Why has my DVR stopped uploading?

Every state Guardian can be in, what it means, and what to do. Start with the site card in the Cameras tab and its Test connection button.

Test passes, but nothing arrives

This is the most common problem by far and it is not a CloudBox fault — the recorder logged in fine, but no event produced a file to send. Fix it on the recorder: a capture/snapshot schedule, arming per channel, and Upload to FTP as the event action. Then trigger real motion.

Read the site card

Pictures, not video?

That is expected on many recorders. Hikvision and Uniview recorders' native FTP sends event snapshots (JPEG) only — a burst of stills per event. Dahua sends .dav clips and Reolink .mp4. See supported devices for what your brand sends.

A camera that used to upload has gone quiet

Guardian emails you when a camera that had been uploading is silent for 3 hours, and again when it resumes. In order of likelihood: lost power or network; motion detection or the schedule was changed; the FTP password was changed on one side only; the plan is full (below). The site log shows the last login and upload times.

Wrong camera label

If footage files under an odd label, send us one example upload path from the site log. Recorders encode the channel in brand-specific ways; Guardian reads Hikvision, Dahua, Reolink and generic schemes, and we tune it to your exact model from a real sample.

The plan is full

Uploads are refused with “Storage allowance is full”. Retention purges the oldest clips every hour (7 days free, 31 days paid), which frees space and resumes uploads automatically; or move up a plan. Nothing already stored is deleted.

Network facts

• The recorder connects outbound to ingest.cloudbox.biz port 21 and to passive data ports 50000–50100. No inbound port is ever needed.
• Plain FTP and explicit FTPS (AUTH TLS, TLS 1.2+) are accepted. Very old firmware that only speaks TLS 1.0 should use plain FTP. SFTP (SSH) is not supported.
• Each file is one upload. Resumed (REST) and appended (APPE) uploads are refused by design, so a file is sealed exactly once; a recorder that retries simply sends it again and it replaces the earlier copy.

Questions

My recorder's FTP Test passes but nothing arrives in CloudBox.

This is the number-one case, across every brand. The Test button only checks the login; uploads are driven by events. Three things must all be set per channel: a snapshot/capture schedule covering now, the channel armed for the event, and the event's action/linkage set to Upload to FTP (or the channel ticked in the FTP schedule table). Set all three, trigger real motion, then press Test connection in the Cameras tab.

Email backup: the recorder's Email test passes but nothing arrives.

The recorder's Test only checks that it can log in. Pictures come from events: tick Attached Picture / Image on the Email screen, and on each channel's Motion Detection make Send Email a linkage action with an arming schedule covering now. Check the Receiver is the site's own address (site_…@ingest.cloudbox.biz) and Authentication is on with the site login. A login with no pictures shows as 'mail_empty' on the site's activity log. Then trigger motion and press Test connection in the Cameras tab.

I expected video but only got pictures.

Many recorders' native FTP sends snapshots (JPEG) only — Hikvision and Uniview recorders in particular. That is a burst of stills per event, not a moving clip, and it is normal. Dahua uploads .dav clips and Reolink .mp4; the supported-devices page shows which brand sends what.

Why has my DVR stopped uploading?

Look at the site card in the Cameras tab. If the last file is hours old on a camera that was active, the usual causes are: the recorder or camera lost power or network; the FTP upload or schedule was changed; the site's password was changed on one side only; or the plan is full and uploads are being refused. Guardian emails you when a camera goes quiet for 3 hours.

What do the Test connection states mean?

Waiting for login: the recorder has never connected — check the server address, DNS and outbound port 21. Login failed: wrong user name or password. Credentials accepted, waiting for the first clip: the recorder logs in but no event has produced a file — the three per-channel settings above. Connected: files are arriving; the cameras detected are listed.

The recorder says the FTP test failed.

Almost always DNS or a blocked outbound port. Give the recorder a working DNS server (your router or 8.8.8.8), confirm it can reach the internet, and check that nothing blocks outbound TCP port 21 and the passive data ports (50000–50100). Guardian never needs an inbound port on your network.

Footage is filed under the wrong or an odd camera label.

Send us one example upload path from the Cameras-tab site log (the exact filename/folder). Recorders encode the channel in brand-specific ways and we tune the parser to your exact model — we would rather fix it from a real sample than guess.

My recorder only offers FTPS and the handshake fails.

Very old firmware may only speak TLS 1.0/1.1, which modern servers refuse. Switch the recorder to plain FTP. Footage is sealed the moment it reaches CloudBox either way. (SFTP is a different protocol and is not supported — some 'SFTP' options are SSH, not FTPS.)

Uploads are being refused with 'Storage allowance is full'.

Your plan is full. Retention purges the oldest clips every hour (7 days free, 31 days paid), which frees space automatically; or move up a plan. Nothing already stored is deleted, and you get one email when uploads pause and one when they resume.

Decrypt & save says the recovery kit does not open this clip.

The words belong to a different site, or one word is mistyped (a mistyped word is caught by the checksum and reported by position). Each site has its own kit; check the site name on the card.

How do I change the FTP password?

On the site card choose 'issue a new one'. The new password is shown once; update it on the recorder straight away, or uploads will fail with Login failed until you do.