UrBackup Server & Client Installation Guide

1. Prerequisites

• You're operating as root—no need for sudo (and it may not even be installed).
• On Linux, use filesystems EXT4 or XFS (necessary for image downloads)
• Have at least 1–2 GB free in /tmp (default unpacking site).

2. Install UrBackup Server (Debian/Ubuntu-based)

# Update base packages
apt update
apt install curl gnupg2 software-properties-common

Option A: PPA method

add-apt-repository ppa:uroni/urbackup
apt update
apt install urbackup-server

Option B: Direct .deb download

wget https://hndl.urbackup.org/Server/2.5.33/urbackup-server_2.5.33_amd64.deb
dpkg -i urbackup-server_2.5.33_amd64.deb
apt install -f   # fix missing dependencies

You’ll be prompted to choose a backup directory—e.g., /media/backup/urbackup

3. Enable & Verify Service

systemctl enable urbackupsrv
systemctl start urbackupsrv
systemctl status urbackupsrv
ss -antpl | grep -E "5541[34]"

• Ports: 55413 (FastCGI), 55414 (HTTP)

4. Access Web Interface

Open your browser to http://<server-ip>:55414.

1. Go to Settings → Users, create an admin account to secure the web UI
2. Tweak general settings like backup retention, temporary path, etc., via /etc/default/urbackupsrv or the UI

5. Install UrBackup Client (Linux)

On the client machine (as root):

TF=$(mktemp)
wget "https://hndl.urbackup.org/Client/2.5.25/UrBackup%20Client%20Linux%202.5.25.sh" -O "$TF"
sh "$TF"
rm -f "$TF"

• You’ll be asked to choose a snapshot mechanism:
  • LVM, datto, or none (bare-metal backup needs LVM or root snapshot).

6. Register & Configure Client

Back on the server web UI:

1. Click “Add new client”, choose network or internet type.
2. Copy the install command and run it on the client (as above).

On the client, add directories to back up:

urbackupclientctl add-backupdir -d /path/to/important

Repeat for all directories you want to include

7. Monitor & Manage Backups

• Use Status, Backups, and Activities tabs to check client status and jobs
• Delete old backups manually in the UI or run urbackupsrv cleanup on the server for automated cleanup

8. Uninstall Client (if needed)

uninstall_urbackupclient

Why UrBackup?

• Simple web interface
• Supports file-level + image backups while live
• Efficient deduplication – minimizes storage use during repeated backups
• Works across Linux, Windows, FreeBSD

Quick Tips

• As root, drop sudo.
• Choose EXT4 or XFS on servers for image backup support.
• Pick the right snapshot mode on clients: LVM or none.
• Always protect your web UI with an admin account.
• Monitor ports 55413/55414 and ensure they're reachable.