SSH, SFTP, FTPS, and FTP Credentials

Remote server credentials create a way for Jetpack to access the files on your website’s server. This access can be necessary for restores, backups, and resolving security threats.

What are remote server credentials?

Every WordPress site is hosted on a server – this is where the files, directories, programs, and services that make up your site are located.

Jetpack needs remote server credentials in order to restore your files and data and to resolve security threats found by Jetpack Scan.

Remote server credentials provide a way to transfer files from one host to another. The way the file transfer happens is different for each method. You can read more about each method if you are curious to learn:

Remote server credentials are unique and different from:

Your WordPress.org login
Your WP Admin login
Your WordPress.com login
Your host’s control panel or dashboard login

File Access Permissions

The remote server credentials you add to Jetpack VaultPress Backup will need full read and write access to the directory your WordPress is installed in.

Read and write permissions settings vary depending on your host, so we are unable to tell you the exact permissions you’ll need. If you have any trouble, please contact your host’s support team and point them to this documentation, and they should know how to help.

Unless we have specific permission, we will never use your server credentials for anything other than backups and restores.

We recommend credentials in this order:

SSH (most recommended)
SFTP
FTP (least recommended, but better than no credentials)
FTPS (not recommended)

Currently, Jetpack VaultPress Backup can only use unencrypted private keys for SSH and SFTP. These are keys without a password or passphrase.

Find your remote server credentials

Your host provides these credentials for you. You will often receive these details via email when you first create a hosting account.

If you have issues adding your credentials to Jetpack VaultPress Backup, we recommend contacting your hosting provider for support. When you reach out to your hosting provider, you can share the following message with them:

I’m in the process of setting up my site on VaultPress Backup, and I need server credentials to enter into the plugin so that it can perform backups and restores on my website. Could you help me determine the correct information for the following items:

Protocol: FTP is fine, but SSH or SFTP would be ideal.
User: The user needs to have read and write permissions for my site’s files on the server. More on why VaultPress Backup needs read and write permissions can be found here. Note: the root user cannot be used.
Password: If using SSH credentials, this password is optional.
Host/IP Address: If my site uses Cloudflare, I require the IP address for the server my site is located on, otherwise the URL that points to my site on the server is fine.
Port: Should the port be 21, 22 or something else?
SSH Private Key: If using SSH, the SSH private key cannot be password protected and must use OpenSSH format. Password protected private keys and/or keys in PuTTY format are not supported.
WordPress Path: The WordPress path should point to the folder on the server where my WordPress instance lives.