Backblaze announced two new tools for Backblaze Computer Backup designed to give IT teams greater control, consistency, and automation across endpoint deployments: the Advanced Installer and the Backblaze Command Line Interface (bzcli).
Backblaze Computer Backup has long been known for its simplicity. Install it, and it runs quietly in the background protecting data. While this works well for many organizations, IT teams managing large or distributed environments have increasingly asked for deeper configuration control during deployment and ongoing management.
The Advanced Installer and bzcli were built to meet that need.
“Backblaze has always been built on ease of use, but simplicity shouldn’t mean sacrificing control,” said Gleb Budman, CEO of Backblaze. “As our customers grow, their IT environments become more complex. With Advanced Installer and bzcli, we’re giving IT teams the ability to standardize, automate, and scale endpoint backup management, without losing the reliability they expect from Backblaze.”
Advanced Installer: Standardized configuration at scale
The Advanced Installer enables IT administrators to preconfigure and lock specific client settings before deployment. When installed on employee devices, Backblaze Computer Backup automatically reflects company-approved policies, eliminating the need for manual adjustments by end users.
With Advanced Installer, administrators can:
- Lock backup schedules to ensure backups run at designated times
- Centrally manage file and folder exclusions
- Enforce consistent security preferences
- Suppress non-essential desktop notifications
Rather than configuring devices individually or correcting misconfigurations after rollout, IT teams can define standards once and apply them consistently across the organization.
The Advanced Installer integrates with widely used deployment platforms, including Jamf, Kandji, Addigy, and other MDM and RMM tools. For organizations onboarding employees frequently, supporting distributed teams, or delivering managed backup services, this reduces configuration variability and lowers support overhead.
Bzcli: Remote configuration and reporting for automated environments
In addition to Advanced Installer, Backblaze is introducing bzcli, a new command-line interface built for enterprise IT teams operating in RMM and MDM-managed environments.
Previously, command-line support focused primarily on installation. Post-deployment configuration and reporting required manual interaction. Bzcli addresses this gap by enabling structured, automated management after installation.
Using bzcli, administrators can:
- Modify client configuration settings using structured JSON input files
- Update backup schedules, exclusions, network controls, and security preferences
- Adjust notification settings remotely
- Retrieve configuration and reporting information through automation tools
Bzcli features a command-based structure (e.g., bzcli configure, bzcli report) with predictable output designed for scripting and automation workflows. The tool is cross-platform and included as part of the standard Backblaze Computer Backup client on both macOS and Windows.
It is designed to support environments using Jamf, Kandji, Addigy, and similar device management platforms.
Built for growing organizations
As organizations scale, maintaining consistent backup policies becomes increasingly critical. Configuration drift introduces risk, while unnecessary user notifications create operational noise.
The Advanced Installer and bzcli are designed to eliminate that friction, allowing IT teams to define backup standards once, enforce them consistently, and adjust policies centrally without requiring user intervention.
For organizations responsible for protecting company data across large and distributed environments, these new tools make deployment more predictable and ongoing management significantly simpler.
