The “Targets” page

On the Targets page you decide where your backups go. Here you set up targets, test the connection, check the backups at a target and find backups again after a loss.

A target type is the technique: local folder, FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, S3, Google Drive or Dropbox. A target is a configured storage location of a target type with its own name and its own settings. You can set up several targets of the same type, for example three FTP servers.

The page at a glance

1. Targets is the menu item of the page, in the WordPress menu under cloneworx.
2. The status tile shows with colour and text whether all targets are usable. Below it stand the number of targets and the time of the last transfer.
3. Add target opens the selection of the target types.
4. Configured targets is the list of your targets. Every row shows a coloured dot for the state, the symbol of the target type, the name, the target type and the location.
5. More … opens the menu of a target with all actions.
6. Extended switches to the view with all details. The choice applies to all pages of the plugin.

Messages about an action appear below the status tile. A green message closes by itself, yellow and red ones stay. More on this: Progress, messages and log.

The status tile

The tile always names the most important state. If there are several, the order of the table counts. Add target is always in the tile, except after a loading error. The table names the button that is added for each state.

State	Meaning	Button added
red The targets could not be loaded: …	The page did not get the targets from the server. The message names the cause.	Reload
yellow The storage target “…” is disconnected.	The plugin can no longer use the stored credentials. Until you enter them again, backups skip this target. A target with a sign-in at Google or Dropbox has no credentials to enter: it is connected again. How it works: Renew the credentials of a target.	Renew credentials; for a target with a sign-in at Google or Dropbox Connect again
yellow Fingerprint conflict at “…”	The catalog at the target belongs to another installation of this website. Nothing is written and nothing is deleted there until you decide. How it works: The website has moved or is a copy.	This website moved and This is a copy
yellow Not ready yet: …	Plans and backups use a target only after a successful connection test.	Test connection
grey No target is set up yet.	Backups need at least one target.	none
grey All targets lie inside the website.	Backups on the same server inside the website are lost together with it and can be reached from the web if the folder protection fails. Add a target outside the website or on another server.	none
green All targets are connected.	Every target has passed its last connection test.	none

If a state concerns several targets, the tile names all of them. The button then applies to the first.

Add a target

1. The target types that exist: Local folder, FTP / FTPS, SFTP, WebDAV, Amazon S3, S3-compatible, Google Drive and Dropbox.
2. Dismiss closes the tile without creating anything.

The line with the asterisk below the selection is the note on names and logos of third parties.

If your server lacks something for a target type, it cannot be chosen. In the picture that is SFTP:

1. Not available on this server stands at a target type for which the server lacks something. The target type is greyed out.
2. The line below the selection names the target type and the reason. Here, cURL on the web server cannot do SFTP. Another reason is, for example, a missing PHP extension.

Which target type suits you is shown in Which target suits you?

The form of a target

The fields depend on the target type. The picture shows FTP / FTPS.

1. Name is your name for the target. The plugin suggests one, for example “FTP / FTPS 1”. Any name with at most 100 characters that is not yet in use works; upper and lower case do not matter here.
2. Server is the host name or the IP address, without ftp://.
3. User name
4. Password
5. Folder on the FTP server may stay empty: then the folder you land in after logging in applies. The plugin creates missing folders.
6. Save saves the target and tests the connection right away.
7. Test connection checks the entered values without saving.
8. Cancel closes the form.

Fields with a red asterisk are required. In the Extended view the form shows further fields:

1. Encryption is set to FTPS with TLS by default. Without encryption, password and data can be read on the way; the form then warns below the field.
2. Transfer mode is set to Passive by default. Active only works if the FTP server may open a connection to your web server on its own.
3. Port may stay empty: then 21 applies, with implicit FTPS 990.
4. Connection timeout (seconds) takes 3 to 60, the default is 10.
5. Accepted key of the FTP server is set by Accept this certificate.

A field of the Extended view also appears in the Compact view as long as it carries an error. If a value is not valid, the error stands at the field, for example This name is already in use. or This value is not valid.

Every target type has its own article, for example Store backups on an FTP server (FTP / FTPS).

A target of the type Google Drive or Dropbox has no credentials in the form: you sign in with the provider and give your consent there. Instead of Save, the form holds the button Connect with Google or Connect with Dropbox. The way is shown in Store backups in Google Drive and Store backups in Dropbox.

Save and test

A target is usable only when its last connection test succeeded. The test writes a small file to the target, reads it back, compares it and deletes it again.

1. The cause in plain language, for example: The target refused the login.
2. Show log opens the general log. The details of the test are there.
3. The messages in the original: Message from the target is the last answer of the target, that is of the server, the service or the provider behind it; Message from cURL is the message of the transfer. Neither is translated; credentials, folders and server names are masked in them.

