Boxafe Quick Start Guide

Boxafe is a NAS-based backup solution for cloud services such as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. You can use Boxafe to back up cloud data from supported cloud services manually or automatically by schedule. Boxafe also supports backing up multiple versions of data. You can view and search your backed-up cloud data in Boxafe, and if needed, restore data to cloud services. If you have a large administrative/IT team in your organization, you can delegate Boxafe tasks, such as recurring cloud data backups, to other team members by utilizing custom Boxafe users and user roles. Boxafe is ideal for medium to large-sized organizations that need to record or safeguard cloud data of many users.

Cloud services supported by Boxafe

Supported NAS operating systems:

• QTS 5.0.0 or later
• QuTS hero h5.0.0 or later

Before you start using Boxafe, perform the following steps:

1. Log onto your NAS as an administrator.
2. Install Boxafe.
   1. Open App Center.
   2. Click  to open the search bar.
   3. Enter "Boxafe".
   4. Under the Boxafe app icon, click Install.
      
3. Select a storage pool to install Boxafe and click OK.
4. Obtain authorization for Boxafe from your domains:
   1. How to obtain authorization from Google for using Boxafe for Google Workspace?
   2. How to get authentication credentials for adding a Microsoft 365 Domain to Boxafe?
5. Optional: Purchase and activate premium Boxafe licenses.
   For details, see the Configure Boxafe licenses section.
6. Open Boxafe.
   Boxafe opens in a new browser tab. If you open Boxafe via a URL, then you need to log in to Boxafe with your NAS user account.
   The Storage Path Configuration window opens.
7. For Storage path options, select an option.
   For details on configuring the storage path, see How do I set up or change the storage path in Boxafe 2.0 and later?
   
8. Click Apply.
9. To back up data from a domain, perform the following steps:
   1. Optional: Create Boxafe users. 
   2. Optional: Configure Boxafe roles.
   3. Add one or more domains.
   4. Assign Boxafe licenses to domain users.
   5. Assign Boxafe licenses to domain services.
   6. Back up domain data.
   See the sections below for details on each step.

A Boxafe user is a NAS user that has permission to perform Boxafe tasks. Creating Boxafe users allows Boxafe administrators to delegate Boxafe tasks to other NAS users. You can also create and assign roles to Boxafe users. Roles grant permissions that assigned users can perform in Boxafe.

Create Boxafe users

1. Open Boxafe.
2. Go to Settings > Users.
3. Click + Add User.
4. For Select user, select a NAS user.
5. For Select a role, select a Boxafe role. See Configure Boxafe user roles for details on Boxafe roles.
6. For Select domain, select a domain if needed. If a domain is selected, the user will have access to that domain and will not have access to other domains.
   Tip

   Users with the role Super Admin or Global Admin can access all domains in Boxafe.
7. Click Apply.

Configure Boxafe user roles

1. Open Boxafe.
2. Go to Settings > Roles.
3. Click + Create Role to create a new role or click  next an existing role to edit the role.
4. If creating a new role, specify a name for the role in the Role field.
5. Select one or more permissions.
6. Click Apply.
   The selected permissions are applied to the role.

To back up or restore the data of a domain, the domain must be first added to Boxafe. You can also add subdomains of a domain to Boxafe. 

Add domains to Boxafe

Before adding a domain, you must authorize Boxafe to access the domain. For details, see the steps in Before you start.

1. Open Boxafe.
2. Go to Domains.
3. Click + Add Domain.
   
4. Select Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
   The Add Domain window appears.
5. Authorize the domain by performing the following steps:

   Domain Type	Steps
   Google Workspace	Specify the following fields: Domain admin email address: Email address of the Google Workspace administrator used when generating a service key in Before you start. Service key: Upload the private service key JSON file generated in Before You start. Click Authorize. Google authorizes Boxafe to use the domain and the Domain info tab opens.
   Microsoft 365	Specify the following fields: Microsoft 365 endpoint Certificate password: Boxafe will generate a certificate file that can be used later to re-authenticate your Microsoft 365 domain. You will need to provide this password and the certificate file when you re-authenticate your Microsoft 365 domain. Confirm certificate password Click Authorize. Log into your Microsoft 365 domain. Microsoft authorizes Boxafe to use the domain. Your browser downloads the generated certificate file. Boxafe opens the Domain info tab.

