marcpope/borgbackupserver repository overview

⁠Borg Backup Server - Web GUI / Orchestration for BorgBackup

A self-hosted graphical UI/front end web application for centrally managing BorgBackup⁠ across multiple Linux and macOS endpoints. A lightweight agent polls the server for tasks over HTTPS, backs up over SSH to the server, and reports progress back. No inbound connections to endpoints required — works behind firewalls and NAT. Includes a setup wizard for zero-config installation.

**View Live Demo ** Visit the website to spin up a free, self contained demo to try: Borg Backup Server⁠

⁠Features

• Agent-based architecture — endpoints initiate all connections; no inbound ports needed on clients
• SSH with append-only security — agents back up over SSH but cannot delete existing archives
• Setup wizard — browser-based installer configures database, admin account, and storage in minutes
• Real-time progress — live progress bars during backups
• File-level restore — browse archive contents in a collapsible tree, restore individual files or entire directories
• Download archives — extract and download files as .tar.gz directly from the browser
• Plugin system — extend backups with pre/post hooks for databases, applications, and custom scripts
• Database plugins — MySQL, PostgreSQL, and control panel dumps (cPanel, Interworx) with point-in-time restore
• Flexible scheduling — hourly to monthly intervals, multiple plans per client, manual trigger
• Backup templates — pre-configured directory sets for common server roles
• Retention policies — per-plan prune settings (hourly/daily/weekly/monthly/yearly)
• S3 offsite sync — mirror repositories to S3-compatible storage (AWS, Wasabi, Backblaze B2)
• Multi-user — role-based access (admin sees all, users see own clients)
• Two-factor authentication — TOTP-based 2FA with recovery codes
• Queue management — concurrent job limits, cancel/retry, progress tracking
• Encrypted passphrases — repository passwords encrypted at rest (AES-256-GCM)
• Email alerts — SMTP notifications on backup failure, agent offline, storage low
• Dashboard — backup charts, server stats, active jobs, auto-refresh
• Server self-backup — daily automated backup of BBS itself with optional S3 sync

⁠Quick Start

Start with a fresh Ubuntu 22.04+ server, then run:

curl -sO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcpope/borgbackupserver/main/bin/bbs-install
sudo bash bbs-install --hostname backups.example.com

The installer handles everything — packages, Apache, MySQL, SSL, and cron. When it finishes, open the URL and the setup wizard walks you through the rest.

See the full documentation on the Wiki⁠ for installation details, agent setup, configuration, and usage guides.

⁠Docker

Pre-built images are published to Docker Hub⁠ on every release:

curl -sO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/marcpope/borgbackupserver/main/docker-compose.yml
docker compose up -d

Get admin credentials from the container logs:

docker compose logs bbs

Open http://localhost:8080 and log in. See the Docker Installation guide⁠ for full configuration, storage, reverse proxy, and update documentation.

⁠Documentation

All documentation lives on the GitHub Wiki⁠:

• System Requirements⁠
• Installation⁠
• Getting Started⁠
• Agent Setup⁠
• Backup Plans⁠
• Restoring Files⁠
• Plugins⁠
• S3 Offsite Sync⁠
• Settings⁠
• CLI Reference⁠
• Troubleshooting⁠
• Contributing⁠

⁠Architecture

• HTTPS for control plane (task polling, progress, status)
• SSH for data plane (borg backup/restore via borg serve)
• Append-only — agents cannot delete existing archives; pruning runs server-side

⁠Tech Stack

⁠License

MIT License⁠ with Beer-Ware Addendum.

If this software saved your backups (or your job), consider buying the maintainer a beer.