After Save the form closes, and the page reports the result of the test:

• green “…” saved and connected.
• yellow “…” saved, but the connection test failed: … The target is saved, but not usable yet. Show log in the message leads to the details.

The list of targets

The dot at the start of the row shows the state. A target that is not usable carries a label after its name:

Label	Dot	Meaning
none	green	The last connection test succeeded. The target is usable.
not tested yet	grey	Saved, but without a connection test since the last change of the settings.
test failed	red	The last connection test failed.
Disconnected	yellow	The plugin can no longer use the stored credentials, or the provider, Google or Dropbox, no longer accepts the stored consent.
conflict	as without conflict	The catalog at the target belongs to another installation. The plugin writes and deletes nothing there.
Not available on this server	grey	The server lacks something that the target type needs.
removed	grey	Removed; backups in the list still refer to it. Visible only in the Extended view.

If a local folder lies inside the website, a label stands after its location:

1. inside the website stands after the location of the target, here at the second local folder.

If the list is too narrow for all columns, the location gives way first, then the column with backups and space, and last the target type.

The “More …” menu

1. Test connection tests the saved target. The result stands as a message below the status tile.
2. Check the backups at this target reads every backup at this target, the newest first. Afterwards, the list of backups shows damaged or incomplete backups with a red cross. The entry appears only if backups are stored at the target.
3. Clean up leftovers at this target removes folders that an aborted job left behind and that will never become a backup. The cleanup never touches what is in the list of backups. The entry appears for target types that can list their files.
4. Find backups at this target looks at the location of the target. If the folder of another installation or a backup that is missing from the list of backups lies there, the tile Backups found at “…” appears; otherwise the tile reports that nothing was found. The entry appears only for a usable target.
5. Edit opens the form with the saved values.
6. Remove removes the target after a confirmation prompt.

Checking, cleaning up and adding found backups run as a job: the progress display appears below the status tile, and at the end a message with the result. Only one job ever runs at the same time; otherwise the page reports A job is already running.

The ways in detail: Check backups at a target and clean up leftovers and Find backups again after a total loss.

Remove a target

1. With the checkbox ticked, the plugin first deletes all backups at this target and then removes the target. Without the tick, the backups stay where they are. The checkbox exists only if backups are stored at the target.
2. Cancel
3. Remove

• If locked backups are stored at the target, the checkbox is missing. Unlock them first, or remove the target without its backups.
• If backups in the list still refer to the target, its entry stays as removed, without settings and without credentials. Once no backup refers to it any more, you delete it in the Extended view with Delete permanently.
• For a target in Dropbox, the plugin asks Dropbox to revoke the access when removing. If that does not succeed, for example because Dropbox cannot be reached, the plugin removes the target anyway; the access then stays valid at Dropbox until you disconnect the app in your Dropbox account.
• For a target in Google Drive, the plugin revokes nothing: it only deletes the accesses from the database of your website; at Google the previous access stays valid. The consent stays listed in your Google account until you remove it there.
• A removed target leaves every backup plan. A plan without a target is paused. It can only be switched on again once you give it a target.

Step by step: Remove a target.

The Extended view

1. The column names for each target when a backup last went there. The most recent of these times is shown by the status tile after Last transfer.
2. The number of backups at the target and the space they take.
3. removed marks a removed target; its name is struck through. Only this view shows it. Its menu offers only Delete permanently.
4. Targets and space names for each target the backups, the used and the free space, and for each backup plan the number of backups in relation to Max. backups. The tile knows the free space only for local folders; otherwise a dash stands there.
5. Compact switches back.

The tile Targets and space is collapsed when you open the page. A click on its title row folds it open and closed again. How the plugin counts is explained in Define how many backups are kept.

See also

• Which target suits you?
• Renew the credentials of a target
• Remove a target
• The website has moved or is a copy
• Manage targets with WP-CLI

On the command line

WP-CLI not set up yet? How to install WP-CLI.

What this page can do also works with WP-CLI. There you name a target by its ID (local-1, ftp-2) or its name. The command line does not accept passwords and keys, because every value there would appear in the list of processes and in the history of the shell: you set up targets with credentials on this page, and a target of the type Google Drive or Dropbox likewise.

# Show targets with ID and state
wp cloneworx-backup target list

# Create a local folder as a target
wp cloneworx-backup target add local --name="Archiv" --set-path=/var/backups

# Change the name of a target
wp cloneworx-backup target edit local-1 --name="Archiv 2"

# Test the connection
wp cloneworx-backup target test local-1

# Check the backups at a target
wp cloneworx-backup target check local-1

# Clean up leftovers at a target
wp cloneworx-backup target cleanup local-1

# Show what is stored at the target's location
wp cloneworx-backup target sites local-1

# Remove a target; the backups there are kept
wp cloneworx-backup target remove local-1