Scripts and tips to backup G Suite for free

When it comes to backing up your Google G Suite we would always recommend purchasing a proven backup solution from the Google G Suite Marketplace, however for those smaller organisations (less than 50 users) who only require minimal data protection there are free, manual options available in the form of scripts and command-line tools.

Open Source Scripts and Tools

Open-source scripts and command-line tools can be used to automate the backing up of your G Suite data without the need to purchase additional 3rd party licenses. Below is a list of Open-source tools and scripts which can be used to backup your G Suite data.

• GAM – Probably one of the most popular and powerful command-line tools for G Suite. Written by our good friend Jay Lee while working at Google Reseller Dito. GAM enabled an experienced system administrator to write commands in order to manage everything within Google G Suite from users and groups as well as automate key administration workflows, including regular backups. GAM runs on Windows as well as Mac and Linux machines.
• GYB or Got Your Back is another tool written by Jay Lee, however unlike GAM this command-line tool performs the single task off backing up your Gmail messages to your computer using Gmail’s API over HTTPS. GYB works with both Gmail.com and G Suite accounts.
• Brive – Is a Python script that allows you to backup all the Google Drive docs for all your Google G Suite users. Each time the script is run Brive will create a full snapshot of users’ Drive accounts’ contents.
• Ggbackup is a tool built for automated backups of Google Groups with their settings and members. While GAM can perform this function, ggbackup enables administrators to avoid granting GAM extensive API access that it requires to run.
• Ojarva Google Backup tool – Backs up Gmail/Drive/Calendar. Uses domain-wide authentication, so no authorization from Google G Suite users is necessary. Emails are downloaded using modified offlineimap and XOAUTH2.

There are disadvantages to running scripts and command-line tools, some system administrators may love them, but they do and will take up a significant and regular amount of time in testing, and maintaining them. We know from experience that the Google API’s can be a little challenging and temperamental, which 3rd party solutions will have taken into consideration.