Logging In to Plakar

Plakar works without an account by default. Logging in is optional but it unlocks additional features such as installing pre-built packages hosted on Plakar’s servers (so you don’t have to build them from source) and alerting service which can notify you by email on important issues like when a backup fail.

Logging In

Logging in starts a sign-in on Plakar’s servers that you complete in a browser, either with GitHub or through a link sent by email. Once the sign-in is complete, the browser shows a completion code. plakar login asks for this code and only finishes logging in once you enter it.

The code proves that the person who completed the sign-in in the browser is the person who started it from this machine. Someone who tricks you into opening a login link they started cannot finish their login without the code.

Using GitHub

$ plakar login -github

Plakar opens the GitHub sign-in page in your browser. With -no-spawn, or when no browser can be launched, it prints the URL to open instead.

Using Email

$ plakar login -email myemail@domain.com

Plakar sends a login link to the address. Keep plakar login running while you open the link, then enter the code it shows.

Enabling Alerting

After logging in, enable alerting to send backup metadata to Plakar’s servers for reporting:

$ plakar service enable alerting

Enable email notifications:

$ plakar service set alerting report.email=true

Alerting sends non-sensitive metadata (backup status, timestamps, sizes) to power the reporting dashboard and email notifications. Your backup data never leaves your system.

Non-Interactive Login

For CI pipelines, remote servers, or automated jobs where interactive login isn’t possible, use token-based authentication.

Generate a Token

On a machine where you can log in interactively:

$ plakar login
$ plakar token create

This outputs a token:

eyJhbGc......

Use the Token

On the non-interactive system, set the environment variable:

$ export PLAKAR_TOKEN=eyJhbGc......

Plakar automatically uses this token for authentication.

Persist the Token

To save the token in the local configuration:

$ plakar login -env

This reads PLAKAR_TOKEN from the environment and stores it in Plakar’s configuration file.

Installing Pre-Built Packages

Once logged in, you install pre-built integration packages hosted on Plakar’s servers:

$ plakar pkg add s3
$ plakar pkg add sftp
$ plakar pkg add rclone

Without logging in, you can still build these integrations from source.

Verify Login Status

Check if you’re logged in:

$ plakar login --status

This displays your login status.