6. Verify that the Domain name and Admin email are correct.
   
7. For Domain services, select the domain services you want to back up.
8. For Add Users, select one of the following:
   • Auto: Automatically add all users of the domain to Boxafe.
   • Manual: Manually add users of the domain to Boxafe by clicking and then selecting users.
9. For Add Shared Drives (Google Workspace only), select one of the following:
   • Auto: Automatically add all shared drives of the domain to Boxafe.
   • Manual: Manually add shared drives of the domain to Boxafe by clicking  and then selecting shared drives.
10. For Add SharePoint Site (Microsoft 365 only), select one of the following:
    • Auto: Automatically add all SharePoint sites of the domain to Boxafe.
    • Manual: Manually add shared drives of the domain to Boxafe by clicking  and then selecting SharePoint sites.
11. For Add Microsoft Teams (Microsoft 365 only), select one of the following:
    • Auto: Automatically add all teams of the domain to Boxafe.
    • Manual: Manually add Teams of the domain to Boxafe by clicking  and then selecting Teams.
12. Click Next.
    The Backup Schedule tab opens.
13. Configure a backup schedule. For details on configuring backup schedules, see Configure backup schedules for domain data.
14. Click Add.
    The domain is added to Boxafe.

Add subdomains to Boxafe

After adding a domain to Boxafe, you can add the subdomains of the domain and back up and restore data of the subdomain in the same way as backing up and restoring data for a domain.

1. Open Boxafe.
2. Go to Domains.
3. Locate a domain and click  to select it. This will be the parent domain of the subdomain.
4. Click .
   The Add Subdomains window opens.
5. Click a subdomain to select it.
6. Click Add Subdomains.
   A confirmation window appears.
7. Click OK.
   The subdomain is added to Boxafe and appears on the Domains page under the parent domain. 

Manage domain users

1. Open Boxafe.
2. Go to Domains.
3. Locate the domain and click in the Action column.
   The Domain Settings page opens.
4. Go to the Users tab.
   The Users page appears. Here you can view domain users added to Boxafe, add additional domain users, delete domain users, export a list of domain users, assign Boxafe licenses to users, and more.

Backing up and restoring domain service data in Boxafe requires Boxafe licenses. There are free Boxafe licenses available allowing you to back up and restore domain service data without purchasing any premium Boxafe licenses. The free Boxafe licenses available are:

To back up domain data for additional users or services, premium Boxafe licenses are required. To use a premium Boxafe license, the license must be purchased, activated, and then assigned individually to domain users and services in Boxafe.

Purchase and activate Boxafe licenses

1. Go to the QNAP Software Store and purchase premium Boxafe licenses.
   To back up a Google Workspace domain, a Boxafe For Google Workspace license is required. To back up a Microsoft 365 domains, a Boxafe for Microsoft 365 license is required. For details on purchasing licenses, see "Licenses > Buying a license using QNAP ID" in the QTS User Guide or QuTS hero User Guide.
2. Activate the Boxafe licenses. For details, see "Licenses > License activation" in the QTS User Guide or QuTS hero User Guide..

Assign Boxafe licenses to domain users

Assigning a Boxafe license to a domain user allows you to back up and restore the following user data:

1. Open Boxafe.
2. Go to Domains.
3. Locate the domain and click in the Action column.
   The Domain Settings page opens.
4. Go to the Users tab.
5. Select one or more users.
6. Go to Actions > Licenses > Assign.
7. Select a license.
8. Click Select.
   The selected license is assigned to the selected users.

Assign Boxafe licenses to domain services

Assigning a Boxafe license to a domain service allows you to back up and restore data from the service. The following services are supported:

1. Open Boxafe.
2. Go to Domains.
3. Locate the domain and click in the Action column.
   The Domain Settings page opens.
4. Go to a service tab.
5. Select one or more items.
6. Go to Actions > Licenses > Assign.
7. Select a license.
8. Click Select.
   The selected license is assigned to the selected items.