Backing up a Cloudways server
Cloudways gives you real SSH access — connect it like any other server and back up each app's files and database.
Cloudways is managed hosting on top of DigitalOcean, AWS, GCP, Linode, or Vultr — but underneath, it's still a server with real root SSH access. VPS Snaps doesn't need a special Cloudways integration: add the server like any other, then use Database and File backup jobs to back up each application individually.
The one Cloudways-specific gotcha
Cloudways ignores the standard ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file, so the usual ssh-copy-id approach won't work. You have to paste your public key into the Cloudways dashboard directly.
Add your SSH key under the Cloudways dashboard's Master Credentials → SSH Keys page — not by editing authorized_keys on the server yourself. Cloudways manages that file and will overwrite manual edits.
Step 1 — Add your SSH key in Cloudways
In VPS Snaps, go to Settings and generate or add an SSH key pair if you haven't already — this gives you a public key to hand to Cloudways. In your Cloudways dashboard, open the server and go to Master Credentials → SSH Keys, give it a label, and paste in the public key.
Step 2 — Add the server in VPS Snaps
Still on the Master Credentials page, copy the server's IP address and the SSH username. In VPS Snaps, go to Servers → Add Server and enter those, selecting the same SSH key you added to Cloudways.
Step 3 — Detect and back up the apps on it
Open the server's detail page in VPS Snaps and click "Detect applications." This works the same way on Cloudways as on any other server — see Auto-detecting applications on a server for the full walkthrough.
You still need a storage destination configured before creating jobs — set one up under Storage first if you haven't.
Apps that aren't WordPress
Detection still finds the app's directory and creates a File backup job for it — you just won't get an automatic Database job, since we only parse WordPress's wp-config.php format today. Open Applications → [your app] → Application Management → Access Details in Cloudways to find that app's database credentials and add a Database job manually.
# Typical Cloudways application path
/home/master/applications/<app_id>/public_html