It is best to set up a new user just for the purposes of backing up the server. This allows better control over what can be done by this user via sudo. I assume this user is oneilj for the rest of this module. You should pick a user name that screams “hack me!”
Furthermore, because this account will be granted the privileges (as root) for some functions, it should also have a secure password that is difficult to hack.
In the home folder of this new user, set up a folder for SSH as follows:
This folder will become useful later on.