Zoom Cloud Backup

A super-reliable Python script for backing up ALL Zoom cloud recordings to local storage (SSD/HDD).

Features

• Streaming Download - Downloads in 8MB chunks directly to disk (no RAM buffering)
• Resume Capability - Uses HTTP Range headers to continue interrupted downloads
• SQLite Progress Tracking - Persistent database tracks every file's status
• Integrity Verification - Verifies file size after download
• Disk Health Checks - Monitors disk availability, free space, and write access
• Graceful Shutdown - Ctrl+C saves progress, resume anytime
• Auto-Restart Wrapper - Bash script with exponential backoff for unattended operation
• Progress Bars - Visual progress for overall and per-file downloads
• All User Types - Fetches recordings from active, inactive, and pending users

Requirements

• Python 3.7+
• Zoom Server-to-Server OAuth App credentials
• External storage with sufficient space

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/zoom-cloud-backup.git
cd zoom-cloud-backup

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Copy and configure
cp config.example.json config.json
# Edit config.json with your Zoom credentials and storage path

Zoom API Setup

1. Go to Zoom App Marketplace
2. Click Develop → Build App
3. Choose Server-to-Server OAuth
4. Fill in the app information
5. Add scopes:
   • cloud_recording:read:list_user_recordings:admin
   • cloud_recording:read:list_recording_files:admin
   • user:read:list_users:admin
   • user:read:user:admin
6. Copy Account ID, Client ID, and Client Secret to config.json

Configuration

Edit config.json:

{
    "zoom": {
        "account_id": "YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
        "client_id": "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
        "client_secret": "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET"
    },
    "storage": {
        "base_path": "/path/to/backup/folder",
        "min_free_space_gb": 5
    },
    "download": {
        "chunk_size_mb": 8,
        "max_retries": 5,
        "retry_delay_sec": 10,
        "rate_limit_delay": 0.1,
        "timeout_sec": 60
    },
    "scan": {
        "start_date": "2020-01-01",
        "end_date": null
    }
}

Configuration Options

Option	Description	Default
storage.base_path	Where to save recordings	Required
storage.min_free_space_gb	Minimum free space to continue	5 GB
download.chunk_size_mb	Download chunk size	8 MB
download.max_retries	Max retries per file	5
download.retry_delay_sec	Delay between retries	10 sec
download.rate_limit_delay	Delay between API calls	0.1 sec
download.timeout_sec	Request timeout	60 sec
scan.start_date	Earliest date to scan	2020-01-01
scan.end_date	Latest date (null = today)	null

Usage

Basic Usage

# Full scan and download
python zoom_backup.py

# Resume interrupted download (skip scanning)
python zoom_backup.py --resume

# Scan only (no download)
python zoom_backup.py --scan-only

# Show statistics
python zoom_backup.py --status

Unattended Operation (Recommended)

Use the wrapper script for overnight/unattended backups:

# Make executable
chmod +x run_backup.sh

# Run with auto-restart
./run_backup.sh

# Watch logs in another terminal
tail -f zoom_backup.log

The wrapper script:

• Automatically restarts on failure (up to 100 times)
• Uses exponential backoff (10 sec → 5 min)
• Checks disk availability before restart
• Resets retry counter after 1 hour of successful operation
• Exits when all files are downloaded

File Structure

Downloaded recordings are organized by user and date:

/backup/path/
├── user1@example.com/
│   ├── 2024-01-15/
│   │   ├── Meeting_Topic_10-30.mp4
│   │   ├── Meeting_Topic_10-30.m4a
│   │   ├── Meeting_Topic_10-30.vtt
│   │   └── Meeting_Topic_10-30.chat.txt
│   └── 2024-01-16/
│       └── ...
├── user2@example.com/
│   └── ...
├── progress.db          # SQLite progress database
├── zoom_backup.log      # Main log file
└── wrapper.log          # Wrapper script log

Supported File Types

• MP4 - Video recordings
• M4A - Audio only
• VTT - Subtitles/captions
• TRANSCRIPT - Meeting transcripts
• CHAT - Chat logs
• SHARED_SCREEN - Screen sharing recordings

Progress Database

The script uses SQLite to track progress:

-- Check pending files
sqlite3 progress.db "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM recordings WHERE status='pending'"

-- Check failed files
sqlite3 progress.db "SELECT local_path, error_message FROM recordings WHERE status='failed'"

-- Reset failed files to retry
sqlite3 progress.db "UPDATE recordings SET status='pending', retry_count=0 WHERE status='failed'"

Troubleshooting

Script stops with "Disk not mounted"

• Ensure your external drive is connected and mounted
• Check the mount point in config matches your system

Downloads are slow

• Increase chunk_size_mb for faster networks
• Check your internet connection

"Max retries exceeded" errors

• Some files may be corrupted on Zoom's servers
• Reset and retry: sqlite3 progress.db "UPDATE recordings SET status='pending', retry_count=0 WHERE status='failed'"

Missing users/recordings

• Ensure scan.start_date covers your earliest recordings
• The script fetches active, inactive, AND pending users
• Deleted users are not recoverable via API

Reliability Features

Issue	Solution
Disk disconnects	Checks os.path.ismount() before each file
Network drops	HTTP Range headers for resume + retry with backoff
Out of space	Checks shutil.disk_usage() continuously
Ctrl+C interrupt	Graceful shutdown saves progress to SQLite
Corrupted download	Verifies file size, re-downloads on mismatch
Zoom rate limits	Configurable delays + exponential backoff
Token expiration	Auto-refresh OAuth token

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Acknowledgments

This script was created to reliably back up ~300GB of Zoom recordings overnight. It has been tested with:

• 8,800+ files
• 290+ GB of data
• 13 users (active, inactive, pending)
• 10+ hours of continuous operation