Create and Manage Groups

The Backblaze Groups feature lets you manage, pay for, and administrate several users. Groups allow several people to have individual accounts that all fall under one credit card and renew on the same date. If the Group is managed, the administrators also have access to manage user's accounts, create restores, and perform any action a user can typically perform on their account. Groups is a great feature for all sizes of business or families who want to be able to manage payment for multiple members.

If you are a small business and you want to manage all of your computers under one account, or you do not have a need for multiple users, then a Group is not necessary. There are no restrictions on how many computers or Backblaze B2 buckets you can have under a single account.

You do not need a Group to back up a computer that you use for business reasons because the Backblaze Computer Backup service installs easily on any Mac or PC. If you need to back up a server or network-attached storage (NAS), view our Backblaze B2 Integrations for options such as MSP360 or Synology.

You can create a Group, invite members to your Group, and manage your Group in the Backblaze web UI.

Group Types

You can select the following options when you create a Group:

• Backblaze Service
  Group members can use the following services:
  • Backblaze Computer Backup
  • Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage
  • Both Computer Backup and B2 Cloud Storage
• Managed or Unmanaged
  Group Administrators can select the following levels of oversight over a member’s Backblaze account:
  • Managed: Administrators can “manage” a member’s Backblaze account, including: browsing data; creating restores; and updating account information for a user. A user must “opt-in” by acknowledging the administrative rights to join a Managed Group.
  • Unmanaged: Administrators are responsible for paying for the Backblaze service that the Group provides, but they are otherwise unable to manage a member’s account.
• Restrictions
  When you create a Group, you can select how you want members to join that group:
  • Restricted: Administrators must invite users through an email or a unique invitation link. Anyone who attempts to join the group must be accepted by the Administrator.
  • Automatically Accepted Domains: Anyone within a certain domain (for example, @XYZcorp.com) is automatically accepted into the Group. Anyone else who attempts to join must be accepted by the Administrator.
  • Automatic Approval Policy: Anyone with the unique invitation link can join the Group without Administrator approval.

1. Sign in to your Backblaze account.
2. In the left navigation menu under Account, click My Settings.
3. Under Enabled Products, click Verify Email next to Business Groups.
4. After your email address was verified, select the Business Groups checkbox.

1. Sign in to your Backblaze account.
2. In the left navigation menu under Business Groups, click Group Management.
3. Click Create a New Group, and enter a name for your group.
   Backblaze recommends that you use a naming convention that identifies the Group members who are in a specific Group, for example, “Initech Staff."
4. Select Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage as the product.
   You can add products to a Group at any time, but after you add them, you cannot remove them.
5. Select your administrative privileges.
   After you create a Group, you cannot change this setting.
   1. Select On to enable managing rights including accessing Backblaze B2 content, creating restores, and changing account settings.
   2. Select Off to enable Group administrators to pay for Backblaze services, but they cannot view or restore files, delete a backup, or change account settings on a Group member's behalf.
6. Click Create Group.
7. Enter your payment information and click Purchase, or click Skip Payment & Try for Free and continue with the 10 GB of free storage that is complementary with your account.
   You do not need to enter any information to skip this step.
8. To finish creating your Group, click I'll Invite Later.

Your new Group is displayed on the Group Management page.

If you are interested in being charged via invoice or other methods, contact the Backblaze Sales team for more information.

1. Sign in to your Backblaze administrator account.
2. In the Business Groups section, click Invite & Approve.
3. Copy the invite link and email it to your members, or click Send Invite Emails.
4. Enter member emails, and click Send.
5. If you do not belong to the group, click Add Myself to the Group.

1. From the email that you receive from Backblaze or from the invite link from the Group administrator, click Join the Backblaze Group.
2. Depending on the Group settings, accept Administrator Access.
3. Depending on the Group settings, accept the 30-day version history.
4. Click Next.
5. Enter your password.
   If you do not have a Backblaze account, you must create one.
6. For multi-region accounts, select the region that will contain the data from the Region dropdown menu.
   You can verify which region in which the data will be stored by navigating to the My Settings page of each account that you created.
7. Depending on your invite method, click Sign In & Join the Group or click Sign In & Request Membership.

