Creating Backups with cPanel

cPanel - Files - Backups

This feature is very useful for your hosting account.
If anything wrong would happen to the website while editing, making a change in the website files or database, you can restore to as it was before.
We can use the backup feature for transferring your website to a new host.
If any problem occurs with your hosting provider, you will always have a copy of the website yourself, saved on your own computer or device.

Note: Newer users may prefer to use the Backup Wizard interface
cPanel » Home » Files » Backup Wizard
The system stores backup files as tarballs that use the .tar.gz file extension.

Full Backup

Important: You cannot use a full backup file to restore your website through the cPanel interface. Contact your hosting provider for assistance.
You must decompress the backup file before you attempt to restore it.
After you decompress the backup file, you can upload and restore individual portions of your website that the full backup file contains.
The backup process for an account near or over its quota may fail because the system cannot write necessary files, such as a database lock file.

Start by clicking on the "Download a Full Website Backup to create, download, or store a full backup file".

The Generate a Full Backup interface will appear.

I) Select a storage setting from the Backup Destination menu:

• • Home Directory - Select this setting to save the backup file on the server
• • Remote FTP Server - Select this setting to use FTP to store the backup file on a remote server.
• • Remote FTP Server (passive mode transfer) - Select this setting to use passive FTP to store the backup file on a remote server.
• • Secure Copy (SCP) - Select this setting to use secure copy protocol (SCP) to store the backup file on a remote server.

II) Select a notification setting:

• • To receive a notification when the backup finishes, enter your email address in the available text box.
• • If you do not wish to receive a notification, select Do not send email notification of backup completion.
• • If you selected Remote FTP Server, Remote FTP Server (passive mode transfer), or Secure Copy (SCP) from the Backup Destination menu, enter the remote destination’s information in the available text boxes.

III) Click Generate Backup.

Account Backups

To download an existing full backup file to your computer, select the desired backup file’s filename from the Account Backups menu.

Note: The backup file uses the backup-MM-DD-YYYY format, where MM is the month, DD is the day, and YYYY is the four-digit year.

Partial Backups

Partial backup files store individual sections of your account.

Download a partial backup

To download a specific item, click the desired items. This method downloads the backup file as a .gz file to your computer.

Restore a partial backup

To use a partial backup to restore a portion of your website, perform the following steps:

• • Click Choose File under the appropriate heading. For example, to restore a MySQL® database, click Choose File under the Restore a MySQL Database heading.
• • Select the backup file from your computer.
• •Click Upload to restore that portion of your website.

Home Directory backup file contents

When you back up your /home directory, the backup file includes the following:

• • All the files, databases, images... that are on your website.
• • Files that you do not own, but can 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 cPanel's How to Exclude Files From Backups documentation.