Back up Foscam cameras and NVRs to the cloud
A Foscam camera uploads both motion snapshots and .mkv video clips to an FTP
server. A Foscam NVR is different: its motion alarm uploads a still picture only — the video stays
on the NVR’s own hard disk. If you want motion video off-site, it has to come from the cameras.
Applies to: Foscam FI, C, R and V series cameras, and Foscam NVRs of the FN3108E / FN7108E generation, whose Network screen has an FTP tab. Foscam removed FTP from the current NVR line — FN8108H/HE, FN9108H/HE and FNA108H/HE document it nowhere and offer only Record Channel, Tour, PTZ Activation, Send Email, Buzzer as alarm actions, so those are email-only. menu labels move between firmware versions — verify the exact wording on your device.
1 · Get your login card
CloudBox dashboard → Cameras → add a site, and write down the 24-word recovery kit:
| Field on the recorder | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Server / Host / Server Address | ingest.cloudbox.biz |
| Port | 21 |
| User name | the site's site_… login from your Cameras tab |
| Password | the password shown once when you created the site (issue a new one from the site card if you lost it) |
| Directory / Remote path | leave it empty, or a simple name such as your site. Never a leading or trailing slash — Reolink silently stops uploading on /. Whatever folders the recorder then creates are fine. |
| Mode | Passive (PASV), if asked. No inbound ports are opened on your network. |
| Encryption | FTPS / explicit TLS if your model offers it; otherwise plain FTP |
2 · Enter it on the FTP screen
Settings → Network → FTP in the Foscam web interface or app.
- FTP Server
ftp://ingest.cloudbox.biz· Port21· Mode PASV. - User name / Password from the card.
- A Foscam camera has no separate directory field. To give this camera a number, put it in the
URL:
ftp://ingest.cloudbox.biz/cam01,/cam02, and so on. (An NVR does take a folder in the address — see the NVR section below.)
Press Save, then Test.
<Model>_<MAC>/snap/. Guardian reads that device folder, so each physical camera keeps its own identity: FI9961EP_00626E4B1B2A files as fi9961ep-00626e4b1b2a. Adding /cam01 to the server address overrides it with a tidier name.3 · Turn on the two things Test does not check
Three things must ALL be set, per channel, or the recorder logs in and sends nothing even though its own Test passes: (1) a snapshot/capture schedule that covers now, (2) the channel armed for the event, and (3) the event's linkage/action set to Upload to FTP. Missing any one is the single most common reason “nothing arrives”.
- Settings → Video → Snapshot Settings: Pictures Save To = FTP. For video too, Record → Storage Location = FTP (Foscam writes .mkv).
- Settings → Alarm → Motion Detection: enable it, tick Take Snapshot (and Recording for video), and set a schedule that covers now.
4 · If you have an NVR instead of a camera
On an FN3108E/FN7108E-generation recorder the screen is Menu → Settings → Network → FTP, and unlike a camera it accepts a folder in the address:
- FTP Address
ftp://ingest.cloudbox.biz/foscam-nvr— the folder need not exist, CloudBox creates it. - FTP Port
21· FTP ModePASV· user and password from the card. - Press FTP Test.
Then arm each channel under Menu → Settings → Alarm → Motion Detection: pick the channel, tick Enable, tick the FTP linkage box, then set the detection area and the schedule. Use Copy To for the remaining channels. Leave Record ticked as well if you want the NVR to keep its own copy on the HDD.
5 · Confirm
Walk in front of the camera, then press Test connection on the site card and Decrypt & save one picture to prove your recovery kit opens it.
Every file is sealed the moment it arrives: encrypted in memory with a key made from your site's public key, then written to UK storage. Only the 24-word recovery kit shown when you created the site can open it — CloudBox holds no key that can, and neither would anyone who broke in.
If something does not work
- Test passes but nothing arrives: almost always Pictures Save To is still the SD card, or motion detection is off or outside its schedule.
- Everything lands under one camera: several cameras share one
/cam01in the server address. Give each its own, or leave the address bare and let the device folder separate them. - More in troubleshooting.
Questions
Does Foscam support FTPS or SFTP?
No. Foscam's FTP screen offers only server, port, passive mode, user and password - there is no TLS option on any current line, and the CGI API behind it has no TLS parameter either, so the upload hop is plain FTP. Foscam's email screen does support TLS, so email is the safer hop when stills are enough - but only FTP carries motion video, so choose that trade-off deliberately. Either way the files are encrypted the moment they arrive and CloudBox holds no key that can open them.
Which route should I use?
If you want motion video off-site, FTP from the cameras is the only route that carries it - email and the NVR both send stills only. If stills are enough, email is the safer hop, because it is the one Foscam route that can be encrypted. Foscam's current NVRs (FN8108H/HE, FN9108H/HE, FNA108H/HE) have no FTP at all and are email-only; the older FN3108E/FN7108E generation does have an FTP tab.
Can my Foscam NVR back up motion video?
No. On the NVR the motion alarm's FTP action uploads a detection picture; Foscam's manual gives video its own separate Record option that writes to the NVR's hard disk. So an NVR gives you off-site stills and a local video copy. For off-site video you configure the cameras themselves, which do upload .mkv clips, or use continuous stream backup.
Why did all my Foscam cameras show up as one camera?
They did before September 2026. Foscam uploads to <Model>_<MAC>/snap/ and .../record/ and cannot be told otherwise, so every camera's pictures landed under a folder called snap. Guardian now reads the device folder instead, so each physical Foscam keeps its own camera: FI9961EP_00626E4B1B2A files as fi9961ep-00626e4b1b2a.
Can I give a Foscam a tidier camera name?
Yes - put the channel in the server address, because a Foscam camera has no separate directory field. A server of ftp://ingest.cloudbox.biz/cam01 files that camera as camera-1, /cam02 as camera-2, and so on. An explicit cam01 folder always wins over the device folder. An NVR does take a folder in its FTP Address, and its channels separate on their own when the upload path carries CH01, CH02 and so on.
Nothing uploads even though Test succeeded.
Three things must all be set and Test only proves the first: the FTP login; then Pictures Save To = FTP under Snapshot Settings (and Storage Location = FTP under Record, for video); then Motion Detection enabled with Take Snapshot ticked and a schedule covering now. Miss any one and the camera logs in and sends nothing.