diff --git a/inventory/group_vars/all b/inventory/group_vars/all
index 6aa997c21f..43534d4cca 100644
--- a/inventory/group_vars/all
+++ b/inventory/group_vars/all
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ virt_install_command: /usr/sbin/virt-install -n {{ inventory_hostname }} -r {{ m
 # By default, nodes get no fedmsg certs.  They need to declare them explicitly.
 fedmsg_certs: []
 
+# By default, nodes don't backup any dbs on them unless they declare it.
+dbs_to_backup: []
+
 # by default the number of procs we allow before we whine
 nrpe_procs_warn: 175
 nrpe_procs_crit: 200
diff --git a/inventory/host_vars/db-datanommer01.phx2.fedoraproject.org b/inventory/host_vars/db-datanommer01.phx2.fedoraproject.org
index ca9a8fb65e..17c1601cf9 100644
--- a/inventory/host_vars/db-datanommer01.phx2.fedoraproject.org
+++ b/inventory/host_vars/db-datanommer01.phx2.fedoraproject.org
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ volgroup: /dev/vg_guests00
 eth0_ip: 10.5.126.109
 vmhost: virthost14.phx2.fedoraproject.org
 datacenter: phx2
+
+dbs_to_backup:
+- datanommer
+
 # These are normally group variables, but in this case db servers are often different
 lvm_size: 300000
 mem_size: 8192
diff --git a/roles/postgresql_server/tasks/main.yml b/roles/postgresql_server/tasks/main.yml
index 6b4e4c3ae8..b459e79155 100644
--- a/roles/postgresql_server/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/postgresql_server/tasks/main.yml
@@ -32,3 +32,16 @@
   - restart postgresql
   tags:
   - config
+
+- name: Ensure postgres has a place to backup to
+  file: dest=/backups state=directory owner=postgres
+
+- name: Set up some cronjobs to backup databases as configured
+  template: >
+    src=cron-backup-database
+    dest=/etc/cron.d/cron-backup-database-{{ item }}
+  with_items:
+  - "{{ dbs_to_backup }}"
+  when: dbs_to_backup != []
+  tags:
+  - cron
diff --git a/roles/postgresql_server/templates/cron-backup-database b/roles/postgresql_server/templates/cron-backup-database
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2f197d590a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/roles/postgresql_server/templates/cron-backup-database
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+0 0 * * * postgres /usr/bin/pg_dump -C {{ item }} | /usr/bin/xz > /backups/{{ item }}-$(date +%F).dump.xz