Server setup failed: Failed to create keys directory: /home/phpborg/.ssh/keys/docker2

[JBlond]

I don't know on which side it happens. On the remote server there is no phpborg user. And I wonder why it should happen on the Server where phpborg is installed.

[altzone]

Hi @JBlond,

Thanks for the detailed report 👍

To better understand what’s happening, can you confirm if this error occurs right after you try to add a new server in phpBorg?

Could you please provide:

The logs of the server add task (from the web interface)

The logs located in:
/var/log/phpborg/*.log

These will help me identify exactly where and why the directory creation fails.

My goal is to use this information to improve the server addition process, add proper fallbacks if needed, and provide clearer error handling. In theory, if an error like this occurs, the server should not be added at all.

Also, just to clarify: phpBorg does not normally create a phpborg user on the remote server. So your observation is correct, and this behaviour should not be happening on the distant host.

It would also help to know:

• How exactly did you add the server? (method / steps)
• Which Linux distribution is used on both sides?

This will be very valuable for improving reliability and ergonomics of the server onboarding process.

As a side note, I’m currently improving phpBorg’s internal backup system and working on the ability to upgrade directly from the web interface via Settings → Update, including version checks. I hope to finish the update integration later today 🤞

Thanks again for your feedback, it really helps to make phpBorg better

[JBlond]

Yes, I am trying to add a new server using the CURL script method.
Borg server and the remote system are both Debian 13.

curl -sSL http://192.168.178.28/api/server-wizard/install-script/112c8e9e692b750ac6d6f8d6a48b79d2 | sudo bash                                                                                                               0ms [18:09]
==================================================
phpBorg Server Setup Script
==================================================

Detected OS: debian 13

[1/3] Installing BorgBackup...
✓ BorgBackup already installed
✓ borg 1.4.0 installed

[2/3] Configuring SSH access...
✓ SSH key already present

[3/3] Registering with backup server...
✓ Registration successful

==================================================
✓ Server setup completed successfully!
==================================================

You can now add this server to phpBorg.

2025-11-25 17:10:45.000] [INFO] [JOB] Starting server setup: docker2
[2025-11-25 17:10:45.000] [INFO] [JOB] Testing SSH: ssh -o BatchMode=yes -o ConnectTimeout=10 -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 22 'james'@'192.168.178.42' "echo SSH_OK" 2>&1
[2025-11-25 17:10:46.000] [INFO] [JOB] SSH test output: SSH_OK
[2025-11-25 17:10:46.000] [INFO] [JOB] SSH connection successful to 192.168.178.42
[2025-11-25 17:10:46.000] [INFO] [JOB] SSH connection test passed for docker2
[2025-11-25 17:10:46.000] [INFO] [JOB] Checking Borg installation: ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no 'james'@'192.168.178.42' "which borg" 2>&1
[2025-11-25 17:10:46.000] [INFO] [JOB] Borg check output: /usr/bin/borg
[2025-11-25 17:10:46.000] [INFO] [JOB] BorgBackup already installed on docker2
[2025-11-25 17:10:46.000] [INFO] [JOB] Verifying Borg: ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no 'james'@'192.168.178.42' "borg --version" 2>&1
[2025-11-25 17:10:46.000] [INFO] [JOB] Borg version output: borg 1.4.0
[2025-11-25 17:10:46.000] [INFO] [JOB] BorgBackup verified: borg 1.4.0
[2025-11-25 17:10:46.000] [ERROR] [JOB] Server setup failed: Failed to create keys directory: /home/phpborg/.ssh/keys/docker2
[2025-11-25 17:10:46.000] [ERROR] [WORKER #1] Job #3927 failed: Server setup failed: Failed to create keys directory: /home/phpborg/.ssh/keys/docker2
[2025-11-25 17:10:46.000] [ERROR] [QUEUE] Job #3927 failed: Server setup failed: Failed to create keys directory: /home/phpborg/.ssh/keys/docker2
``

[altzone]

Hi !
The error you got when trying to add the server (Failed to create keys directory: /home/phpborg/.ssh/keys/docker2) is very likely due to a bad commit / wrong version of the install script that you’re using. In short: the current script doesn’t correctly create (or doesn’t have the right permissions to create) the SSH-keys directory, which causes the setup to fail.

I’m currently rewriting the communication between the backup server and the target machine. Instead of relying on SSH-based direct access from the backup server to the target, we’re moving to an agent-based architecture. That has several advantages:

much stronger security (no need to leave SSH open on the backed-up machine),

no need to manage global SSH keys from the backup server,

cleaner isolation between backup infrastructure and target machines.

Also I’ve added automatic update support recently, to make future fixes and improvements easier.

So yes I’m working full steam on it, and I’m hoping to release a fixed version very soon.
Thanks again for your feedback and for your patience 🙏

[altzone]

Hi again!

Good news , a new release is now available after long hour of devel
You can safely reinstall phpBorg using the installer, and this version includes the new web-based update system, which will make future upgrades much easier.

To reinstall, simply run:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/altzone/phpBorg/master/install.sh | sudo bash

This will set up the latest version with all the recent fixes, including the improved server-addition workflow and the foundation for the new agent-based communication.

Thanks again for your patience and your helpful feedback, it really helps move the project forward! :)

[JBlond]

Small error

=========================================
phpBorg Installation Log
Started: Mo 1. Dez 17:26:27 CET 2025
Mode: interactive
=========================================

[2025-12-01 17:26:27] [SUCCESS] Running as root
[2025-12-01 17:26:27] [SUCCESS] phpBorg source code found
[2025-12-01 17:26:27] [INFO] Installation mode: INTERACTIVE
[2025-12-01 17:26:27] [SUCCESS] Pre-installation checks passed
[2025-12-01 17:26:27] [DEBUG] Loaded module: detect.sh
[2025-12-01 17:26:27] [DEBUG] Loaded module: deps.sh
[2025-12-01 17:26:27] [DEBUG] Loaded module: database.sh
[2025-12-01 17:26:27] [DEBUG] Loaded module: application.sh
[2025-12-01 17:26:27] [DEBUG] Loaded module: services.sh
[2025-12-01 17:26:27] [DEBUG] Loaded module: webserver.sh
[2025-12-01 17:26:27] [DEBUG] Loaded module: frontend.sh
[2025-12-01 17:26:27] [ERROR] Module not found: /opt/newphpborg/phpBorg/install/lib/ssl.sh

After download https://raw.githubusercontent.com/altzone/phpBorg/refs/heads/master/install/lib/ssl.sh it worked.

But the copy of SSH Key fails

see https://gist.github.com/JBlond/a0aa9a22ae7ddbf8ce3a38842ac90ae3

[altzone]

Hi again! Thanks a lot for the detailed report!

Before anything else, could you please tell me how you installed phpBorg?
• Did you use the bootstrap installer with this command?

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/altzone/phpBorg/master/bootstrap.sh | sudo bash

Or did you install it from the release archive (.zip) or by cloning the repo manually?

This part is important for me because if the missing ssl.sh came from the release package, then I need to rebuild the release to include it properly.

I have fully tested the bootstrap installer on Debian 13 and Ubuntu 24.04, and everything worked fine on fresh systems. So I’d really like to confirm which installation path you used.

Regarding the SSH key copy: I recently added the SSH agent integration and didn’t re-test that step afterwards. I’ll review and fix the SSH workflow, sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanks again for your help, and feel free to share any extra details so I can reproduce this more precisely!

[JBlond]

Like you wrote I used

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/altzone/phpBorg/master/bootstrap.sh | sudo bash