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Volumes are the data sources that Zerobyte will back up. They represent remote or local storage locations that you want to protect with automated backups.

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Supported Volume Types

Zerobyte supports multiple volume backends:
  • Directory - Local filesystem directories
  • NFS - Network File System shares
  • SMB - Server Message Block (CIFS) shares
  • WebDAV - Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning
  • SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol
  • Rclone - Any storage backend supported by rclone
To use network volume types (NFS, SMB, WebDAV, SFTP), your Docker container must run with SYS_ADMIN capability and access to /dev/fuse. See the Installation guide for details.

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Adding a Volume

1

Navigate to Volumes

Open the Zerobyte web interface and click Volumes in the sidebar.
2

Create New Volume

Click the Add Volume button in the top right corner.
3

Configure Basic Settings

Enter a descriptive name for your volume. This name will be used when creating backup schedules.
Use clear, descriptive names like “Media Server” or “User Documents” to easily identify volumes later.
4

Select Volume Type

Choose the appropriate backend type based on where your data is located.
5

Configure Backend Settings

Fill in the connection details based on your selected volume type. See the sections below for type-specific configuration.
6

Test Connection (Optional)

Click Test Connection to verify that Zerobyte can successfully connect to your volume before saving.
7

Save Volume

Click Create Volume to save your configuration. The volume will be automatically mounted.

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Volume Type Configuration

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Directory

Local filesystem directories are the simplest volume type to configure. Configuration:
  • Path: Absolute path to the directory (e.g., /mnt/data or /mydata)
  • Read Only: Enable to prevent accidental modifications (optional)
The path must be accessible from inside the Docker container. Mount it as a volume in your docker-compose.yml:
volumes:
  - /path/on/host:/mydata

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NFS

Network File System shares from NAS devices or file servers. Configuration:
  • Server: NFS server hostname or IP address
  • Export Path: The NFS export path (e.g., /volume1/share)
  • Port: NFS port (default: 2049)
  • Version: NFS protocol version (3, 4, or 4.1)
  • Read Only: Mount as read-only (optional)
Example: 
Server: 192.168.1.100
Export Path: /volume1/media
Port: 2049
Version: 4.1

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SMB

Windows file shares and Samba servers. Configuration:
  • Server: SMB server hostname or IP address
  • Share: Share name (without leading slashes)
  • Username: Authentication username (optional for guest access)
  • Password: Authentication password (optional for guest access)
  • Guest: Enable for anonymous access
  • Version: SMB protocol version (1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 3.0, or auto)
  • Domain: Windows domain name (optional)
  • Port: SMB port (default: 445)
  • Read Only: Mount as read-only (optional)
Example: 
Server: nas.local
Share: backups
Username: backup-user
Version: auto
Port: 445
Use auto for the version to let the system negotiate the best protocol version automatically.

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WebDAV

Web-based file storage including Nextcloud, ownCloud, and WebDAV servers. Configuration:
  • Server: WebDAV server hostname or IP
  • Path: Path on the server (e.g., /remote.php/dav/files/username/)
  • Port: HTTP/HTTPS port (default: 80 for HTTP, 443 for HTTPS)
  • Username: Authentication username (optional)
  • Password: Authentication password (optional)
  • SSL: Enable for HTTPS connections
  • Read Only: Mount as read-only (optional)
Example for Nextcloud: 
Server: cloud.example.com
Path: /remote.php/dav/files/john/Documents
Port: 443
SSL: Enabled
Username: john

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SFTP

Secure file transfer over SSH. Configuration:
  • Host: SFTP server hostname or IP address
  • Port: SSH port (default: 22)
  • Username: SSH username
  • Password: SSH password (optional if using private key)
  • Private Key: SSH private key for authentication (optional)
  • Path: Remote directory path
  • Skip Host Key Check: Disable strict host key checking (default: enabled)
  • Known Hosts: Custom known_hosts file content (optional)
  • Read Only: Mount as read-only (optional)
Example: 
Host: server.example.com
Port: 22
Username: backup
Path: /home/backup/data
Skip Host Key Check: true
For production environments, disable “Skip Host Key Check” and provide the server’s host key in the “Known Hosts” field to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.

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Rclone

Connect to any storage backend supported by rclone, including Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and more. Prerequisites:
  • Configure rclone remotes on the host system or mount the rclone config directory into the container
Configuration:
  • Remote: Name of the configured rclone remote
  • Path: Path within the remote (e.g., /backups)
  • Read Only: Mount as read-only (optional)
Example: 
Remote: gdrive
Path: /MyBackups
To list available rclone remotes, you can use the API or check your rclone configuration file.

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Managing Volumes

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Auto-Remount

Volumes support automatic remounting if the connection is lost. Enable this in the volume settings to ensure continuous backup availability.

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Health Checks

Zerobyte periodically checks volume health. View the volume status in the Volumes list:
  • Mounted (green): Volume is accessible
  • Unmounted (gray): Volume is not mounted
  • Error (red): Connection issue detected

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Browsing Volume Contents

Click on a volume to browse its contents and verify the connection is working correctly.

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Using Secret References

For enhanced security, you can reference secrets stored in environment variables or Docker secrets instead of storing them directly in the database. Syntax:
  • env://VAR_NAME - Read from environment variable
  • file://SECRET_NAME - Read from /run/secrets/SECRET_NAME
Example: 
Password: env://NAS_PASSWORD
Then add to your docker-compose.yml: 
environment:
  - NAS_PASSWORD=your_secure_password

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Troubleshooting

  • Verify network connectivity to the remote server
  • Check credentials are correct
  • Ensure the Docker container has SYS_ADMIN capability and /dev/fuse device access
  • Review container logs for detailed error messages
  • Verify the user has read access to the remote share
  • For NFS, check export permissions on the server
  • For SMB, ensure the user has appropriate share and filesystem permissions
  • Ensure the volume is in “Mounted” status
  • Check that the specified path exists on the remote system
  • Verify filesystem permissions allow directory listing
  • Verify network connectivity (ping the server)
  • Check firewall rules allow traffic on the required ports
  • For NFS/SMB, ensure the server is configured to accept connections from the container’s IP

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Next Steps

Create Repositories

Set up encrypted storage destinations for your backups

Configure Backups

Schedule automated backup jobs for your volumes

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