SiteGround SFTP Backup Pattern

Back up websites from SiteGround shared hosting to Wasabi S3 via SFTP. SiteGround does not expose an API — SFTP is the only programmatic access method.

Credentials

Host: sftp.siteground.net
Port: 18765 (non-standard)
Username: sftp7068-6b4804d3
Key: encrypted RSA private key with passphrase LoveMyBoys73!
The key file lives at /root/.ssh/siteground.key (chmod 600)

Connection Method

SiteGround uses an encrypted RSA private key with a passphrase. Plain key-based auth without the passphrase will fail. Two approaches:

A. Python + Paramiko (preferred for scripting)

import paramiko, io

key = paramiko.RSAKey.from_private_key(io.StringIO(key_data), password="<passphrase>")
transport = paramiko.Transport(("sftp.siteground.net", 18765))
transport.connect(username="sftp7068-6b4804d3", pkey=key)
sftp = paramiko.SFTPClient.from_transport(transport)

B. sshpass + ssh (manual/scripting)

Not recommended for scripting due to passphrase-in-command exposure, but valid for manual testing:

sshpass -p "<passphrase>" ssh -i /root/.ssh/siteground.key \
  -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o PubkeyAuthentication=yes \
  -p 18765 sftp7068-6b4804d3@sftp.siteground.net "ls -la"

Sites Present (Jul 2026)

21 sites — all WordPress, all under /home/ on SiteGround:

815bistro.com, abortionstory.org, apextrackexperience.com, chiefenergyofficer.org, costanzospizzeria.com, elliscountyinternet.com, fixourclub.com, forefrontwireless.com, forefrontwireless.net, freedominhonesty.com, garyjavo.com, germainebrown.com, grandlakeclub.com, injenuity413.com, injenuitysolutions.com, itpropartner.com, katiewattsdesign.com, savannahevents.com, sotobunch.com, theabortionstory.org, voipsimplicity.com

Backup to S3

Each site is a full directory tarball uploaded to s3://hermes-vps-backups/siteground/<site>/:

import tarfile, io

# Stream tar.gz to S3 to avoid filling /tmp on large sites
buf = io.BytesIO()
with tarfile.open(fileobj=buf, mode='w:gz') as tar:
    tar.add(f"/home/{site}", arcname=".")
buf.seek(0)

# Upload directly
s3_client.upload_fileobj(buf, "hermes-vps-backups", f"siteground/{site}/{site}-{date}.tar.gz")

For very large sites (apextrackexperience.com, itpropartner.com, voipsimplicity.com), write to /tmp first then upload — streaming through memory may timeout on SFTP.

Exclusion Recommendations

WordPress sites on SiteGround typically contain:

wp-content/uploads/ — images, media (backup all)
wp-content/plugins/ — can reinstall, but backup for config preservation
wp-content/themes/ — custom themes, backup
wp-content/cache/ — OK to skip
error_log — large debug logs, OK to skip

Restore

Download tar.gz from S3
Extract on new host: tar xzf <site>-<date>.tar.gz
Set correct permissions: chown -R www-data:www-data <site>/
Import database from phpMyAdmin export or MySQL dump
Update wp-config.php with new DB credentials
Point DNS to new server

Database

SFTP provides files only. The MySQL database must be exported separately:

Via SiteGround's phpMyAdmin interface
Or: mysqldump -h <host> -u <user> -p <dbname> > <site>-db-<date>.sql
Upload the SQL dump to Core via SFTP/scp and store alongside the files

Migration Strategy

SFTP backup all sites to S3 (done Jul 9, 2026)
Export each site's database from phpMyAdmin → upload to S3
On new box, restore files + import DB
Update wp-config.php credentials
Point DNS → done

No downtime per site if DNS is the last step.

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