Description
VPS Snaps backs up WordPress sites that cannot run a shell — the shared hosting where
exec() is disabled, there is no mysqldump, and nobody can add a cron job.
Backups are written to your own cloud storage (S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2,
DigitalOcean Spaces, Wasabi, any S3-compatible bucket, Google Drive, Box, or Dropbox). The plugin never
holds your storage credentials: it asks VPS Snaps for a short-lived, single-file upload
link each time it needs one, so a break-in on this site cannot reach the rest of your
bucket. A restore from Google Drive is given a Google token that expires within the hour
and reaches only the files VPS Snaps created, never the rest of your Drive. An upload to
Box is given a token that expires within the hour and can only upload into the backup’s own
folder; a restore from Box is given a download link for the one file, with no token at all.
An upload to Dropbox goes to a one-time upload link for that one file, or, for a backup over
150 MB, with a token that lasts at most four hours and reaches only the VPS Snaps app folder
in your Dropbox; a restore from Dropbox is given a download link for the one file, with no
token at all.
What this plugin sends to an external service
This plugin requires an account at vpssnaps.com and does not work
without one. There is a free tier that covers one site, one backup job and one storage
destination, which is everything this plugin needs; paid plans exist for people running
more than one site. Nothing in this plugin is switched on or off by which plan you are on.
You paste a site token from your dashboard into the plugin, and the plugin then talks to
https://vpssnaps.com to:
- register this site — its URL, WordPress version, and plugin version;
- ask whether there is a backup or restore to run;
- report progress and results;
- request a temporary upload or download link for one file at a time;
- report a fatal error raised by this plugin’s own code, so a backup that has
silently stopped working can be found and fixed. This is sent only when the
plugin itself fatals, and carries the error message, the file name and line,
your PHP and WordPress versions, and nothing else. Fatal errors from other
plugins and from WordPress are not sent.
Your site’s content is uploaded to the storage bucket you configure in your VPS Snaps
account. It does not pass through vpssnaps.com.
- Terms: https://vpssnaps.com/terms
- Privacy: https://vpssnaps.com/privacy
When that storage is Google Drive, the plugin uploads backups to, and downloads them for a
restore from, Google’s Drive API at https://www.googleapis.com, in the Google account you
connected in VPS Snaps. Nothing else is sent to Google.
- Google Terms of Service: https://policies.google.com/terms
- Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
When that storage is Box, the plugin uploads backups to Box’s upload API at
https://upload.box.com, in the Box account you connected in VPS Snaps, and downloads
them for a restore from the link Box gives for that file (on box.com or boxcloud.com).
Nothing else is sent to Box.
- Box Terms of Service: https://www.box.com/legal/termsofservice
- Box Privacy Notice: https://www.box.com/legal/privacypolicy
When that storage is Dropbox, the plugin uploads backups to Dropbox’s content API at
https://content.dropboxapi.com, into the VPS Snaps app folder of the Dropbox account you
connected in VPS Snaps, and downloads them for a restore from the temporary link Dropbox
gives for that file (on dropboxusercontent.com). Nothing else is sent to Dropbox.
- Dropbox Terms of Service: https://www.dropbox.com/terms
- Dropbox Privacy Policy: https://www.dropbox.com/privacy
Security
Every instruction this plugin receives is signed with your site token and verified before
anything runs. An instruction that does not verify is refused and reported, not executed.
Installation
- Install and activate the plugin.
- In your VPS Snaps dashboard, create a site token.
- Go to Settings VPS Snaps, paste the token, and save. The page will tell you
immediately whether the connection worked.
FAQ
-
Do I need SSH or a cron job?
-
No. That is the point of this plugin. If your host does let you add a real cron job,
pointing one atwp-cron.phpmakes scheduling more reliable — see below. -
Will backups run exactly on schedule?
-
Not exactly. WordPress runs scheduled tasks when someone visits the site rather than on a
clock, so on a quiet site a check can run late or be skipped. Treat backup times as
approximate. A real cron job callingwp-cron.phpevery minute removes the guesswork. -
Where are my backups stored?
-
In the bucket, Google Drive, Box or Dropbox you configured in your VPS Snaps account. You keep ownership and access.
-
Does a backup to Box need free disk space?
-
Yes. Box has to be told a file’s size before it is uploaded, so the plugin finishes the
whole archive on your site’s disk first, as it already does for every backup, and then
uploads it. A free Box account takes files up to 250 MB; a larger backup is refused before
anything is uploaded, with the limit named. -
Is multisite supported?
-
Not in this version.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“VPS Snaps” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “VPS Snaps” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.1.0
- Box and Dropbox storage: backups upload to the Box or Dropbox account you connect in VPS Snaps, and restore from it. The plugin sends the archive’s size and checksum first (SHA-1 for Box, Dropbox’s content hash for Dropbox), uploads large archives in parts read straight from disk, and a backup counts only once VPS Snaps has confirmed the storage holds exactly the archive that was sent.
1.0.2
- Backups can go to a bucket with S3 Object Lock turned on: each upload now carries a checksum of the archive, which such a bucket requires, and which lets your storage confirm the bytes that arrived.
1.0.1
- Safer restores: a file in a backup is never written outside your site, even if the path check runs into an unexpected error.
- The plugin page and banner now list Google Drive alongside S3-compatible storage.
1.0.0
- First stable release: backups, restores and site migrations, run from your VPS Snaps dashboard.
- Restore from backups stored in Google Drive.
0.1.1
- Large backups upload without being held in memory, using WordPress’s built-in HTTP functions.
- The plugin reports its own errors to VPS Snaps, so a backup that stops working shows in your dashboard instead of failing silently. See “What this plugin sends to an external service”.
- Translation fix.
0.1.0
- First release: connects your site to VPS Snaps.