How to Configure Google Drive as a Backup Additional Destination

Last modified: February 23, 2023


Overview

This document explains how to set up your Google Drive™ account as an Additional Destination in WHM’s Backup Configuration interface (WHM » Home » Backup » Backup Configuration).

Prerequisites

Before you can use Google Drive as a backup destination, you must perform the following steps:

  1. Create a Google account.
  2. Create a Google Console project.
  3. Enable the Google Drive API from the Google Console.

Create your account credentials

To set up Google Drive account credentials for backups, perform the following steps:

  1. Navigate to the Google API Manager website.
  2. In the left side navigation bar, click Credentials.
  3. Click Create credentials.
  4. Click Help me choose.

Credential Type

In the Credential Type section, perform the following steps:

  1. In the Which API are you using? menu, select Google Drive API.
  2. In the What data will you be accessing? menu, select User Data.
  3. Click NEXT.

If this is the first time you have authorized this API, the OAuth Consent Screen section will appear. Perform the following steps:

  1. In the App Information section, enter the information for App Name and select the User Support Email.
  2. In the Developer contact information section, enter your email address.
  3. Click SAVE AND CONTINUE.

Scopes

In the Scopes section, perform the following steps:

  1. Click ADD OR REMOVE SCOPES if you wish to update the scopes for the app. This step is optional.
  2. Click SAVE AND CONTINUE.

OAuth Client ID

In the OAuth Client ID section, perform the following steps:

  1. In the OAuth Client ID menu, select Web application as the Application type you plan to use.
  2. Enter a name for the application in the Name field.
  3. In the Authorized redirect URIs field, add an entry for each server performing backups to this location, where HOSTNAME represents the hostname of a server:
    https://HOSTNAME:2087/googledriveauth/callback
  4. Click CREATE. The Your Credentials section will appear.
  5. Click DOWNLOAD to download the newly-created credentials.
    Note:

    You can also access the credentials in the Credentials interface.

  6. Click DONE.

Copy the client ID and client secret and save them to a secure location. Step 7 of the Create a Google Drive transport procedure requires these credentials.

To set up an OAuth consent screen, perform the following steps:

  1. In the lefthand menu, click OAuth consent screen. A configuration interface will appear.
  2. Under Test Users, click ADD USERS. A sidebar will appear.
  3. Enter the email address(es) you added in the initial OAuth Consent Screen section.
  4. Click SAVE.

Create a Google Drive transport

Warning:

While you perform these steps, disable any popup blockers in your browser to prevent errors.

To create a Google Drive transport, perform the following steps:

  1. Log in to WHM as a user with root-level privileges.
  2. Navigate to WHM’s Backup Configuration interface (WHM » Home » Backup » Backup Configuration) and select the Additional Destinations tab.
  3. In the Destination Type menu, select Google Drive™.
  4. Click Create New Destination.
  5. In the Destination Name text box, enter a display name for this backup destination.
  6. In the Folder text box, enter the desired folder in which to store backups.
    Note:
    If you do not specify a folder, the system will store backups in the top-level folder.
  7. Enter your Client ID and Client secret.
  8. Click Generate Credentials to create the credentials file. A new tab will appear that allows you to authorize access to your Google Drive data.
  9. Follow Google’s directions to authorize access to your Google Drive.
  10. When the message Credentials successfully generated appears, close that browser tab to return to the tab with the WHM interface.
  11. In the Timeout text box, enter the desired timeout duration. This value defaults to 30 seconds.
  12. Click Save Destination.
    Note:
    • To validate your remote destination, click Save and Validate Destination.
    • If you do not authorize access to your Google Drive data, this action will fail.

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