How to back up a Linux server to Google Cloud Storage

A Linux server is durable, but durable is not backed up: a deletion, an overwrite, a bad script or a lost credential all replicate perfectly. A backup is a separate copy — on Google Cloud Storage — refreshed on a schedule and restorable from. That is what this job is.

This job runs on the Business plan (Cloudflare R2 and Google Cloud Storage buckets, Azure sources and server destinations are Business features). Every account starts with a 14-day trial of Pro; see plans.

1. 1.Connect the source. Under Credentials → Servers, add the machine: host, port, a user, and its private key or password. BucketPilot connects over SSH/SFTP from one fixed address, 3.111.107.194, so a firewall can allow exactly that and nothing else. The host key is remembered on first use and checked on every connection after.
2. 2.Connect the destination. Create an HMAC key for a service account with Storage Object Admin on the bucket and add it under Credentials. Then import the bucket under Buckets & Servers, or create one there.
3. 3.Open Backups & Migrations and press Create. Choose A server as the source and A bucket as the destination, then Continue.

1. 1.Pick the server and type the source path — the folder whose contents you want, for example /var/www/uploads. Tick *put the folder itself in the destination* if you want the folder name kept.
2. 2.Pick the destination bucket and, if you like, a folder inside it where the files land.
3. 3.Set the schedule — hourly, daily, weekly or monthly, at the time you choose. Daily at night is the usual answer. Choose how many files copy in parallel (threads); eight is a good default for a busy server.

1. 1.Press Create Job, then Run now. The first run copies everything; every run after it copies only what changed.

Every run is incremental: a file is copied only if its size or timestamp differs from the copy, so a nightly run of a large source moves only the day's changes and finishes in minutes.

Files are streamed from source to destination — multi-gigabyte files never sit in memory, and a run that is paused or loses its worker resumes where it stopped.

You can watch it: live progress on the job, a per-file log, and an email when a run finishes or needs attention. Transient errors retry with backoff; a run that fails outright is reported, never silently skipped.

Google Cloud Storage has no object versioning, so the copy holds the latest version of each file. Nothing is ever deleted at the destination by a backup, so a file removed at the source stays in the copy until you remove it yourself.

Every job has a Restore button: it copies from the destination back to the source, only what is missing there, never overwriting a newer file and never deleting anything. A backup you cannot restore from is not a backup, so this is part of the job, not a separate product.