Overview
The Backup Wizard interface allows you to back up all or part of your website, or to restore it from the most recent backup file.
Note:
Experienced users may prefer to use the Backup interface (cPanel >> Home >> Files >> Backup).
Back Up
You can choose to create a full backup file or a partial backup file.
Important:
- You cannot use a full backup file to restore your files through the cPanel interface. Contact your system administrator for assistance.
- You must download and compress the backup file prior to restoration.
- After you decompress the backup file, you can upload and restore individual portions of your website that the full backup file contained.
- The backup process for an account near or over its quota may fail because the system cannot write the necessary files, such as a database lock file.
Create a full backup
To create a full backup file, perform the following steps:
-
From the main Backup Wizard interface, click Back Up. The Full or Partial Backup section of the interface will appear.
-
Click Full Backup. The Download section of the interface will appear.
- Select one of the following destinations from the Backup Destination menu:
- Home Directory — Select this option to save the backup file on the server.
- Remote FTP Server — Select this option to use FTP to store the backup file on a remote server.
- Remote FTP Server (passive mode transfer) — Select this option to use passive FTP to store the backup file on a remote server.
- Secure Copy (SCP) — Select this option to use SCP to store the backup file on a remote server.
- Perform one of the following actions to configure notifications for this backup file:
- To receive a notification when the backup process finishes, enter your email address in the Email Address text box.
- To disable notifications, select the Do not send email notification of backup completion. checkbox.
- If you selected the Remote FTP Server, Remote FTP Server (passive mode tansfer), or Secure Copy (SCP) destinations, enter the remote destination's information in the available text boxes.
- Click Generate Backup. A confirmation message will appear. Click Go Back to return to the Download section of the interface.
Note:
If you selected the Home Directory option in step 3, click the filename in the Download section of the interface to download the backup file.
- The backup file's creation date appears in the filename, which begins with a
backup-MM-DD-YYYYstring, where MM represents the month, DD represents the date, and YYYY represents the year. - The system stores full backup files as tarballs that use the
.tar.gzfile extension.
Create a partial backup
To back up a portion of your site, perform the following steps:
- From the main Backup Wizard interface, click Back Up. The Full or Partial Backup section of the interface will appear.
- Click the portion of your site that you wish to back up:
- Home Directory — Back up the
/homedirectory. - MySQL Databases — Back up your databases.
- Email Forwarders & Filters — Back up your email forwarders or filters.
- Home Directory — Back up the
- Click the desired backup file to download it.
Note:
When you create a partial backup, the backup type determines the backup file's extension.
|
Backup type
|
File type and extension
|
|---|---|
| Home Directory | *.tar.gz |
| Email Forwarders & Filters | *.net, *.com |
| MySQL Databases | *.sql |
Restore
To restore a portion of your site from an existing backup, perform the following steps:
- Click Restore. The Select Restore Type section of the interface will appear.
- Click the portion of your site that you wish to restore:
- Home Directory — Restore the
/homedirectory. - MySQL Databases — Restore your databases.
- Email Forwarders & Filters — Restore your email forwarders or filters.
- Home Directory — Restore the
-
Click Choose File and select the desired backup file.
Remember:
The type of backup file's extension depends on the portion of your site that you backed up.
- Click Upload to begin the restoration process.
Backup file contents
When you back up your home directory, the backup file includes the following files:
- All of the files that you own.
- Files that you do not own, but to which you possess access.
Note: Backup files do not include files from your /home directory that you do not own and cannot access.
To exclude certain files and directories from a backup file, place a configuration file in your home directory. For more information, read our How to Exclude Files From Backups documentation.
