Last updated 2018/06/04
Objective
OVH provides 500 GB of free backup storage space with each Dedicated Server.
This guide explains how to enable and use this Backup storage space.
Requirements
- Access to a dedicated server
- Access to your OVH control panel
Instructions
Activate Backup storage
Log into your OVH control panel, and go to your server's page. Then select the Backup storage tab, and click the Activate the Backup Storage button.
Then click the Confirm button.
You will now receive an activation email, and your backup storage will be configured in a few minutes.
Set up access control
Access to your Backup storage is restricted by IP address using an access control list (ACL). By default, all IPs in your account have FTP/FTPS access to the backup storage. The other protocols (NFS and CIFS) are not authorised by default. To authorise them, you will need to create an ACL.
Add backup access
Log into your OVH control panel, and go to your server's page. Then select the Backup storage tab, and click the Add an access button.
You will then need to select the IP block that you want to authorise. After selecting the IP block, select the protocol you want to authorise, and then click the Next button.
You can only authorise IP blocks in your OVH account to access the backup storage.
Now confirm your options and click the Finish button.
You will now be able to access your server's backup storage from the IP block you selected.
Modifying Access
To change the protocols for an authorised IP block, click the pencil icon for the IP block you want to modify, and then select/deselect the desired protocols. When you have finished, click the tick button to save your changes.
Deleting Access
To revoke authorisation for an IP block, click the trash can icon that appears at the end of the line.
And then click to confirm.
Access to the backup storage will now be revoked for that IP block.
Reset your password
Log into your OVH control panel, and go to your server's page. Then select the Backup storage tab and click the Forgotten your password button.
Then click the Confirm button.
A password recover email will now be sent to the email address registered to your admin account. Please follow the instructions in the email to reset your password.
Delete the Backup Storage
Log into your OVH control panel, and go to your server's page. Then select the Backup storage tab and click the Delete the Backup Storage button
Click Confirm on the warning message to proceed with the deletion.
The Backup storage will now be deleted after a few minutes.
Order disk space
Log into your OVH control panel, and go to your server's page. Then select the Backup storage tab and click the Order disk space button.
Select the storage capacity you would like and then click the Next button.
Tick the box to confirm that you have read an understood the terms and conditions and then click the Confirm button.
An order will now be created. Once your payment has been processed, you will receive your additional storage space.
Using the backup storage
The Backup storage service does not automatically back up your data, it only provides the space and the access protocols. It is your responsibility to implement an adequate backup strategy using the tools of your choice.
FTP/FTPS
ncftp (for Linux)
To save individual files to your backup storage, you can use the following command:
# ncftpput -u FtpUserName -p FtpPassword HostName /FolderLocation /File
Please note that this command does not support the FTPS protocol. If you need secure transfer you should use lftp or curl instead.
The code example above contains variables, which you will need to substitute with your own values.
- FtpUsername : Your FTP username
- FtpPassword: Your FTP password
- HostName: The host name of your backup storage
- FolderLocation: The path to the target folder where you want to save the file
- File: The name of the file you want to save
Backing up a folder is done by creating a folder archive, and then uploading it all with one command:
# tar czf - /FolderName | ncftpput -u FtpUserName -p FtpPassword -c HostName ArchiveName.tar.gz
The code example above contains variables, which you will need to substitute with your own values.
- FolderName: The path to the folder you want to back up
- FtpUsername: Your FTP username
- FtpPassword: Your FTP password
- HostName: The host name of your backup storage
- ArchiveName: The name of the folder you want to back up
To download an archive file from your backup storage, you can use the following command:
# ncftpget -v -u FtpUsername -p FtpPassword HostName /LocalFolder /File
The code example above contains variables, which you will need to substitute with your own values.
- FtpUsername: Your FTP username
- FtpPassword: Your FTP password
- HostName: The host name of your backup storage
- LocalFolder: The path to the local folder where you want to save the file
- File: The path to the file you want to download
Curl (for Linux)
To use FTPS you must change the hostname of the backup storage. For example, if the name of your backup storage is ftpback-rbxX-YYY.ip-Z.Z.Z.Z.net, you need to change it to ftpback-rbxX-YYY.mybackup.ovh.net. You also need to add the -ssl flag to the commands below.
To save individual files to your backup storage, you can use the following command:
# curl -aT File ftp://FtpUsername:FtpPassword@HostName/FolderLocation
The code example above contains variables, which you will need to substitute with your own values.
