Logging In to Plakar

Last reviewed: 2026-02-05 / Plakar v1.1.0

Plakar works without an account by default. Logging in is optional and unlocks additional features such as pre-built package installation and alerting.

Logging In

Using GitHub

plakar login -github

Using Email

plakar login -email myemail@domain.com

Enabling Alerting

After logging in, enable alerting to send backup metadata to Plakar’s servers for reporting:

plakar service enable alerting

Enable email notifications:

plakar service set alerting report.email=true

Alerting sends non-sensitive metadata (backup status, timestamps, sizes) to power the reporting dashboard and email notifications. Your backup data never leaves your system.

Non-Interactive Login

For CI pipelines, remote servers, or automated jobs where interactive login isn’t possible, use token-based authentication.

Generate a Token

On a machine where you can log in interactively:

plakar login
plakar token create

This outputs a token:

eyJhbGc......

Use the Token

On the non-interactive system, set the environment variable:

export PLAKAR_TOKEN=eyJhbGc......

Plakar automatically uses this token for authentication.

Persist the Token

To save the token in the local configuration:

plakar login -env

This reads PLAKAR_TOKEN from the environment and stores it in Plakar’s configuration file.

Installing Pre-Built Packages

Once logged in, you install pre-built integration packages hosted on Plakar’s servers:

plakar pkg add s3
plakar pkg add sftp
plakar pkg add rclone

Without logging in, you can still build these integrations from source.

Verify Login Status

Check if you’re logged in:

plakar login --status

This displays your login status.