Back up databases and files to Box with Mailgun email notifications

Scheduled Backup Automation – Mailgun & Box

This workflow automatically schedules, packages, and uploads backups of your databases, files, or configuration exports to Box cloud storage, then sends a completion email via Mailgun. It is ideal for small-to-medium businesses or solo developers who want hands-off, verifiable backups without writing custom scripts.

Pre-conditions/Requirements

Prerequisites - n8n instance (self-hosted or n8n.cloud) - Box account with a folder dedicated to backups - Mailgun account & verified domain - Access to the target database/server you intend to back up - Basic knowledge of environment variables to store secrets

Required Credentials - Box OAuth2 – For uploading the backup file(s) - Mailgun API Key – For sending backup status notifications - (Optional) Database Credentials – Only if the backup includes a DB dump triggered from inside n8n

Specific Setup Requirements | Variable | Example | Purpose | |-------------------------|------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------| | BOXFOLDERID | 1234567890 | ID of the Box folder that stores backups | | MAILGUNDOMAIN | mg.example.com | Mailgun domain used for sending email | | MAILGUNFROM | Backups <backup@mg.example.com> | “From” address in status emails | | NOTIFYEMAIL | admin@example.com | Recipient of backup status emails |

How it works

This workflow automatically schedules, packages, and uploads backups of your databases, files, or configuration exports to Box cloud storage, then sends a completion email via Mailgun. It is ideal for small-to-medium businesses or solo developers who want hands-off, verifiable backups without writing custom scripts.