Introduction 

What does it do? 

T3Vault creates encrypted backups of a TYPO3 installation (files and database) and helps you restore them — including on a different server after a disaster. The package is published as codemacher/t3vault (extension key t3vault).

The extension ships two layers:

  1. A TYPO3 backend module (admin-only) that embeds the T3Vault UI and can set the standalone password.
  2. A standalone application under <web-dir>/t3vault that also runs without a working TYPO3 instance (disaster recovery).
T3Vault dashboard with backup statistics, quick actions and recent jobs

Dashboard after login: backup stats, quick actions and recent jobs.

After each completed backup, T3Vault seals integrity data so later modifications can be detected:

  • SHA-256 hashes of backup artefacts in integrity.json
  • optional HMAC bound to the site secret
  • an OpenTimestamps proof (integrity.json.ots) that time-stamps the seal on the Bitcoin blockchain via public calendars — independent of TYPO3, the hosting provider, or whoever stores the archive (no payment or currency transfer)

On restore, the installer can convert the TYPO3 layout:

  • Composer → classic/legacy (document-root layout) when the target has no Composer workflow
  • Classic → Composer (e.g. for DDEV or modern project structure)

Features 

  • OpenTimestamps integrity seals time-stamped on the Bitcoin blockchain to detect tampering after the backup was created
  • Layout conversion on restore (Composer ↔ classic/legacy)
  • Full and fileadmin-only backups (Composer and classic TYPO3 layouts)
  • AES-256 encrypted ZIP parts (shared backup password)
  • Database dump (database.zip, AES-256) with mysqldump or PHP fallback
  • Downloadable .t3vault.tar archives plus installer / DDEV setup script
  • Browser-independent backup processing (server-side self-invocation)
  • Integrity verification in the UI, via CLI / PHAR, or with the official OpenTimestamps client
  • HTTP proxy support for calendar traffic

Target groups 

  • Administrators who need reliable backups and offline restore
  • Agencies / hosting teams moving sites between environments — including Composer sites that must land as classic/legacy on the target
  • Security-conscious operators who want an independent OpenTimestamps time stamp (Bitcoin blockchain) that a backup was not altered after sealing

Compatibility 

PHP 8.2 – 8.5
TYPO3 13.4 – 14.x
License GPL-2.0-or-later