RemoteBackup Service

Advanced Windows service for automated scheduled backups. The system supports three primary modes of operation:

1. FTP Mirror (Remote to Local): Mirrors a remote FTP folder to a local disk, maintains history snapshots, and compresses them into ZIP archives.
2. FTP Upload (Local to Remote): Compresses a local folder into a ZIP archive and uploads it to a remote FTP server.
3. HTTP Trigger (Trigger and Download): Calls a specific URL that generates a backup on the server, then downloads the resulting file locally.

Requirements

• .NET SDK 10.0+
• Windows machine with access to the remote servers
• Local destination on a drive letter path (for example: D:\Backups\SiteA)
• Administrator privileges for installation

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Professional Installer (Recommended)

The easiest way to install the service is using the provided Inno Setup installer:

1. Run the RemoteBackupSetup.exe installer as Administrator.
2. Follow the wizard steps.
3. At the end of the installation, you can opt to open appsettings.json to configure your connections.

The installer handles service registration, starting the service, and ensures your configuration is not overwritten during updates.

Manual Installation

1. Build and publish the service:

Configuration (appsettings.json)

The configuration is located within the "BackupOptions" section. You can define multiple independent backup tasks in the "Backups" array. The important sections are BackupOptions, FileLogging, and ServiceSettings.

Global Settings

Field	Description	Example
RunAt	Time of day to start the backup (24h format).	"02:30"
HistoryCopies	Default number of historical archives to keep.	5
DefaultTimeoutMinutes	Default timeout for a single backup task.	60
Backups	List (array) of objects defining individual tasks.	[...]

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Detailed Task Fields (Backups)

Each task in the "Backups" array can contain the following fields:

General Settings

• Name (Required): Unique name for the task (used in logs and filenames).
• BackupType: Type of backup: "FTP" (default), "FTP_UPLOAD", or "HTTP".
• LocalPath (Required): Local path on the disk (destination for downloads or source for uploads).
• HistoryCopies: Overrides the global number of kept copies for this specific task.
• RetentionDays: Number of days to keep old ZIP archives (default: 7).
• TimeoutMinutes: Overrides the default timeout for this job.

FTP Configuration (for "FTP" and "FTP_UPLOAD" types)

• Host: FTP server address (e.g., ftp.yourdomain.com).
• Port: Server port (default: 21).
• Username: FTP username.
• Password: FTP password.
• RemotePath: Path on the FTP server (source for "FTP", destination for "FTP_UPLOAD").
• Encryption: Encryption type: "None", "Explicit" (default), or "Implicit".
• Passive: Use passive mode (default: true).
• AllowInvalidCertificate: Ignore SSL certificate errors (true/false).

HTTP Configuration (for "HTTP" type)

• EndpointUrl: Full URL to trigger the backup (e.g., https://api.site.com/backup.php).
• ApiToken: A separate field for the authorization token or secret key.

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1. HTTP/PHP Mode (Recommended for Web Services)

This mode uses a PHP script on your server to bundle files and database into archives for the C# service to download.

Server Setup:

1. Copy the contents of the php-server/ folder to your website (e.g., to /backup/).
2. Edit php-server/config.php:
   • Set auth_token to a secure random string.
   • Configure db section with your MySQL credentials.
   • Adjust fs -> source_dir to point to your website root.

Client Setup (appsettings.json):

{
  "BackupOptions": {
    "Backups": [
      {
        "Name": "MyWebsite",
        "BackupType": "HTTP",
        "EndpointUrl": "https://yourdomain.com/backup/backup.php",
        "ApiToken": "your_secure_token",
        "LocalPath": "C:\\Backups\\MyWebsite",
        "RetentionDays": 7
      }
    ]
  }
}

2. FTP/FTPS Mode

Classic mode for servers without PHP support.

{
  "BackupOptions": {
    "Backups": [
      {
        "Name": "LegacyFTPSite",
        "BackupType": "FTP",
        "Host": "ftp.example.com",
        "Username": "user",
        "Password": "password",
        "RemotePath": "/",
        "LocalPath": "C:\\Backups\\LegacySite",
        "Encryption": "Explicit",
        "Passive": true
      }
    ]
  }
}

Edit appsettings.json (development) or provide a matching appsettings.json alongside the published executable. The important sections are BackupOptions, FileLogging, and ServiceSettings.

Server-Side Setup (PHP)

The php-server folder contains a ready-to-use script for the HTTP backup mode. This is useful if you want to trigger a backup of a web server from the Windows service.

Files in php-server:

1. backup.php: The main execution script. When called with a valid token, it zips the configured source directory and streams it to the client.
2. config.php: Security and path configuration.

config.php Breakdown:

Modify these values to secure your endpoint:

• API_TOKEN: A secret string that must match the ApiToken in your appsettings.json.
• ALLOWED_IPS: An array of IP addresses allowed to trigger the backup.
• BACKUP_SOURCE_DIR: The absolute path to the folder on the web server to back up.
• TEMP_DIR: Where the temporary ZIP file is created before downloading.

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Sensitive values

Passwords are stored in clear text in appsettings.json. For production use, consider setting credentials in environment variables and leaving the file values blank:

$env:BackupOptions__Backups__0__Username = "user"
$env:BackupOptions__Backups__0__Password = "password"

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Running behavior

• Startup Test: On startup, the service performs a one-off FTP test run using the first configured backup job and writes progress to the console.
• Daily Schedule: The service runs once per day at the configured RunAt time.
• Sequential Execution: Backups execute sequentially; a failure does not block the next job.
• Timeouts: Each job is cancelled if it exceeds its timeout.
• Folder Structure:
  • The remote path is mirrored into LocalPath\current.
  • Snapshot copies are stored in LocalPath\_history\yyyyMMdd_HHmmss.
  • A daily zip archive is created at LocalPath\archives\<JobName>\yyyy-MM-dd.zip, and archives older than RetentionDays are deleted.
• Logging: Logs are written to the Windows Event Log and to the file path in FileLogging:Path.

