How to Install UrBackup
Unlike standalone backup tools such as Restic or BorgBackup, UrBackup uses a centralized architecture where a server manages backups for all connected clients. This makes it well suited for small to medium office environments where you want one dashboard to monitor and manage all machine backups. The server handles storage, retention, and scheduling, while lightweight client agents run on each machine being backed up.
UrBackup server version 2.5.37 (released April 2026) runs on Linux and Windows. The examples below focus on Linux server installation, but the process for Windows is similar using the official installer.
Step 1: Install UrBackup Server on Linux
Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04:
Add the official UrBackup PPA and install the server package:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:uroni/urbackup
sudo apt update
sudo apt install urbackup-serverDuring installation, you will be asked to specify the backup storage directory. Choose a path on a dedicated drive or partition with ample space. A good default is /media/backups/urbackup or a similar mount point on your backup storage.
Debian 12:
Download the .deb package directly from the UrBackup website:
wget https://hndl.urbackup.org/Server/2.5.37/urbackup-server_2.5.37_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i urbackup-server_2.5.37_amd64.deb
sudo apt install -fCentOS / Rocky / Alma Linux:
wget https://hndl.urbackup.org/Server/2.5.37/urbackup-server-2.5.37-1.x86_64.rpm
sudo rpm -i urbackup-server-2.5.37-1.x86_64.rpmAfter installation, start the service and enable it to start on boot:
sudo systemctl start urbackupsrv
sudo systemctl enable urbackupsrvVerify the server is running by opening a browser and navigating to http://your-server-ip:55414. You should see the UrBackup web administration interface.
Step 2: Configure Server Storage and Settings
In the web interface, navigate to Settings to configure the server. The most important settings are:
Backup storage path: This is where all backup data is stored. If you did not set this during installation, configure it now. Use a dedicated partition or drive, not your system drive. UrBackup will consume significant storage depending on the number of clients and retention policy. As a rough estimate, plan for 2-3x the total data size of all clients to account for incremental history.
File backup defaults: Set the interval for incremental file backups (default is every 5 hours) and full file backups (default is every 30 days). For most environments, daily incremental backups and weekly full backups provide a good balance of protection and storage efficiency. Incremental backups capture only changed files since the last backup, so they complete quickly and use minimal storage.
Image backup defaults: Image backups capture the entire disk, including the operating system and boot sectors. Enable these if you need bare-metal recovery capability. They consume more storage than file backups, so consider running them weekly rather than daily. Image backups work with Windows clients using VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) and with Linux clients using the dattobd or urbackup-snapshot-vhd modules.
Email notifications: Configure SMTP settings so the server can email you when backups fail. This is critical for unattended operation because a silently failing backup is worse than no backup at all.
Step 3: Install Client Agents
Each machine you want to back up needs the UrBackup client agent installed. The server web interface provides download links for all platforms under the Status page.
Windows client:
Download the Windows installer from the UrBackup website or your server's status page. Run the installer, which will install the UrBackup client service and a system tray icon. The client will automatically discover the UrBackup server on the local network using broadcast discovery. If the server is on a different subnet, you need to enter the server IP address in the client settings.
Linux client:
# Download and run the install script
TF=$(mktemp) && wget "https://hndl.urbackup.org/Client/2.5.27/UrBackup%20Client%20Linux%202.5.27.sh" -O $TF && sudo sh $TF; rm -f $TFThe installer will ask for the server's IP address or hostname. Enter it to establish the connection. The client runs as a system service and starts automatically on boot.
macOS client:
Download the macOS installer package from the UrBackup website. Open the .pkg file and follow the installation prompts. After installation, open System Settings and configure the server address in the UrBackup preference pane.
Once the client is installed and connected, it will appear in the server's web interface within a few minutes. The server assigns the client the default backup settings, which you can customize per client.
Step 4: Configure Backup Paths and Schedules
In the server web interface, click on a client name to configure its backup settings.
File backup paths: By default, UrBackup backs up the user's home directory. You can add additional paths or change the default. Common paths to include are:
- User documents and desktops
- Application configuration directories
- Database directories (ensure consistency with VSS or pre-backup scripts)
- Web server document roots
Exclusions: Exclude paths that contain temporary or regenerable data, such as browser caches, build output directories, and package manager caches. These waste storage and backup time without providing recovery value.
Per-client schedules: You can override the server defaults for individual clients. A database server might need hourly incremental backups, while a workstation with mostly static files can run daily. Set the schedule based on how frequently data changes and how much data loss is acceptable (the Recovery Point Objective).
Image backup configuration: For Windows clients, enable image backups for the system drive (typically C:) and any data drives. UrBackup uses VSS to create a consistent snapshot of the drive while the system is running, so users are not interrupted during the backup process.
Step 5: Verify and Test Backups
After the first backup cycle completes (check the Activities page in the web interface for progress), verify that the backups are valid.
Browse backup contents: In the web interface, navigate to Backups, select a client, and browse the file tree. Open a few files to confirm they contain the expected data. This verifies that the backup captured the correct paths and that files are not corrupted.
Restore individual files: Select a file or directory in the backup browser and click Restore. You can restore to the original location on the client, to a different path, or download the file through the web interface. Test all three methods to confirm they work.
Test image restoration: If you configured image backups, test a bare-metal restore on a spare machine or virtual machine. UrBackup provides a bootable restore ISO that you can use to boot a machine and restore a disk image over the network. This is the most thorough test because it validates the entire recovery chain, from image capture through network transfer to disk write.
Schedule these verification steps monthly. As your client count grows, rotate through clients so every machine gets a restore test at least quarterly.
Firewall and Network Configuration
UrBackup uses several network ports that may need firewall rules:
- TCP 55414: Web administration interface (HTTP)
- TCP 55415: Client-server communication
- UDP 35623: Client discovery broadcast
If your server runs a firewall like ufw on Ubuntu:
sudo ufw allow 55414/tcp
sudo ufw allow 55415/tcp
sudo ufw allow 35623/udpFor clients on different subnets than the server, broadcast discovery will not work. You must either enter the server IP manually in each client's configuration or deploy a discovery broadcast relay.
Storage Planning
UrBackup stores backups using hardlink-based deduplication for file backups and copy-on-write snapshots (using btrfs or ZFS) for image backups. If your server storage uses btrfs, UrBackup takes advantage of its snapshot capabilities for significantly faster and more storage-efficient image backups. For this reason, formatting your backup storage as btrfs is recommended when using UrBackup.
As a planning guideline, allocate at least 3x the total dataset size for file backups with 30 days of retention, and 5x for combined file and image backups. Monitor storage consumption through the web interface and adjust retention policies if utilization grows faster than expected.
UrBackup provides centralized, network-wide backup management that standalone tools cannot match. The combination of file and image backups, web-based administration, and email alerting makes it the best open source option for offices that need to protect multiple machines from a single console.