Downloads of the backups are not being initiated when clicking the link

Support
1

hi,

since today I can not download my created backups via the e-mail link anymore.

  • tried different firefox based browsers, but this shouldn’t matter as it worked always before
  • tried to download also older backups from the backup list in discourse
  • updated docker_manager and discourse itself to the newest version today (hosting the discourse docker instance on a vps, never hat any issues)
  • restarted the vps two times in total by now
  • did one ./launcher rebuild app rebuild

what happens: I click the download button in discourse and discourse sends me the download link via mail. if I click it, it loads quick but the download is not being initiated. if I reload the new tab, it tells “Sorry, the backup download link has already been used or has expired." Even copying the link and opening it in another browser doesn’t work

Discourse Version: v3.6.0.beta1 +37
Docker_manager Version: 78a2036b

1 Like
2

What do you get if you try wget -v YOUR-BACKUP_LINK instead of downloading via browser?

3 
Resolving the hostname <MYDOMAIN> (<MYDOMAIN>) <IP address>
Connecting to <MYDOMAIN> (<MYDOMAIN>)|<IP address>|:443 … connected.
HTTP request sent, waiting for response … 404 Not Found
2025-10-01 10:22:33 ERROR 404: Not Found.

But all backups seems to be available here: /var/discourse/shared/standalone/backups/default , the names and the sizes of the .tar.gz files are correct.

The Links look like this (I replaced two characters with two * in the token):

https://<MYDOMAIN>/admin/backups/<DISCOURSE-INSTANCE-NAME>-2025-10-01-051720-v20250919094856.tar.gz?token=1*0ceb72e0ec4c83eae2e2c76e18a0*0
4

I can’t reproduce this. Did you make any other changes to your instance (proxy, nginx config changes)?

1 Like
5

hi, thanks for your quick response!

Not that I’m aware of… no, actually quite sure not. Just on September 26, 2025, I was able to successfully download the backups via link. Today, I initiated the backup while it was already updating the docker_manager in Discourse- but I don’t know if that’s somehow relevant. Otherwise, I set up the entire VPS exactly according to ‘best practice’ because I wanted to avoid causing any problems by deviating in any way. Can I provide you with any logs from the VPS or Discourse that could help analyze this? I really don’t want to have to set up the VPS again :frowning:

1 Like
6

That is potentially relevant. I would trigger a new backup when the server is up and no updates are in progress. And then test if that works.

7

That never works, you need to be logged in.

4 Likes
8

It slowly starts to become really frustrating: I didn’t want to annoy you longer with this individual problem, so I reinstalled the VPS.

Now I have completely reinstalled the VPS and installed discourse according to the official instructions. And after the initial configuration I was able to create the first small backup and actually download it by email. But after I have restored my last backup, the crap starts again: The download of the backup cannot be initiated again when clicking the link.

And it doesn’t matter which browser you use. I am registered in the browser in the forum where I also open the link in the mail in the browser.

The links look also similar to me so I guess something ist bricked in the forum configuration.

Backup-Link after first initial configuration:

https://my-forum.com/admin/backups/my-forum-2025-10-05-135900-v20250925182715.tar.gz?token=9***7468e4aa0da7f36aa6299872bc8d


Backup-Link after restoring my old backup and trying to create and save a new backup:

https://my-forum.com/admin/backups/my-forum-2025-10-05-141012-v20250925182715.tar.gz?token=9***7973b0d415528ee7308d3df8f637

the only way now is to save the backups at the vps directory directly. but that is really disappointing me, because I thought finally I found a forum software that is more or less foolproof.

if anyone has an idea what I could check, I’d be happy. starting the forum from scratch again is no option :frowning: but at least you can backup and restore it the oldschool way as I figured out meanwhile :person_shrugging:

9

Weird thought, but have you tried using a different browser or device? Maybe your browser or device is blocking the download.

3 Likes
10

At first I didn’t really want take a deeper look at the browser idea because I already wrote in my post that I tried several browsers. But you never know … it can be due to some weird things as you said.

And see there: The cause of the error was actually the browser!
Thank you so much @tobiaseigen !!! You were absolutely right.
Thanks to your suggestion I was able to figure out what caused the error!

for whatever reason the browser I tested (ungoogle chromium, brave, firefox, librewolf, tor browser) don’t start the download if you click the link in your mail inbox in the browser. only if I copy the download-link, open manually a new blank tab, paste the download-link and execute the link manually, then the download starts like there was never a problem :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

maybe my mail provider is doing some bllsht link protection like microsoft with their safelinks and before I can initiate the download they open the link, but then many other users should have that problem too. maybe its because of a browser update, but brave is chromium based and all the other are firefox based, that would be a big coincidence if both projects would have changed something same at the same time.

it’s fine for me to copy and paste the download link in the browser manually. maybe one day it will work like before. in any case I have to be logged in in the forum, to be able to start the download, but that makes sense.

3 Likes