diff --git a/sysutils/git-backup/Makefile b/sysutils/git-backup/Makefile
index 6b4d6919f..8ac82dd76 100644
--- a/sysutils/git-backup/Makefile
+++ b/sysutils/git-backup/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-PLUGIN_NAME=		git-backup
-PLUGIN_VERSION=		0.1
-PLUGIN_COMMENT=		Track config changes using git
-PLUGIN_MAINTAINER=	ad@opnsense.org
-PLUGIN_DEVEL=		yes
+PLUGIN_NAME=        git-backup
+PLUGIN_VERSION=     0.1
+PLUGIN_COMMENT=     Track config changes using git
+PLUGIN_DEPENDS=     git
+PLUGIN_MAINTAINER=  ad@opnsense.org
 
 .include "../../Mk/plugins.mk"
diff --git a/sysutils/git-backup/src/opnsense/mvc/app/library/OPNsense/Backup/Git.php b/sysutils/git-backup/src/opnsense/mvc/app/library/OPNsense/Backup/Git.php
index 7bf0d47f1..f093a3b82 100644
--- a/sysutils/git-backup/src/opnsense/mvc/app/library/OPNsense/Backup/Git.php
+++ b/sysutils/git-backup/src/opnsense/mvc/app/library/OPNsense/Backup/Git.php
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 
 namespace OPNsense\Backup;
 
+use OPNsense\Core\Backend;
 use OPNsense\Core\Config;
 use OPNsense\Backup\GitSettings;
 
@@ -59,6 +60,13 @@ class Git extends Base implements IBackupProvider
              "help" => gettext("Target location, which defined transport protocol, such as ssh://server/project.git or https://server/project.git."),
              "value" => null
            ],
+           [
+             "name" => "branch",
+             "type" => "text",
+             "label" => gettext("Branch"),
+             "help" => gettext("Target branch to push to."),
+             "value" => null
+           ],
            [
              "name" => "privkey",
              "type" => "textarea",
@@ -110,11 +118,73 @@ class Git extends Base implements IBackupProvider
      }
 
     /**
-     * @inheritdoc
+     * Backup is responsible for initialising the local repo and pusing it to upstream.
+     * To ensure initial content, we should trigger a 'system event config_changed' which should enforce a
+     * add + commit in our (newly created) repo.
+     *
+     * Since our backup method is also called from the userinterface directly, we should try to prevent the need
+     * for elevated rights. Since all actions are concentrated within the config directory, we only need read/exec
+     * access on git. (detaching this further would deviate the implementation from the existing ones)
+     *
+     * @return array filelist
      */
     public function backup()
     {
-        return ['config.xml'];
+        $targetdir = "/conf/backup/git";
+        $git = "/usr/local/bin/git";
+        $mdl = new GitSettings();
+        if (!is_dir($targetdir)) {
+            mkdir($targetdir);
+        }
+        if (!is_dir('{$targetdir}/.git')) {
+            exec("{$git} init {$targetdir}");
+        }
+        // XXX: since our git backup is plain text and already contains the private key, it doesn't really matter
+        //      to keep the same key in the git directory (we're not going to push it)
+        $ident_file = "{$targetdir}/identity";
+        $privkey = trim(str_replace("\r", "", (string)$mdl->privkey)) . "\n";
+        file_put_contents($ident_file, $privkey);
+        chmod("{$targetdir}/identity", 0600);
+        // When there are unprocessed config backups, flush them out.
+        (new Backend())->configdRun("system event config_changed");
+        // configure upstream
+        exec("cd {$targetdir} && ".
+            "{$git} config core.sshCommand ".
+            "\"ssh -i {$ident_file} -o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new -o PasswordAuthentication=no\""
+        );
+        $url = (string)$mdl->url;
+        $pos = strpos($url, '//');
+        // inject credentials in url (either username or username:password, depending on transport)
+        if (stripos(trim((string)$mdl->$url),'http')) {
+            $cred = urlencode((string)$mdl->user) . ":" . urlencode((string)$mdl->password);
+            $url = substr($url,0, $pos+2) . "{$cred}@" . substr($url, $pos+2);
+        } else {
+            $url = substr($url,0, $pos+2) . urlencode((string)$mdl->user) . "@" . substr($url, $pos+2);
+        }
+        exec("cd {$targetdir} && git remote remove origin");
+        exec("cd {$targetdir} && git remote add origin ". escapeshellarg($url));
+        $pushtxt = shell_exec(
+            "(cd {$targetdir} && git push origin " . escapeshellarg("master:{$mdl->branch}") .
+            " && echo '__exit_ok__') 2>&1"
+        );
+        if (strpos($pushtxt, '__exit_ok__')) {
+            $error_type = null;
+        } elseif (strpos($pushtxt, 'Permission denied')) {
+            $error_type = "authentication failure";
+        } elseif (strpos($pushtxt, 'WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED')) {
+            $error_type = "ssh hostkey changed";
+        } elseif (strpos($pushtxt, "remote contains work that you do")) {
+            $error_type = "git out of sync";
+        } else {
+            $error_type = "unknown error, check log for details";
+        }
+        if (!empty($error_type)) {
+            syslog(LOG_ERR, "git-backup {$error_type} (".str_replace("\n", " ", $pushtxt).")");
+            throw new \Exception($error_type);
+        } else {
+            // return filelist in git
+            return explode("\n", shell_exec("cd {$targetdir} && git ls-files"));
+        }
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/sysutils/git-backup/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Backup/GitSettings.xml b/sysutils/git-backup/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Backup/GitSettings.xml
index 84f9f0fc4..52c88d582 100644
--- a/sysutils/git-backup/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Backup/GitSettings.xml
+++ b/sysutils/git-backup/src/opnsense/mvc/app/models/OPNsense/Backup/GitSettings.xml
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@
                 </check001>
             </Constraints>
         </url>
+        <branch type="TextField">
+          <default>master</default>
+          <Required>Y</Required>
+        </branch>
         <privkey type="TextField">
             <Required>N</Required>
         </privkey>