Forum Moderators: phranque
I'd like to access this backup server so that I can verify that the files are getting backed up and also so that I can transfer them to my local machine. I'm told that the only way to access the backup server is by using the 'sftp' command at the ssh command line. However, I'm a complete beginner when it comes to ssh.
Can someone tell me how to do this?
Great freeware tool. Good GUI for SCP and SFTP, which is essentially FTP tunneled over SSH. It's intuitive for beginners.
I was under the impression that I could only access this ftp backup server by logging in as 'root' on my webserver.
That's possible, but unlikely. You will have to ask your ISP what restrictions (if any) they have put on access to the sftp site.
They COULD have set things up so that the backup site can only be accessed from your webserver. Technically, they have no way of restricting access to a particular user on your webserver... well, they could have set up public/private key access, and you have to use a key that is only present on your webserver, and that they have not given you read access to...
But, again, very unlikely. It would partially defeat the purpose of backup. You should be able to access your backup data!
I think you must be misunderstanding your ISP's configuration.
As for how to access this - there are tools built-in or easily added to any Linux system for accessing via sftp. If you have a Windows system, most free and commercial FTP software packages now include sftp support.
Yes, FileZilla supports sftp, so that is an option.
However, I'm unable to connect to the server. Any ideas why?
However, I'm unable to connect to the server. Any ideas why?
Really, you're asking in the wrong place.
At this point, you'd best ask your web host, as what you've done looks fine. They are going to have to tell you about any differences in their configuration or access restrictions.
Using rsync, rdiff-backup, etc. nightly backups can be quite compact, as only the differences are sent.
Getting to your backup files is going to be a two-step process.
First, you need to make an SSH connection to your host. If you have Linux at home, this is as simple as "ssh user@example.com". You will then be asked for a password, and once you enter the password, you will be at a command-line prompt at your host.
If you have Windows, you will need an SSH client for Windows. Putty is a popular free one. There are a number of shareware/commercial packages as well.
Once you have a command-line prompt at your host, you need to use sftp to connect to the backup machine. The command is very similar to the ssh command above. "sftp user@backup.example.com". (Substititue your user name, and the domain name or IP address they gave you for the backup machine.)
SFTP has commands similar to command-line FTP. You can type "help" to get a list. Useful commands are "li" (list files), "cd" (change directories), "get" (copy a copy from the backup to the host) and "put" (copy a file from the host to the backup).
Personally, I'd still keep a backup at home or elsewhere. What if your host goes out of business or has a catastrophic failure. Or, as seems to happen way too often, you have a billing dispute? You empower yourself by taking control of your data.
You might be able to find some configuration information in your Plesk control panel. Unfortunately, I'm not a Plesk user, so I can't help you there. But there might be some set-up for the backup where you can check the address.
I think you will need to ask your hosting company, to make sure you have the right address.
I would still first try a ping and/or traceroute to make sure that you have connectivity to the backup machine.
If that works, then I would contact you host to get the details of their SSH setup on the backup machine.
