WordPress Plugin: A Marriage made in Heaven for UpdraftPlus and FreeNAS

The goal here is to use FreeNAS storage to store UpdraftPlus backups of WordPress sites. Local user authentication is assumed for FreeNAS. Outline of the basic steps:

A. Set up the UpdraftPlus storage root.

1. Set aside storage space on FreeNAS for UpdraftPlus.
2. Create the UpdraftPlus user and group on FreeNAS.
3. Configure and start the FTP service on FreeNAS.
4. Test the FTP connection to the UpdraftPlus root on FreeNAS from UpdraftPlus.

B. Set up the site backup.

For each WordPress site:

1. Set aside site storage space under the UpdraftPlus root on FreeNAS.
2. Make the UpdraftPlus user the owner of the site storage space.
3. Test the FTP connection to the site storage space from UpdraftPlus.
4. Check that a manual backup completes successfully.
5. Set up the site backup schedule.

A. Set up the UpdraftPlus storage root

Step A1: Set aside storage space on FreeNAS for UpdraftPlus

Decide where on your pool you’re going to locate the storage area for UpdraftPlus and then create the storage root.

Step A2: Create the UpdraftPlus user and group on FreeNAS.

Choose a UID/GID for the UpdraftPlus user. I like to keep these the same number.

Step A3: Configure and start the FTP service on FreeNAS.

Step A4: Test the FTP connection to the UpdraftPlus root on FreeNAS from UpdraftPlus.

From a site dashboard: Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups > Settings

When you click on Test FTP Settings, you should see a dialogue box like the following.

B. Set up the site backup

Step B1: Set aside site storage space under the UpdraftPlus root on FreeNAS.

Step B2: Make the UpdraftPlus user the owner of the site storage space.

Step B3: Test the FTP connection to the site storage space from UpdraftPlus.

From the site-specific dashboard: Dashboard > Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups > Settings

When you click on Test FTP Settings, you should see a dialogue box like the following.

If successful. scroll to the bottom of the Settings screen and Save Changes.

Step B4: Check that a manual backup completes successfully.

From the Backup / Restore tab of the site dashboard, click the Backup now button.

The next screen should show that the backup will be sent to remote storage.

Click Backup Now and backup should do its thing, upload files to FreeNAS and then complete successfully.

Step B5: Set up the site backup schedule.

Now return to the Settings tab and set up the backup schedule. Don’t forget to scroll down to the bottom of the screen and Save Changes.

When run, your scheduled backups will be stored in a site dataset under the UpdraftPlus storage root on FreeNAS.