- File: The name of the file you want to save
- FtpUsername: Your FTP username
- FtpPassword: Your FTP password
- HostName: The host name of your backup storage
- FolderLocation: The path to the target folder where you want to save the file
Backing up a folder is done by creating a folder archive, and then uploading it all with one command:
# tar czf - /FolderName | curl ftp://FtpUsername:FtpPassword@HostName/FolderLocation/ArchiveName-$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M).tar.gz -T -
The code example above contains variables, which you will need to substitute with your own values.
- FolderName: The path to the folder you want to back up
- FtpUsername: Your FTP username
- FtpPassword: Your FTP password
- HostName: The host name of your backup storage
- FolderLocation: The path to the target folder where you want to save the folder
- ArchiveName: The name of the folder you want to back up
To download an archive file from your backup storage, you can use the following commands:
# cd /LocalFolder
# curl -u FtpUsername:FtpPassword ftp://HostName/File
The code example above contains variables, which you will need to substitute with your own values.
- FtpUsername: Your FTP username
- FtpPassword: Your FTP password
- HostName: The host name of your backup storage
- LocalFolder: The name of the local folder where you want to save the file
- File: The path to the file you want to download
lftp (for Linux)
lftp uses FTP+SSL/TLS by default. So you must change the host name of the backup storage. For example, if the name of your backup storage is ftpback-rbxX-YYY.ip-Z.Z.Z.Z.net, you need to change it to ftpback-rbxX-YYY.mybackup.ovh.net.
To save individual files to your backup storage, you can use the following command:
# lftp ftp://FtpUsername:FtpPassword@HostName:21 -e "cd FolderLocation; put File; quit"
The code example above contains variables, which you will need to substitute with your own values.
- File: The name of the file you want to save
- FtpUsername: Your FTP username
- FtpPassword: Your FTP password
- HostName: The host name of your backup storage
- FolderLocation: The path to the target folder where you want to save the file
Backing up a folder is done by creating a folder archive, and then uploading it all with one command:
# tar czf - /FolderName | ftp://FtpUsername:FtpPassword@HostName:21 -e "cd FolderLocation; put /dev/stdin -o ArchiveName-$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M).tar.gz;quit"
The code example above contains variables, which you will need to substitute with your own values.
- FolderName: The path to the folder you want to back up
- FtpUsername: Your FTP username
- FtpPassword: Your FTP password
- HostName: The host name of your backup storage
- FolderLocation: The path to the target folder where you want to save the folder
- ArchiveName: The name of the folder you want to back up
To download an archive file from your backup storage, you can use the following commands:
# cd /LocalFolder
# lftp ftp://FtpUsername:FtpPassword@HostName:21 -e "get /File; quit"
The code example above contains variables, which you will need to substitute with your own values.
- FtpUsername: Your FTP username
- FtpPassword: Your FTP password
- HostName: The host name of your backup storage
- LocalFolder: The name of the local folder where you want to save the file
- File: The path to the file you want to download
Filezilla (for Windows)
After installing FileZilla on your server, you can configure it to connect to your backup storage using the FTP credentials that were emailed to you when you activated the Backup storage. To connect successfully, you will need the host name and password of your Backup storage.
NFS
First make sure that you have authorised your IP blocks to access the storage and use the NFS protocol. Depending on your Linux operating system, you might have to install the NFS client and start the NFS/portmap service.
Once you have the NFS client installed and portmap running, you can mount the NFS share like a normal partition as shown below:
# mount -t nfs HostName:/export/ftpbackup/ServiceName /FolderMount
The code example above contains variables, which you will need to substitute with your own values.
- HostName: The host name of your backup storage
- ServiceName: The name of your server (e.g. ns0000000.ip-123-123-123.net)
- FolderMount: The folder where you want to mount the NFS share
Once the share is mounted, you can use commands like cp and rsync like on a normal directory.
CIFS
Windows
Log on to your server, open the command prompt, and type the following command:
net use z: \\HostName\ServiceName
The code example above contains variables, which you will need to substitute with your own values.
- HostName: The host name of your backup storage
- ServiceName: The name of your server (e.g. ns0000000.ip-123-123-123.net)
Linux
Establish an SSH connection to your server, and type the following command:
# mount -t cifs -o sec=ntlm,uid=root,gid=100,dir_mode=0700,username=root,password= //HostName/ServiceName /mnt/FolderMount
The code example above contains variables, which you will need to substitute with your own values.
- HostName: The host name of your backup storage
- ServiceName: The name of your server (e.g. ns0000000.ip-123-123-123.net)
- FolderMount: The folder where you want to mount the share (it must already exist)
Go further
Join our community of users on https://community.ovh.com/en/.