Remote Backup keeps a copy of your panel backups on your own computers, such as a Windows PC or a Mac in your office. Those computers usually sit behind a router with no public IP address, so the server could never send files to them. Instead they collect them: the small VinzaPanel Remote Backup app runs on the computer, calls the panel over HTTPS on its own schedule, and downloads every backup that is waiting for it.
How it works. Download the app from this page and open it. It is a desktop app with its own window: on Windows just open VinzaBackup.exe (the window uses Microsoft Edge WebView2, part of Windows 10/11); on a Mac open "VinzaPanel Remote Backup" from Applications; on Linux run it once, then use "VinzaPanel Remote Backup" in the applications menu (on Mac and Linux the window is an app window of Google Chrome, Chromium, Microsoft Edge or Brave when one is installed, else the default browser). Paste a connection key made on the panel and choose the folder. Setting it up adds a shortcut with the app's icon (Start menu and desktop on Windows, the applications menu on Linux; Settings in the app can add it again). From then on it checks the panel every few minutes in the background (a Windows scheduled task, a macOS launchd job, a cron job on Linux), whether the app window is open or not; opening the app again shows the same window. On the panel, choose "Remote Backup" as the off-site destination of a backup schedule on the Backups page, or send any existing backup. The panel prepares each archive without copying it (a hard link on the same disk) and computes its SHA-256. The computer downloads it with resume support, so a dropped connection continues where it stopped, checks the SHA-256, and only then reports it as received. Backups are filed in one folder per account and source, and the computer keeps only as many copies per schedule as the schedule's off-site retention says.
The app on the computer shows its connection, last and next check, free disk space, a progress bar while downloading, every backup stored there and an activity log; it can check now, change the folder, schedule the automatic checks or disconnect. It listens only on the computer itself and needs a one-time session key, so other web pages cannot use it.
How it works after pairing. (1) On the Backups page, give a backup schedule the off-site destination "Remote Backup" — or use "Send a backup" on this page for an existing archive. (2) The panel prepares each archive (SHA-256) and it waits here, "Waiting for computer". (3) The computer checks in every few minutes (the interval is set below; "Check for backups now" in the app does it at once), downloads what waits for it with resume, verifies it and confirms it. (4) It keeps the newest copies per schedule as the schedule's off-site retention says. With "Keep a local copy" off, the server copy is deleted once the computer confirmed it. (5) To restore such a backup, open the app on the computer and choose "Send back" next to it: the panel accepts only the file it recorded (SHA-256 and size), puts it back where it was, and the normal Restore button on the Backups page works again.
Snapshots and restore. Every backup a computer holds is a snapshot: the Snapshots tab lists them per website or database with their parts (files, databases), size and where they live (the computer, and the server while it still has the archive). In the app, choose "Restore…" on a snapshot and the parts to restore — files only, database(s) only or both. When the server no longer has that archive the app sends it back first. The request then waits for the backup's owner or an administrator, who is notified and approves or rejects it on the Snapshots tab (requests expire after 24 hours); a computer can be allowed to restore without approval ("Allow direct restore", off by default, set by its owner or an administrator after a confirmation). Before every restore the server makes a safety backup of the same source and parts and only restores when that succeeded; "Undo" puts the safety backup back. The app shows the request's progress and can notify you on the desktop. Approvals, rejections, undo and the direct-restore switch are recorded in the activity log.
Tiered retention. A schedule that sends to Remote Backup can keep the last N copies on each computer, or tiered copies: the newest of each of the last D days, W weeks and M months (for example 7, 4 and 12). A copy that a restore request still needs is never removed.
Staying up to date. Each check-in tells the panel the app's version, and the panel offers newer versions it ships: the computers list shows "Update available", the app shows an "Update now" banner, and with "Install updates automatically" (on by default) the scheduled check installs it itself — downloaded, checked with SHA-256, swapped in under the same path so the scheduled task keeps working; if anything fails the old version stays. Notifications: the panel notifies a computer's owner (and administrators, for a computer that collects every user's backups) when it stops checking in, when a copy fails or is not collected in time, and when it runs low on disk space; the app can show desktop notifications for updates, repeated failures and (optionally) each backup received.
What the panel shows. Each computer with its last check-in, folder and free space, files and data received, and its last error. Every backup on its way: waiting, being downloaded (with progress, speed and time left), collected, or failed with the reason, with Retry. The Backups page shows the same states. With "Keep a local copy" turned off in the schedule, the server copy is removed once the computer has confirmed it.
Safety. A computer uses its own device token, not a user login, and it can only list, download and confirm backups in its scope: its owner's backups, or every user's for a computer an administrator pairs with that option. Remove it on this page and its token stops working at once. Pairing codes are single-use and expire after 15 minutes, and pairing attempts are rate limited. A backup no computer collects within the pickup window (7 days by default) is marked failed, so a computer that is switched off for weeks cannot fill the server's disk.
Administrators can set the pickup window, how often computers check in, how many downloads may run at once and a per-download speed limit.
Requirements: VinzaPanel 1.3.39 or later. The app runs on Windows 10/11 64-bit and macOS 11 or later (Apple silicon and Intel); a Linux build is included. The panel must be reachable over HTTPS from the computer. The app is not signed yet: Windows shows an "unknown publisher" warning and macOS asks to allow it under Privacy & Security the first time.
Availability: Included at no extra cost with the Profesional and Enterprise plans. On the Free and Starter plans it is available per server as a monthly subscription ($2.99/month) or a one-time purchase ($29).
Use VinzaPanel's REST API to download and install this app programmatically.
POST /plugins/api/download/device-backup/ Content-Type: application/json { "panel_version": "1.0.0" }
VinzaPanel
{
"success": true,
"plugin_id": "device-backup",
"version": "1.4.0",
"download_url": "..."
}