Bose-SoundTouch/cmd/soundtouch-backup/README.md

soundtouch-backup

A standalone tool for backing up Bose SoundTouch data — both your cloud account (presets, devices, sources) and the local filesystem of each speaker — before the Bose cloud services shut down on May 6, 2026.

Overview

Subcommand	What it backs up
all	Cloud account and all paired speakers in one step — the recommended starting point
cloud	Bose account profile, paired devices, cloud presets, music service sources
local	Speaker HTTP API data (presets, sources, volume, …) and optionally device filesystem files via SSH

Output is a single .tar.gz archive (or .zip) with a dated root directory.

Building

make build-backup
# binary: ./build/soundtouch-backup

Or install alongside the other tools:

make install

Usage

Combined backup (recommended)

The all command is the simplest way to capture everything: it authenticates with the Bose cloud, backs up your account data, then reads the IP addresses from devices.xml and backs up each reachable speaker over HTTP.

# Interactive — prompts for email and password
soundtouch-backup all

# Non-interactive
soundtouch-backup all --email you@example.com --password secret

# Include SSH filesystem backup for each speaker
soundtouch-backup all --ssh

# Environment variables
BOSE_EMAIL=you@example.com BOSE_PASSWORD=secret soundtouch-backup all --ssh

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
--email	-e	—	Bose account email ($BOSE_EMAIL)
--password	--pw	—	Bose account password ($BOSE_PASSWORD)
--ssh		on	Also capture filesystem files via SSH for each speaker
--output	-o	soundtouch-backup-YYYY-MM-DD.tar.gz	Output archive path
--format		tar.gz	Archive format: tar.gz or zip

Speakers that are offline or unreachable at the time of backup are skipped with a ✗ warning; the cloud data is still saved.

---

Cloud backup

Backs up data from your Bose account at streaming.bose.com. Credentials are prompted interactively if not supplied as flags.

# Interactive — prompts for email, masked password input
soundtouch-backup cloud

# Non-interactive
soundtouch-backup cloud --email you@example.com --password secret

# Environment variables (avoids secrets in shell history)
BOSE_EMAIL=you@example.com BOSE_PASSWORD=secret soundtouch-backup cloud

# Zip output
soundtouch-backup cloud --format zip --output my-bose-cloud.zip

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
--email	-e	—	Bose account email ($BOSE_EMAIL)
--password	--pw	—	Bose account password ($BOSE_PASSWORD)
--output	-o	soundtouch-backup-YYYY-MM-DD.tar.gz	Output archive path ($SOUNDTOUCH_BACKUP_OUTPUT)
--format		tar.gz	Archive format: tar.gz or zip

What gets fetched

File in archive	Source endpoint
cloud/emailaddress.xml	GET /streaming/account/{id}/emailaddress
cloud/devices.xml	GET /streaming/account/{id}/devices
cloud/sources.xml	GET /streaming/account/{id}/sources
cloud/presets.xml	GET /streaming/account/{id}/presets/all
cloud/full.xml	GET /streaming/account/{id}/full (may overlap with the above; skipped if 4xx)

---

Local backup

Backs up each speaker over its HTTP API on port 8090. With --ssh, also captures key filesystem files via SSH.

# Auto-discover all speakers on the local network
soundtouch-backup local

# Specific speaker
soundtouch-backup local --host 192.168.178.28

# Multiple speakers
soundtouch-backup local --host 192.168.178.28 --host 192.168.178.35

# Include SSH filesystem backup
soundtouch-backup local --ssh

# Longer discovery window on busy networks
soundtouch-backup local --discover-timeout 10s

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
--host	-H	—	Speaker host/IP, repeatable ($SOUNDTOUCH_HOST)
--port	-p	8090	Speaker HTTP port ($SOUNDTOUCH_PORT)
--discover	-d	auto	Force mDNS/UPnP discovery
--discover-timeout		5s	Discovery timeout
--ssh		on	Also capture filesystem files via SSH
--output	-o	soundtouch-backup-YYYY-MM-DD.tar.gz	Output archive path
--format		tar.gz	Archive format: tar.gz or zip

What gets fetched via HTTP

File	Device endpoint
info.xml	/info
name.xml	/name
presets.xml	/presets
sources.xml	/sources
now_playing.xml	/now_playing
volume.xml	/volume
bass.xml	/bass
balance.xml	/balance
capabilities.xml	/capabilities
network_info.xml	/networkInfo
clock_display.xml	/clockDisplay
zone.xml	/getZone

Endpoints that return HTTP 4xx (not supported on the device model) are silently skipped.

What gets fetched via SSH (--ssh)

SSH connects as root@<host>:22 with an empty password, which is the default for SoundTouch firmware.

Individual files:

Remote path	Notes
/etc/hosts	DNS redirect state
/etc/resolv.conf	DNS resolver configuration
/etc/remote_services	Service registration (post-migration only)
/mnt/nv/remote_services	Alternative location for remote services

Directories (all regular files recursively):

Remote path	Contents
/opt/Bose/etc/	Full Bose configuration directory, including SoundTouchSdkPrivateCfg.xml
/mnt/nv/BoseApp-Persistence/1/	Persisted app state

Missing files and directories are silently skipped with a ⚠ warning.

---

Archive structure

Both subcommands write into a single dated archive:

soundtouch-backup-2026-05-02/
├── cloud/
│   ├── emailaddress.xml
│   ├── devices.xml
│   ├── sources.xml
│   └── presets.xml
└── local/
    ├── A_Sound_Machine/
    │   ├── info.xml
    │   ├── presets.xml
    │   ├── sources.xml
    │   ├── volume.xml
    │   ├── …
    │   └── ssh/
    │       ├── etc/
    │       │   ├── hosts
    │       │   └── resolv.conf
    │       ├── opt/Bose/etc/
    │       │   └── SoundTouchSdkPrivateCfg.xml
    │       └── mnt/nv/BoseApp-Persistence/1/
    └── Sound_Machinechen/
        └── …

Running cloud and local separately produces two archives. To combine them, use the same --output path for both invocations — each adds its own subdirectory so they won't collide (.tar.gz does not support appending; use --format zip if you need a single archive from two runs, or just keep them separate).

See also

• Cloud Shutdown Survival Guide — full migration context
• soundtouch-cli — live device control
• soundtouch-service — local cloud replacement