# Backups Reference

Backups are automatically-created disk images of Droplets. Enabling backups for Droplets enables system-level backups at intervals of every 4 hours, 6 hours, 12 hours, day, or week, which provides a way to revert to an older state or create new Droplets.

The [DigitalOcean API](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/index.html.md) lets you manage resources programmatically with standard HTTP requests. All actions available in the control panel are also available through the API.

You can use the API to [enable or disable backups on Droplets](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/api/digitalocean/index.html.md#operation/dropletActions_post), then [list, update, and delete backup images](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/api/digitalocean/index.html.md#tag/Images). You can also [transfer and convert specified backup images](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/api/digitalocean/index.html.md#tag/Image-Actions).

[`doctl`](https://github.com/digitalocean/doctl) is the command-line interface for the DigitalOcean API. It supports most of the same actions available in the API and DigitalOcean Control Panel.

[`doctl`](https://github.com/digitalocean/doctl) supports managing backups from the command line. See the [`doctl` documentation](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/doctl/reference/compute/index.html.md) or use `doctl compute droplet-action enable-backups --help` for more information.

[doctl compute droplet-action enable-backups](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/doctl/reference/compute/droplet/backups/index.html.md): Lists backup images for a Droplet, including each image’s slug and ID.