Download GWS Backup

Pick your platform. Every file is listed with a checksum you can verify.

Version 1.00 is here: the first full release.

A new console, a new backup engine, a rebuilt restore, more encrypted by default, and from here on, updates that install from the console. What’s new in 1.00

GWS Backup runs as a self-contained Node application. All three platforms carry the same release. Every file is listed with its size and a SHA-256, so you can check what you got before you run it.

v1.00 · published 2026-10-31

SHA256SUMS.txt — verify with shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS.txt

Installing

  1. Create a randomly-named subdomain and run AutoSSL on it. Not backup.yourdomain.com — bots scan the obvious names.
  2. Create the Node.js application with its root outside public_html and its startup file set to app.js. The application folder holds your encrypted credentials and recovery key; under the web root, one misconfiguration puts them within reach of anyone.
  3. Upload both files into that folder and run the installer from cPanel’s Terminal. It backs up any existing database — including every per-client database — before it extracts anything.
  4. Set NEXTAUTH_URL to your full https:// address, start the app, and finish setup in the browser.

Read the full install guide What’s new in 1.00

One installer, no terminal work. It carries its own Node.js runtime, so there is nothing to install first, and it registers GWS Backup to start with Windows before anyone signs in — a machine that reboots overnight carries on backing up rather than waiting at the lock screen for someone to log on. A notification-area icon shows whether the console is running and opens it.

v1.00 · Windows 10 / 11 / Server 2016 or newer, 64-bit

  • gwsbackup-windows-1.00-setup.exe 40 MB Everything, including the Node.js runtime. Run as administrator. 5531572620b804855304baa1a75e86020e2e71f8ea0fb4c22230143188e1a3a2

SHA256SUMS.txt — verify with certutil -hashfile gwsbackup-windows-1.00-setup.exe SHA256

Windows will warn you about an unrecognised publisher. That is expected: the installer is not yet code-signed. Click More info, then Run anyway. If you would rather be certain first, check the SHA-256 above against the file you downloaded — that tells you the file is exactly the one we published, which is what a signature would have told you.

Installing

  1. Run the installer as an administrator. It installs Node.js if the machine needs it, sets up the data folder and its permissions, picks a free port if 3000 is already taken, and registers the startup task.
  2. Save the encryption key. Setup shows you where the .env file is. Back it up somewhere that is not that PC — it holds the only copy of the key that decrypts your backups and your stored client credentials.
  3. Let it restart. Setup offers to reboot after ten seconds, or you can decline and restart in your own time. It has to happen before the console will run.
  4. After the restart, give it a minute. The first start is slow while Windows scans the newly installed files. Then open the console from the GWS Backup icon by the clock, create your administrator account, save the recovery key, and paste in your licence key.

Read the full Windows install guide What’s new in 1.00

Updating

From 1.00, the console does it for you. When a newer version is out it says so in the sidebar; click Install and it backs up your databases, runs the new installer and restarts.

To update by hand, run the newer installer over the top. It stops the running copy first, keeps your .env, and leaves everything in C:\ProgramData\GWSBackup alone — clients, schedules and history all survive.

The image carries its own Node runtime, so there is nothing to install first and no version to check. Download the two files below into an empty directory, fill in two generated secrets, and start it.

v1.00 · ghcr.io/kikosolutions-tech/gwsbackup

SHA256SUMS.txt

Installing

  1. Generate the two secrets and put them in .env: openssl rand -hex 32 for ENCRYPTION_KEY, and openssl rand -base64 32 for NEXTAUTH_SECRET.
  2. Start it: docker compose up -d. The image is pulled for you; there is nothing to build.
  3. Open the console at http://localhost:3000 on the same machine, or at its https:// address. Sign-in does not work over plain http:// from another machine. Then create your administrator account, save the recovery key, and paste in your licence key.

Keep .env safe, and separate from the server. ENCRYPTION_KEY decrypts your encrypted backups and every stored client credential. If it is lost, neither can be recovered by us or by anyone: the backups cannot be read, and every client connection has to be set up again. The container refuses to start rather than quietly generating a replacement, so a mistake here shows up as a container that will not boot — not as silent data loss.

Read the full Docker install guide What’s new in 1.00

Updating

Set GWSB_VERSION in .env to the new version, then docker compose pull && docker compose up -d. Your databases live in a Docker volume rather than in the image, so an update does not touch them. From 1.00 the console tells you when a new version is out and gives these steps.

A compose file downloaded before 1.00 names its version on its image: line instead. For the move to 1.00, change the number at the end of that line to 1.00, or use the 1.00 compose file, then run the same two commands.

Before you start

Two things stop the application dead if they are missing, and it is much less annoying to find out now than halfway through:

The full list, including PHP and Google Workspace requirements, is on the minimum specs page.

Installing

  1. Create a randomly-named subdomain and run AutoSSL on it. Not backup.yourdomain.com — bots scan the obvious names.
  2. Create the Node.js application with its root outside public_html and its startup file set to app.js. The application folder holds your encrypted credentials and the .env with your encryption key; under the web root, one misconfiguration puts them within reach of anyone.
  3. Upload both downloaded files into that folder, then run the installer from cPanel’s Terminal — php gwsbackup-cpanel-1.00-installer.php. It backs up any existing database before it extracts anything.
  4. Set NEXTAUTH_URL to your full https:// address, start the app, and finish setup in the browser.

Read the full install guide

Updating an existing install? Upload the new -app.zip and its matching -installer.php, then run the installer. It refuses to extract a payload whose version does not match its own, and clears out installers from earlier releases once it has finished — so the only one left in the folder is always the current one.

Once you are on 1.00, you do this by hand only once. Later updates install from the console: an Admin clicks Install update when it offers one, and it backs up your databases, installs the update and restarts. If the new version does not start, the one before it is put back by itself.

Licence

Use of GWS Backup is subject to the GWS Backup Free Licence — free for up to ten client workspaces, personal and commercial use alike, including serving your own paying clients. It is not open source: no rebranding, reselling or redistribution.

You will be asked to accept the licence inside the application before you can use it, and your acceptance is recorded there with the version and date. Downloading is not acceptance; running it is.

Something wrong?

If a download fails, a checksum does not match, or the installer stops with an error, email support@gwsbackup.com and a person will read it. Support is free, and stays free for as long as we can manage it.

It is worth a look at the development roadmap first — it carries a known issues list of the things we already know about and have not fixed yet, so you can see whether what you have hit is one of them.

What is coming

The development roadmap is kept honest: what is built, what has shipped but is still being refined, what comes after 1.00, and the known issues alongside them. The release notes cover what changed in each version.

See the roadmap & known issues Read the release notes