VaultPress will always back up your website, even if it is only connected through the registered plugin on your WordPress website.

However, to really speed things up and take advantage of our automated restore system, we recommend enabling one or more remote access options on the Settings page of your VaultPress dashboard.

In addition to faster backups and restore functionality, providing us with remote access lets us access your server in an emergency, and improve support response times.

VaultPress currently offers the following remote access options:

SSH 

SSH stands for Secure Shell, and it’s a secure way to remotely access a server. SSH provides full access to your server, including your database, so we’ll be able to troubleshoot faster if something goes wrong.

Not all hosts or hosting plans allow SSH access, but if you have SSH credentials we recommend adding them.

Learn more about SSH, and how to enable it for VaultPress.

SFTP

SFTP stands for SSH File Transfer Protocol (or Secure File Transfer Protocol). SFTP allows us to connect to your server securely, but it only provides access to your files, and not your database. We always recommend that you use SSH and SFTP over plain FTP.

Key-based Authentication

VaultPress can connect using SFTP or SSH with key-based authentication, instead of a password. In order to set this up, you have to add the public key shown on the Settings page of your VaultPress dashboard to the .ssh/authorized_keys file on your server. That will allow VaultPress to connect without using a password.

Not all servers will support key-based authentication, so you should contact your hosting provider for further details.

FTP

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is the most widely-used protocol for accessing files on web server. However, FTP is an insecure protocol that should only be used in limited cases on networks you trust. We do not recommend using plain FTP, if you have SFTP or SSH available to you.

Common questions

Where can I find my remote access credentials?

VaultPress uses the remote access credentials to directly connect to the server where your website is hosted. You should be able to find the credentials by referring to your hosting provider’s documentation, or by asking them. Please refer to this guide for more details, or drop us a line.

Do I need to create a special VaultPress user?

No, VaultPress will work with any username as long as the credentials supplied are valid. We recommend not adding credentials for the root user because restores run as root will create permissions problems down the track.

What permissions need to be in place?

The FTP/SFTP/SSH username you configure on VaultPress needs to have full (read/write/execute) permissions over the public folder (usually, “public_html”) on your server.

As always, if you have any further questions, please feel free to drop us a line. We’re happy to help!