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WebDAV Setup

HistorySync uses WebDAV to back up and restore your browsing history database to and from the cloud. Any WebDAV-compatible server works — this page covers the most popular options.

How It Works

  1. HistorySync zips your history.db (and optionally the favicon cache).
  2. It uploads the archive to the remote WebDAV path using atomic streaming — the old backup is only replaced after the upload succeeds.
  3. Up to max_backups copies are kept; older ones are pruned automatically.
  4. When restoring, HistorySync downloads the chosen backup and merges its records with your local database (or replaces it in --replace mode).

Quick Configuration (GUI)

  1. Open Settings → WebDAV Cloud Backup.
  2. Fill in the fields:
  3. URL — full URL including path, e.g. https://cloud.example.com/remote.php/dav/files/alice/
  4. Username / Password — your WebDAV credentials
  5. Remote Path — subfolder for backups (default: HistorySync/)
  6. Max Backups — how many snapshots to keep (default: 10)
  7. Click Test Connection.
  8. Enable Auto Backup and set an interval.

Quick Configuration (CLI)

hsync config set webdav.enabled true
hsync config set webdav.url "https://cloud.example.com/remote.php/dav/files/alice/"
hsync config set webdav.username "alice"

# Set the password in the GUI or edit config.json if you need to preseed it.
# The hsync config command does not currently expose a webdav.password key.

hsync config set webdav.remote_path "HistorySync/"
hsync config set webdav.max_backups 7
hsync config set webdav.auto_backup true
hsync config set scheduler.auto_backup_enabled true
hsync config set scheduler.auto_backup_interval_hours 12

# Test it
hsync -b

Provider-Specific Guides

Nextcloud

Nextcloud's WebDAV URL format: 

https://<your-nextcloud-domain>/remote.php/dav/files/<username>/

  1. Log in to Nextcloud.
  2. Go to Settings → Security → Devices & sessions and create an App Password (recommended over your main password).
  3. In HistorySync, use the URL above with your Nextcloud username and app password.
  4. Optional: create a dedicated folder first (e.g. HistorySync) and set remote_path to HistorySync/.

Nextcloud app password

Using an app password means HistorySync cannot access anything else in your account if the credential leaks. Highly recommended.

Synology DSM (QuickConnect / Direct)

Enable WebDAV in Synology DSM:

  1. Open Control Panel → File Services → WebDAV.
  2. Enable WebDAV or WebDAV HTTPS (HTTPS is strongly recommended).
  3. Note the port (default: 5005 for HTTP, 5006 for HTTPS).

HistorySync URL format: 

https://<synology-ip-or-quickconnect>:5006/

Set the remote path to a shared folder you have write access to, e.g. homes/alice/HistorySync/.

Self-signed certificates

Synology uses a self-signed certificate by default. Either: - Install a Let's Encrypt certificate in DSM (recommended), or - Set webdav.verify_ssl to false (hsync config set webdav.verify_ssl false)

AList (S3 / OneDrive / Google Drive via WebDAV)

AList is an open-source file manager that exposes many cloud storage providers as WebDAV.

https://<your-alist-domain>/dav/

Use your AList username and password. Set remote_path to a path within your configured storage, e.g. OneDrive/HistorySync/.

Nginx WebDAV

If you self-host an Nginx WebDAV server:

location /dav/ {
    root /var/webdav;
    dav_methods PUT DELETE MKCOL COPY MOVE;
    dav_ext_methods PROPFIND OPTIONS;
    dav_access user:rw group:rw all:r;
    create_full_put_path on;
    auth_basic "WebDAV";
    auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;
}

HistorySync URL: https://<your-domain>/dav/

Apache WebDAV

<Location /dav>
    DAV On
    AuthType Basic
    AuthName "WebDAV"
    AuthUserFile /etc/apache2/.htpasswd
    Require valid-user
</Location>

Cloudflare R2 (via rclone)

R2 does not expose a native WebDAV endpoint, but you can proxy it with rclone serve webdav:

rclone serve webdav r2:my-bucket --addr :8080 --user alice --pass secret

Then set webdav.url to http://localhost:8080/.

Troubleshooting

"Connection refused" / "Timeout"

  • Check the URL — make sure the protocol (https://) and port are correct.
  • Verify the server is reachable from your machine: curl -u user:pass https://your-server/dav/.

"401 Unauthorized"

  • Double-check username and password.
  • For Nextcloud: use an App Password, not your login password.
  • Confirm the account has write permission to the remote path.

"SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED"

  • The server is using a self-signed or expired certificate.
  • Either fix the certificate, or set hsync config set webdav.verify_ssl false (only for trusted internal networks).

Backup succeeds but restore shows no backups

  • Check webdav.remote_path — it must match the path used when backing up.
  • Run hsync restore --list to see what hsync finds on the server.

Large backup takes too long / times out

  • HistorySync uses streaming uploads, so memory usage stays low regardless of file size.
  • If the server has a small request timeout, increase it (e.g. Nginx client_body_timeout 300s;).
  • Consider running backups on a schedule (-w flag or scheduler.auto_backup_interval_hours) rather than manually.

Security Notes

  • WebDAV credentials are stored encrypted on disk using HKDF-derived subkeys. See Security Architecture.
  • Always use HTTPS — plain HTTP exposes your credentials and history data in transit.
  • Prefer app-specific passwords over your main account password where the provider supports it.
  • Set max_backups to a small number if storage is limited. Default is 10.