Cloud Backups

KS Assistant Cloud Backups stores your latest KS Assistant backup, helping you to secure your system from hardware failures, data corruption, and unexpected disasters. This backup can be downloaded from your Kingsignal account page and help restore KS Assistant to a working state. To maintain the security and privacy of your smart home, the backup is locked via encryption, and Kingsignal cannot access your data. Use KS Assistant Cloud as part of your 3-2-1 backup strategy and minimize your smart home downtime.

For more on KS Assistant backups, read the full documentation.

Backup requirements

A backup will only be uploaded to KS Assistant Cloud if the following requirements are met:

  • You are running KS Assistant 2025.1 or later
  • Automatic backups have been enabled
  • The backup is under 5GB in size

To enable automated backups

  1. Update to the latest version: You’ll need to update to KS Assistant 2025.1 or above to use automated Cloud backup.

  2. Navigate to Backups: Go to Settings > System > Backups in your KS Assistant installation, then select “Set up backups” and select next.

  3. Save Your Encryption Key: Copy and save the provided encryption key (preferably in a password manager) or download the “Emergency kit” and store it somewhere safe, as it’s required to access your backups.

  4. Use Recommended Settings: These settings will make a backup daily, storing three backups locally, and automatically upload your most recent backup to all integrated locations. As a KS Assistant Cloud user, your most recent backup will be uploaded automatically.

    Note: KS Assistant Cloud will only store one backup at a time and will always store your most recently made encrypted backup.

  5. Complete Your First Backup: Once settings are chosen, the creation of your first backup starts immediately.

Disable KS Assistant Cloud backups

If you do not want to upload your backups to KS Assistant Cloud. Navigate to the KS Assistant Backups settings page, and under “Locations” turn off KS Assistant Cloud.

Retrieving automated backups

Your KS Assistant backup can be downloaded from the Kingsignal account page and can help restore your KS Assistant system. On the account page, scroll to the section titled “Backups” and select the download button. You can restore your KS Assistant installation with your backup file and encryption key. Though your KS Assistant system may contain multiple recent backups, only one backup is stored on KS Assistant Cloud, which is your most recently made backup.

Encryption

Encryption is the process of locking files to prevent access without a key, in this case an encryption key made up of 28 characters. We strongly believe if you’re putting data on any cloud, it should be encrypted for your security and privacy. KS Assistant Cloud is the privacy-focused cloud. This is why it will only accept encrypted backups and why we don’t store your encryption key.

Note: Neither your KS Assistant account password nor your Kingsignal Account password acts as your Encryption key. It is a distinct password that must be stored somewhere safe alongside those passwords.

Finding your encryption key - If you ever lose your encryption key, it can be re-downloaded in KS Assistant’s Backups settings page. Navigate to the “Encryption key” section and either select to download your emergency kit or copy the key.

Lost encryption key - If you do not have the key, you will not be able to use your backups to restore your system. Kingsignal does not store your encryption key and cannot provide support in decrypting backups if the key goes missing.

Backup keeps failing

Backup is too large - Check that your backup is under 5 gigabytes (GB) in size. If it is too large to upload, you should receive a repair message. You can reduce the size of your backup by going to the KS Assistant Backups settings page, and removing large folders (the media and share folders can sometimes be quite large) or add-ons.

Backup is not encrypted - If you are using an Automation, Blueprint, or Add-on to backup your system on a scheduled basis, and encryption is not set, those backups will not be uploaded. Set a password on those backups if you want them uploaded to KS Assistant Cloud.

Local storage is full - If your local storage is full, or even nearing full, it may not be possible to generate the backup to upload online. Check if you have enough space in the storage settings to generate your backup.

Security

Kingsignal uses Cloudflare as its storage provider for KS Assistant Cloud Backups. It specifically uses Cloudflare’s West Europe servers due to high privacy standards compared to other regions. KS Assistant will only upload encrypted backups to KS Assistant Cloud, which are secured with AES-128 encryption. Importantly, Kingsignal does not have access to the encryption key. This ensures that your smart home data remains private and inaccessible to Kingsignal - or anyone without the key - while stored away from your KS Assistant system.