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Fix backups when Jetpack cannot reach your site

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Find out why Jetpack VaultPress Backup cannot connect to your site, and get your backups running again.

Jetpack VaultPress Backup copies your site from Jetpack’s servers, so a backup fails when those servers cannot reach your site over the internet. The usual causes are a site that is down or slow to respond, a firewall or security rule that blocks Jetpack, or a block at your host.

About the “cannot reach your site” backup error

When Jetpack cannot reach your site, the Backup dashboard shows We are having trouble backing up your site. Backups that already finished stay in your backup history.

Work through the sections below in order. Each one rules out a cause, starting with the most common. This page covers backups only. If a restore fails, see Troubleshoot Jetpack Restores.

Check that your site is online

Jetpack cannot back up a site that doesn’t load. To check your site:

  1. Open your site in a private browser window. If it loads normally, move on to the next section.
  2. If your site shows an error or doesn’t load, follow What to Do If Your Site is Down.
  3. Check automatticstatus.com for a Jetpack outage. If there is one, wait until it’s marked as resolved. Your backups resume once the outage ends.

A slow site can also fail. Your site must start responding within 5 seconds for Jetpack to connect. See how to test your site speed.

Check your Jetpack connection

Jetpack VaultPress Backup needs a working Jetpack connection to reach your site. To test it:

  1. Paste your site’s address into the Jetpack Debug Tool.
  2. If the tool shows “Everything looks great!”, your connection works. Move on to the next section.
  3. If the tool shows an error, follow Fix Jetpack Issues.

If WP Admin shows the notice “WordPress.com requests to your site are being blocked”, a firewall is stopping Jetpack. Continue with the next section. Reconnecting Jetpack does not fix a blocked request.

Allow Jetpack through your firewall or security plugin

Firewalls, web application firewalls (WAFs) such as Cloudflare and Sucuri, and security plugins can block Jetpack’s requests to your site. Rate limits and .htaccess rules can too. To let Jetpack through:

  1. Add Jetpack’s IP addresses to the allowlist in each firewall, WAF, or security plugin your site uses. Add Jetpack IPs to an Allowlist lists the addresses and explains the setup for Cloudflare and Sucuri.
  2. If you’re not sure which plugin blocks Jetpack, deactivate your security plugins one at a time, and run the Jetpack Debug Tool after each one. Turn each plugin back on once you’ve found the cause.

Jetpack’s IP addresses can change, so check the published list from time to time if you write the rules by hand.

Ask your host to unblock Jetpack

Some hosts block Jetpack with server-level security that you can’t change yourself. If the steps above didn’t help, please contact your host. If you’re not sure who your host is, look it up with the WordPress.com Site Profiler.

Ask your host to:

  • Allow requests from Jetpack’s IP addresses.
  • Check that xmlrpc.php is not blocked. Jetpack uses this file to communicate with your site.
  • Check for any other security rule that blocks Jetpack.

Add server credentials

Jetpack backs up your site over HTTP by default. If Jetpack still cannot reach your site that way, add your server credentials so Jetpack can connect over SSH, SFTP, or FTP instead.

Run a new backup

Once the problem is fixed, click the Back up now button on the Backup page (Jetpack → Backup in WP Admin), or wait for the next daily backup. If backups still fail, see Troubleshoot Jetpack Backups for other causes, or contact support.