An off-site copy is the one that survives losing the account. There are five ways to get one out: a WordPress backup plugin with a cloud destination, a backup program running on your computer or a VPS (rclone is the best known), the remote-destination option of the full cPanel backup where it exists, a script with rsync or SFTP, or simply downloading and uploading by hand. This is the mechanics; prices and conditions are those of the storage provider you choose.
Where to send it
| Destination |
What it is |
What you need to know |
| S3-compatible object storage |
A “bucket” in a provider’s account, used by programs. |
Four details: the service address (endpoint), the region, the access key and the secret key, plus the bucket name. |
| Google Drive and similar file services |
A folder in a personal or company account. |
Authorisation is done by a one-time sign-in that gives the program renewable access. See saving files to Google Drive automatically. |
| Another server, over SFTP |
A disk of yours, on another machine. |
The address, the user and an SSH key. See automatic file transfers with SFTP and rsync. |
| An external disk or the computer |
The local copy, not truly “off-site” if it is in the same room. |
A disk kept at another address counts as off-site. |
Step by step
| 1 |
Choose the destination and create the account or bucket. If the provider allows it, turn on keeping old versions: it protects you from a damaged copy overwriting the good one.
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| 2 |
Create a key just for this. Give it permission only on that bucket or folder, and never use the account’s main key.
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| 3 |
Test with a small file before automating. See that it arrived, that it opens and that the size matches.
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| 4 |
Automate. With a plugin, it is the plugin’s own “destination” option. With rclone, a command scheduled in cron (cron jobs). Pick a quiet hour.
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| 5 |
Check every week, for the first few weeks, that the day’s file shows up at the destination. It is the commonest silent failure.
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An example with rclone
rclone is a free, open-source third-party program; we do not sell it and support does not install or repair it (how far our support goes). It runs on your computer or on a VPS. First you set the destination up interactively, then you copy:rclone config
rclone copy /path/to/backups remote:bucket-name/site --dry-run
rclone copy /path/to/backups remote:bucket-name/site --progress
The first line creates a destination under a name you choose (here, “remote”). The second, with --dry-run, only shows what it would do. The third copies. To read the backups from your shared account, rclone connects over SFTP; use the SSH address and port your panel shows.
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“Copy” and “sync” are not the same. rclone copy adds to the destination. rclone sync makes the destination match the source, deleting there whatever no longer exists here. If you delete a file by mistake and sync, it is deleted from the copy too. For backups, use copy.
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Access keys are worth money and data. Keep them in a file with permission 600, outside public_html, and never in a public repository. If one gets exposed, delete it at the provider and create another.
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Think about where the data sits. If the copy holds customers’ personal data, the storage provider’s country is a privacy decision, not just a price one. See data protection on your website.
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Have the destination but the copy does not arrive, or not sure where to start? Tell us what you use.
Open a support ticket
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