Error: Connection closed by remote host. Is borg working on the server?

[s-fischbach]

Hi!
I use Vorta with borgbase and have made several dozens of backups to my repository so far. A few days ago (might be related to updating from Fedora 42 to 43?) my remote backups started failing (not local ones).

Vorta states: "Error: Connection closed by remote host. Is borg working on the server?"

Vorta log:

2025-11-13 12:04:17,242 - vorta.borg.borg_job - WARNING - Remote: ** WARNING: connection is not using a post-quantum key exchange algorithm.
2025-11-13 12:04:17,243 - vorta.borg.borg_job - WARNING - Remote: ** This session may be vulnerable to "store now, decrypt later" attacks.
2025-11-13 12:04:17,244 - vorta.borg.borg_job - WARNING - Remote: ** The server may need to be upgraded. See https://openssh.com/pq.html
2025-11-13 12:04:17,437 - vorta.borg.borg_job - WARNING - Remote: ssh_askpass: exec(/usr/bin/ksshaskpass): No such file or directory
2025-11-13 12:04:17,439 - vorta.borg.borg_job - WARNING - Remote: abc@abc.repo.borgbase.com: Permission denied (publickey,gssapi-keyex,gssapi-with-mic).
2025-11-13 12:04:17,448 - vorta.borg.borg_job - ERROR - Connection closed by remote host. Is borg working on the server?

(repo URL modified)

I read the FAQ and checked steps 1 to 6. I was unsure how to check step 3 (key encryption), but I've never been prompted for a password so far when using Vorta, so I guess it's not encrypted. With step 6, I get a "PTY allocation request failed on channel 0" and the FAQ states "then the login step still worked.". Okay, but my backup does not. Do you have any advice on how to proceed? I'm a bit lost...

Thanks a lot in advanced
Sebastian

[chris-neely]

I've got the same exact issue going on, it seems to me that if Vorta runs on system start up and then immediately tries to kick off a missed back up schedule, it gives me this error in the log.

2026-05-12 21:36:58,230 - vorta.borg.borg_job - WARNING - Remote: ssh_askpass: exec(/usr/libexec/openssh/gnome-ssh-askpass): No such file or directory

If I exit Vorta and then open it again, it works fine. I can't seem to figure out why this is happening, but it makes having auto start + scheduled backup fairly useless for me since I have to close and open the application to get it to work. I've even tried delaying the startup of the application, and that doesn't seem to impact the behavior at all. I'm really not sure what's up with my system.

[tylerebowers]

Seems to be a new issue, I have used Vorta for awhile and only recently did this start happening. I need to restart Vorta after logging in to get it to work. I am getting a Permission denied (publickey) warning, then Connection closed by remote host. Is borg working on the server? in the logs even though it works after Vorta restarts.

[s-fischbach]

Only thing I can add: I switched to Pika Backup after the problem occured last November and continued to use the same repository, which worked fine. So it doesn't seem to be a problem on the remote side.

[r00bit1984]

I'm facing the same issue, when trying to add a BorgBase Borg Repo. It was working like 10 days ago

[m3nu]

This error can have many reasons. We have a checklist to go over here:

https://docs.borgbase.com/faq/#all-connections-to-a-borgbase-repo-fail-with-an-error-immediately

[r00bit1984]

Thanks, that one’s on me. Forgot the key I was using is encrypted