1. Sign in to your Backblaze account.
2. In the left navigation menu under Business Groups, click Group Management.
3. Click Edit Group for the account you want to edit.
4. Edit the following options:
   • Group Name
   • Admins
     Enter an email address to add an administrator to your account. You can also remove admin rights in this field.
   • Product
     You can add a service, but you cannot remove a service after you create your Group.
   • Group Single Sign-On (SSO)
     Google GSuite and Microsoft Office 365 are the allowed authentication domains. SSO credentials that work with these providers can also enable access to Backblaze. For more information about SSO, click here.
   • Automatically Accepted Domains
     Add domains (for example, coolcorp.com, rad.biz, and smart.edu) to automatically allow emails within that domain to join your Group without administrator approval.
   • Automatic Approval Policy
     Anyone from any domain can be automatically accepted into the Group. Administrators can remove Group members at any time.
   • Member Backup Summary Emails
     Backblaze automatically emails each user a weekly or monthly summary of their backup. You can disable this feature and members do not receive email backup summaries. 
   • Emails to Group Administrators
     Backblaze automatically emails administrators a weekly or monthly CSV report of all of the backups in their Group. You can access and download this report on the Users/Computers page under Business Groups.
5. Click Update Group.

1. Sign in to your Backblaze account.
2. In the left navigation menu under Business Groups, click Group Management.
3. Click Edit Group for the account you want to delete.
4. Click Dissolve Group.
   The total licenses in the group and the unbilled estimate is displayed. You are charged for any Backblaze B2 purchases up to Group dissolution. The final amount is calculated after all Backblaze B2 usage data is collected.
5. Click Dissolve Group again to confirm the action.

Administrators can see account details for Group members and alerts that are on their accounts. Administrators have equal rights and can change group settings and add or remove other administrators. 

1. Sign in to your Backblaze administrator account.
2. In the left navigation menu under Business Groups, click Users/Computers.
3. Select the Group that you want to view.
   A synopsis is displayed that includes information such as number of members, number of computers, and number of alerts.
4. Click the alert next to the computer name to view information about issues with that machine.
   You can request help if you need assistance resolving the alert. 
5. Click Details next to any computer to view information such as backup status, backup settings, and computer specifications.

As an administrator, you can sign in to a member's account to view backups and restore a backup.

1. Sign in to your Backblaze administrator account.
2. In the left navigation menu under Business Groups, click Users/Computers.
3. To view backups, click the cloud next to the member's name and click Manage User Account.
4. Create a Backblaze Snapshot restore.
   1. In the left navigation menu under B2 Cloud Storage, click Browse Files.
   2. Click the bucket that contains the files.
   3. Select all desired files, and click Snapshot.
   4. Enter a name for the Snapshot or keep the generated name, and click Make a Snapshot.
5. Download a completed Snapshot.
   1. In the left navigation menu under B2 Cloud storage, click Snapshots.
   2. Select the Snapshot that you want to download.
   3. Select either Download or USB Hard Drive, and click Retrieve Snapshot.
      If you select USB Hard Drive, you are prompted to enter payment and delivery information.
6. Click Back to Admin View to return to the previous page.
7. To remove a member, click the silhouette next to the member's name and click Remove from Group.
   The member receives a notification stating that they are no longer a member of your Group, and they must add a payment method to their Backblaze account for service to be uninterrupted.

As a Group admin, you can update a member's password, email address, or phone number on their behalf. However, you must know the user's current password to make these changes, and you must have access to the member's phone number and be able to receive SMS messages to change the account phone number. As an admin, you cannot delete a member's account or remove the member's account from the Group while you are logged in as the user.

1. Sign in to your Backblaze administrator account.
2. In the left navigation menu under Business Groups, click Users/Computers.
3. To view a user's account, click the silhouette icon next to the member's name and click Manage User Account.
4. In the left navigation under Account, click My Settings.
5. Edit the following Contact settings:
   • Change Email Address
   • Change Phone Number
   • Remove Phone Number
6. Edit the following Security settings:
   • Change Password
   • Change Sign in Settings
7. Click Back to Admin View to return to the previous page.