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Configuration Examples

1. FTP (Remote to Local)

{
  "BackupOptions": {
    "RunAt": "02:00",
    "Backups": [
      {
        "Name": "MirrorWebsite",
        "BackupType": "FTP",
        "Host": "ftp.example.com",
        "Username": "user",
        "Password": "password",
        "RemotePath": "/public_html",
        "LocalPath": "D:\\Backups\\SiteMirror",
        "RetentionDays": 7
      }
    ]
  }
}

2. FTP Upload (Local to Remote)

{
  "BackupOptions": {
    "RunAt": "03:00",
    "Backups": [
      {
        "Name": "UploadLocalData",
        "BackupType": "FTP_UPLOAD",
        "Host": "backup.storage.com",
        "Username": "backup_user",
        "Password": "secure_password",
        "LocalPath": "C:\\ImportantData",
        "RemotePath": "/server1/uploads",
        "Encryption": "Explicit",
        "Passive": true,
        "AllowInvalidCertificate": true
      }
    ]
  }
}

3. HTTP Trigger and Download

{
  "BackupOptions": {
    "RunAt": "04:00",
    "Backups": [
      {
        "Name": "TriggerDBBackup",
        "BackupType": "HTTP",
        "EndpointUrl": "https://mysite.com/backup.php",
        "ApiToken": "SECRET_TOKEN_HERE",
        "LocalPath": "D:\\Backups\\Database"
      }
    ]
  }
}

4. Multiple Services (Combined Example)

{
  "BackupOptions": {
    "RunAt": "01:00",
    "HistoryCopies": 5,
    "Backups": [
      {
        "Name": "MainWebsiteFiles",
        "BackupType": "FTP",
        "Host": "ftp.site1.com",
        "Username": "user1",
        "Password": "pass1",
        "RemotePath": "/www",
        "LocalPath": "D:\\Backups\\Site1"
      },
      {
        "Name": "SecondWebsiteFiles",
        "BackupType": "FTP",
        "Host": "ftp.site2.com",
        "Username": "user2",
        "Password": "pass2",
        "RemotePath": "/public_html",
        "LocalPath": "D:\\Backups\\Site2"
      },
      {
        "Name": "RemoteDatabase",
        "BackupType": "HTTP",
        "EndpointUrl": "https://api.site3.com/backup.php",
        "ApiToken": "TOKEN_ABC",
        "LocalPath": "D:\\Backups\\Database"
      }
    ]
  }
}

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Installation and Uninstallation

Using the Installer (Recommended)

1. Run RemoteBackupSetup.exe as administrator.
2. The service will be automatically registered and started.
3. After installation, appsettings.json will open for configuration.

Manual Installation

1. Build and publish the service:

dotnet publish .\BackupService.csproj -c Release -o C:\Services\BackupService

2. Create the Windows service:

sc.exe create BackupService binPath= "C:\Services\BackupService\BackupService.exe"

3. (Optional) Set the service account if needed:

sc.exe config BackupService obj= ".\ServiceUser" password= "YourPassword"

4. Start the service:

sc.exe start BackupService

Manual Uninstall

sc.exe stop BackupService
sc.exe delete BackupService

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Development and Building

Building the Installer

To generate the Inno Setup installer:

1. Ensure Inno Setup 6 is installed on your machine.
2. Run the automated build script:

.\BuildInstaller.ps1

This script will publish the project in self-contained mode and compile the RemoteBackupSetup.exe.

Running locally (console mode)

You can run the worker as a console app for quick testing:

dotnet run --project .\BackupService.csproj

Press Ctrl+C to stop it.

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Troubleshooting

• Write Access: If the service cannot write logs, ensure the service account has write access to the log directory and backup destination.
• TLS Validation: If TLS validation fails, set AllowInvalidCertificate to true for the specific backup or install a trusted certificate on the machine.
• Event Log: If Event Log entries do not appear, run the service once with elevated permissions or pre-create the event source.
• UNC Paths: LocalPath must be a local drive path (for example D:\Backups\SiteA); UNC paths are rejected by the runner.

Email Notifications

The service can send email notifications when a backup job fails.

Configuration

Add the Smtp section and NotifyEmails to your appsettings.json:

"BackupOptions": {
  "NotifyEmails": [ "global-admin@example.com" ],
  "Smtp": {
    "Host": "smtp.gmail.com",
    "Port": 587,
    "Username": "your-email@gmail.com",
    "Password": "your-app-password",
    "EnableSsl": true,
    "FromEmail": "your-email@gmail.com",
    "FromName": "Remote Backup Monitor"
  },
  "Backups": [
    {
      "Name": "MyJob",
      "NotifyOnFailure": true,
      "NotifyEmails": [ "job-specific-admin@example.com" ]
    }
  ]
}

• Global Recipients: Emails listed in the main BackupOptions.NotifyEmails will receive notifications for ALL failed jobs.
• Job-specific Recipients: Emails listed in a specific backup job's NotifyEmails will receive notifications ONLY for that job.
• NotifyOnFailure: Set to true (default) to enable notifications for a specific job.