Ensuring reliable external backups for your WordPress site is not a luxury: it's a strategy. If you manage a project that needs to stay online without surprises, connecting a Backblaze B2 bucket to UpdraftPlus is an effective and economical solution to automate backups off the hosting server. In this article, inspired by the video “Connecting BackBlaze Bucket on WordPress via UpdraftPlus - External Backup System” from the channel Bruno Devx | BR Criativus, you will learn, step by step, how to create a bucket, generate keys with restricted permissions, and configure UpdraftPlus to send your backups directly to the Backblaze B2 cloud, as well as understand best practices, costs, and restoration tests.
Why use Backblaze B2 with UpdraftPlus?
External backups protect your site against server failures, hacks, failed updates, and human errors. Backblaze B2 offers cloud storage at a very competitive cost per GB, while UpdraftPlus is one of the most robust backup plugins in the WordPress ecosystem. Together, they allow:
- Automated backups at scheduled times.
- Storage off the hosting, reducing the risk of total loss.
- Simple restorations via interface, without relying on cPanel or SSH.
- Retention control, to keep only what is necessary and save costs.
What you will need
- A WordPress site with administrator access.
- UpdraftPlus plugin installed. Note: the native integration with Backblaze B2 may depend on your license. If the Backblaze B2 option does not appear, you can use the Backblaze S3-Compatible connection via the “Amazon S3/S3-Compatible” method.
- A Backblaze B2 account (free to start, paid as you go).
Overview of the process
You will create a private bucket in Backblaze B2, generate an application key with restricted permissions for that bucket, install UpdraftPlus, choose the storage provider (native Backblaze B2 or S3-Compatible), and configure schedules and retention. Finally, you will perform a manual backup to test and validate the restoration.
Step 1: Create the bucket in Backblaze B2
In the Backblaze panel:
- Go to B2 Cloud Storage and choose “Create a Bucket”.
- Set a unique and project-friendly name, e.g.: wp-mywebsite-backups.
- Mark as Private (recommended), so that the files do not become public.
- Advanced optional: if available in your account, consider enabling Object Lock (immutability) and a lifecycle rule to delete old versions after X days; this protects against accidental deletions and reduces costs.
Organizational tip: if you manage multiple sites, create one bucket per site or use folders (prefixes) like wp-mywebsite/production and wp-mywebsite/staging to segment.
Step 2: Create access keys with restricted scope
In Backblaze, generate credentials for your WordPress to connect securely.
- Go to the Application Keys area.
- Click on Add a New Application Key.
- Restrict the key to the specific bucket created in the previous step.
- Permissions: at least “list” and “write” for UpdraftPlus to be able to send and manage your backups. If you want to allow restorations from the plugin, “read” is also necessary.
- Copy and securely store the KeyID and the Application Key (for native B2) or the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key (for the S3-Compatible API). You will see this information only once after creation.
Native API vs S3-Compatible: Backblaze B2 offers two ways to connect. Depending on the version/license of UpdraftPlus, you will use the native “Backblaze B2” option or S3 compatibility using an endpoint like s3.us-west-000.backblazeb2.com. Both work well; choose the one that your UpdraftPlus supports without extra add-ons.
Step 3: Install and activate UpdraftPlus on WordPress
- In the WordPress panel, go to Plugins > Add New.
- Search for “UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin”.
- Install and activate.
- Go to Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups.
Step 4: Connect UpdraftPlus to Backblaze B2
Option A – Native Backblaze B2 integration
If your UpdraftPlus shows Backblaze B2 in the remote storage list:
- In Settings, click on Backblaze B2.
- Enter the KeyID, Application Key, Bucket, and optionally a path (e.g.: wp-mywebsite/production).
- Save the changes and click on Connection Test to validate.
Option B – Using Backblaze's S3-Compatible API
If there is no Backblaze B2 option, use the Amazon S3/S3-Compatible method:
- Select Amazon S3 (or S3 compatible, depending on your UpdraftPlus).
- Fill in Access Key and Secret Key created in Backblaze (S3 keys).
- Endpoint: use the S3-Compatible endpoint for your region, for example: s3.us-west-000.backblazeb2.com.
- Bucket: the exact name of the bucket you created.
- Enable the “path-style” URL option if the plugin offers this setting and there are listing failures; some environments behave better with path-style on S3-Compatible.
- Save and test the connection.
If the test fails, review: correct endpoint, bucket spelling, valid keys, key permissions, and bucket privacy. Also, check if the hosting firewall is not blocking outgoing connections to Backblaze.
Step 5: Set the schedule and retention
Reliable backups are, above all, predictable. In UpdraftPlus Settings:
- Database schedule: daily or every 12 hours for dynamic sites (stores, portals); weekly may suffice for static institutional sites.
- File schedule: daily or weekly, depending on the frequency of theme, plugin, and upload updates.
- Retention: keep 7 to 14 sets for critical sites and 3 to 7 for smaller sites. This controls costs in Backblaze B2 and still offers enough history.
