How to Work With Cloud Services Not Directly Supported by BackWPup

Many users of the 'BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin' want to send their backups to modern, privacy-focused cloud storage services like pCloud, Nextcloud, or Proton Drive. A common question in the community is whether these destinations are natively supported. This article explains the current state of support for these services and provides practical workarounds.

The Current State of Support for pCloud, Nextcloud, and Proton Drive

Based on community discussions and official responses, direct, native integration for pCloud, Nextcloud, and Proton Drive is not currently available within the BackWPup plugin.

• pCloud: The BackWPup team has confirmed that pCloud support is on their to-do list. However, there is no active development for it at this time, and no expected release date has been provided.
• Nextcloud & Proton Drive: There are currently no plans to add native support for Nextcloud or Proton Drive.

While this might be disappointing news, it does not mean you cannot use these services with BackWPup. There are several effective methods to bridge this gap.

Common Solutions and Workarounds

1. Use the FTP Destination for Nextcloud

If your goal is to back up to a Nextcloud instance hosted on your own NAS or server, this is often the simplest solution. Nextcloud supports FTP access, which can be leveraged by BackWPup's built-in FTP destination.

1. Ensure FTP is enabled and configured on your Nextcloud server.
2. In your WordPress dashboard, go to BackWPup > Jobs > Add New Job.
3. Navigate to the To: Destination section and select FTP.
4. Enter the FTP credentials for your Nextcloud server (host, username, password, and initial directory).
5. Configure the rest of your job settings and save.

Your backups will now be uploaded directly to your Nextcloud storage via FTP.

2. Develop a Custom Destination (For Developers)

For services with a public API, like pCloud, it is technically possible to create a custom add-on plugin. The BackWPup plugin provides a hook, backwpup_register_destination, specifically for this purpose.

Developers can use this hook to register a new destination class that handles authentication and file uploads using the service's API (e.g., the pCloud API documentation). This approach requires strong PHP and WordPress development skills.

3. Sync from a Supported Local Destination

Another reliable method is to use a two-step process:

1. Configure your BackWPup job to save the backup file to a Local Folder on your server.
2. Use a separate synchronization tool or script on your server (like rclone or the official pCloud desktop client) to automatically copy files from this local folder to your desired cloud service.

This method is very robust because it relies on BackWPup's stable local backup feature and separates the upload process to an external, dedicated tool.

Conclusion

While native support for some cloud services is not yet available, the flexibility of the BackWPup plugin and standard protocols like FTP provide viable pathways to achieve your backup goals. The FTP method is recommended for Nextcloud users, while those looking to use pCloud may need to wait for official integration or explore the custom development route. The community often shares updates, so keeping an eye on official channels is advised for any future announcements regarding new destination support.