This howto shows you how we can download FTP files over TLS and backup them automatically. I have several Wordpress websites which are running on remote servers where I just have FTP access. I installed a Wordpress plugin (http://wordpress.org/plugins/backwpup/) which makes daily backups and now I want to store them on my server at home. First we need to install curlftpfs by executing the following command: Next we need to test if the FTP mount works with curlftpfs. To test this execute the following command: If your username or password contains special characters you need to convert them. For example you need to convert an @ to %40. You can use this converter: http://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_urlencode.asp If you get the following error: You need to download the server certificate with the following command: and add it to the options of curlftpfs: Now the mount should work and if you browse into the /mnt directory you should see the files which are in the specified directory on your FTP server. Update 06.03.2014: After a comment on this post about how to hide the password from the process list I add the following addition from the FAQ of the curlFtpFS project website: You can put the user and password in a .netrc file in the home directory of the user that executes CurlFtpFS. It can have 600 permission. It's still clear text but at least is not accessible by all. The format is: Ok now it's time to create a simple backup script which copies the backups to a local folder...