- Database encryption: if available, enable an encryption password for the database backup. Store this password in a secure location.
- Exclusions: uncheck noisy directories like cache, backups from other plugins, node_modules, temporary image optimization folders. This reduces size and speeds up the process.
- File splitting: if your server is modest, set file split to 100 MB or 200 MB to avoid timeouts on large uploads.
Step 6: Run a manual backup and validate
Before trusting the schedule, perform a manual backup:
- In the Backup/Restore tab, click on Backup Now.
- Check the option to send to remote storage.
- Monitor the log: Verify that all .zip/.tar files and the database were sent to Backblaze without errors.
- In the Backblaze panel, confirm that the files appeared in the bucket, in the configured path.
Extra validation recommended: download a backup set and simulate a restoration in a test or staging environment. This practice avoids surprises just when you need it most.
How to restore safely
If something goes wrong on your site:
- Open UpdraftPlus > Backup/Restore.
- Click on Restore for the desired set (database, plugins, themes, uploads, others).
- Follow the wizard, focusing on restoring only what is necessary (for example, just the database if the issue was a plugin update).
If the site is unavailable, create a clean environment (in staging or new hosting), install WordPress and UpdraftPlus, and connect to the same remote storage. The plugin will locate the backups for restoration. For migrations between domains, the UpdraftPlus migration add-on can speed up URL adjustments.
Security: minimize risks
- Use 2FA (two-factor authentication) on your Backblaze account.
- Create keys with restricted scope to the project bucket, avoiding global access.
- Rotate keys periodically and revoke old ones.
- Do not leave keys exposed in screenshots, tutorials, or repositories.
- Enable encryption on database backups and store the password offline.
- If working in a team, segregate permissions: those who configure backups do not need billing access, for example.
Costs on Backblaze B2 and how to optimize
B2 charges for GB stored per month and for data downloads/egress. To keep the account under control:
- Slim retention: keep only the necessary history (for example, 7 sets).
- Delete unnecessary files from the backup (cache, temporary, and redundant backups).
- Use the bucket lifecycle to automatically remove old versions after X days.
- Prefer to restore selectively (for example, just the database) when possible, reducing egress.
In practice, most institutional sites and blogs keep costs low with B2 thanks to cheap storage per GB. E-commerce sites with many uploads should revisit retention and deletions periodically.
Additional best practices
- Rule 3-2-1: have 3 copies, on 2 different media, and 1 off-site. You can keep one local backup and another on Backblaze, for example.
- Quarterly tests: perform a trial restoration every quarter to ensure everything is intact.
- Notifications: set up email alerts from UpdraftPlus to know when a backup fails.
- Schedule outside peak hours, reducing impact on the server.
- Separation of plans: for critical projects, create different buckets for production and staging; avoid mixing backups.
Common problems and solutions
- Timeout when sending large files: increase the file split in UpdraftPlus (smaller split) and decrease upload concurrency if there is an option.
- Authentication error: generate new keys in Backblaze and validate bucket scope and permissions.
- Failure to list buckets: check the S3-Compatible endpoint and, if necessary, enable path-style.
- Backups too large: delete cache directories, redundant thumbnails, and build folders; consider an old media cleanup routine.
- Schedule not triggering: confirm that WordPress cron (WP-Cron) is working; if hosting limits cron, set up a real cron on the server to call the site periodically.
Alternatives and add-ons
In addition to Backblaze B2, UpdraftPlus supports other destinations, such as Amazon S3, Google Drive, and UpdraftVault itself. S3-Compatible services like Cloudflare R2 can also be used. For increased resilience, some administrators send the same backup to two destinations (e.g.: B2 + Google Drive).
Quick checklist
- Create a private bucket in Backblaze B2.
- Generate keys with restricted scope to the bucket.
- Install and activate UpdraftPlus.
- Connect to Backblaze (native or S3-Compatible) and test.
- Configure schedules and retention.
- Delete unnecessary directories and adjust file splitting.
- Run a manual backup and validate in the bucket.
- Simulate restoration in a test environment.
Credits and resources
This guide was produced based on the topic covered in the video from the channel Bruno Devx | BR Criativus, which you can watch in the player above to see the connection step by step.
If you are looking for inspiration from real projects and want to see how I apply backup and security routines on professional sites, also check out my portfolio.
Conclusion
Connecting Backblaze B2 to UpdraftPlus is a high-impact, low-cost setup to preserve the continuity of your WordPress site. With a private bucket, restricted keys, well-thought-out scheduling, and restoration tests, you gain peace of mind and drastically reduce the risk of prolonged downtime. Remember to periodically review retention, delete noise from backups, and monitor the execution log to ensure everything is in order month after month.
And you, do you already use external backups on your WordPress? What questions do you have about the integration with Backblaze B2 via UpdraftPlus or which part of the process would you like me to detail even more in the comments?
