres_backup.service, mode: "0644"}
+    - {src: postgres_backup.timer.j2, dest: /etc/systemd/system/postgres_backup.timer, mode: "0644"}
+    - {src: pg_backup.sh.j2, dest: /usr/local/bin/pg_backup.sh, mode: "0755"}
+  notify: reload postgres_backup service
+  when: drone_postgres_backup_dir_state is defined and drone_postgres_backup_dir_state.changed or
+        drone_database_driver == "postgres"
+  tags:
+    - postgres
+    - database
+
+- name: ensure backup service for drone postgres database is enabled
+  systemd:
+    name: postgres_backup.timer
+    enabled: yes
+
 - name: Creates mysql directory
   file:
     path: "{{ drone_mysql_data_dir }}"
diff --git a/tasks/drone-server.yml b/tasks/drone-server.yml
index 25fad94..f6969a9 100644
--- a/tasks/drone-server.yml
+++ b/tasks/drone-server.yml
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@
       traefik.basic.port: "80"
       traefik.basic.protocol: "http"
   when: ((drone_server_config is defined and drone_server_config.changed) or
-        (drone_postgres_data_dir is defined and drone_postgres_data_dir.changed)) and
+        (drone_postgres_backup_dir_state is defined and drone_postgres_backup_dir_state.changed)) and
         drone_database_driver != "sqlite"
   tags:
     - drone-server
diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index 2dde5aa..da66ffb 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 ---
-  - include: setup.yml
-  - include: drone-database.yml
-    when: drone_server_enable == "true" and drone_database_driver != "sqlite"
-  - include: drone-server.yml
-    when: drone_server_enable == "true"
-  - include: drone-agent.yml
-    when: drone_agent_enable == "true"
+- include: setup.yml
+- include: drone-database.yml
+  when: drone_server_enable == "true" and drone_database_driver != "sqlite"
+- include: drone-server.yml
+  when: drone_server_enable == "true"
+- include: drone-agent.yml
+  when: drone_agent_enable == "true"
+- include_tasks: custom_volumes.yml
diff --git a/templates/pg_backup.sh.j2 b/templates/pg_backup.sh.j2
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..43b1ba9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/pg_backup.sh.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -xeo pipefail
+
+NOW=$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M:%S)
+
+BACKUP_PATH="{{ backup_path }}/backup"
+RESTORE_PATH="{{ backup_path }}/restore"
+cd ${BACKUP_PATH}
+docker exec postgres pg_dump -U drone -d drone -f /var/lib/pgbackup/backup_${NOW}.sql
+LATEST_BACKUP=$(ls -1t *.sql | head -n1)
+if [ "z${LATEST_BACKUP}" != "z" ]; then
+  cp "${BACKUP_PATH}/${LATEST_BACKUP}" "${RESTORE_PATH}/latest_backup.sql"
+fi
+
+# vim: set ft=sh et sw=0 ts=2 sts=0:
diff --git a/templates/postgres_backup.service.j2 b/templates/postgres_backup.service.j2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab21728
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/postgres_backup.service.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Backup the drone database in postgres
+
+[Service]
+ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/pg_backup.sh
+
+
+
+# vim: set ft=dosini:
diff --git a/templates/postgres_backup.timer.j2 b/templates/postgres_backup.timer.j2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5083e4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates/postgres_backup.timer.j2
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Trigger the backup of the drone database
+
+[Timer]
+OnCalendar={{ backup_frequency }}
+Persistent=True
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=timers.target
+
+# vim: set ft=dosini:
diff --git a/vars/main.yml b/vars/main.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 9605271..0000000
--- a/vars/main.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
----
-# vars file for ansible-drone
\ No newline at end of file