Advanced Backup
Advanced Backup extends the regular Website Backup feature to provide unlimited manual backups and scheduled/automated backups of the full site, including the site database, FTP files and admin configurations.
Enabling
Advanced Backup is installed as a site extension and can therefore be enabled from your reseller Portal, via the site instance settings, then under the ‘Extensions’ tab.
Clicking the “Install” button will move the extension to the ‘Installed Extensions’ section and activate it for that site.
Once installed, configuration options for the extension will be available by clicking on the “Settings” button, and these are detailed below.
Uninstalling
From your reseller Portal, via the site instance settings, then under the ‘Extensions’ tab, clicking the trash can () icon next to the Advanced Backup extension will uninstall the extension from the site and move it back to the ‘Available Extensions’ section.
Once uninstalled, any currently stored backups will not be deleted and the encrypted backup files will remain in their storage location. In the event the extension is re-enabled, those stored backups will again be available via the extension.
Backup
When accessing the Advanced Backup extension it will display a paginated list of all previously completed backups; noting the file name, date and time it ran, the backup type (manual or scheduled), and its file size.
The table can also be sorted by these column headers to help sort and find specific backups.
Each listed item can be downloaded, restored to, or deleted, from the action icons in the far right table column.
A manual backup can be performed at any time using the “BACKUP NOW” button at the top of the table.
Edit Settings
From the Advanced Backup’s main list view, clicking “Edit Settings” from the top of the table provides access to the extension's configuration settings.
Here you can manage the following options:
Set the frequency that the automatic backups will run, selecting the number of recurrences over which time period (day, week, month, year) and hour of day.
Scheduling for the most inactive period of website traffic is recommended.
Email portal owner and cancel backup
If there is insufficient storage space remaining for the attempted backup process, the backup will cancel with an email notification sent to the Portal owner.
Overwrite the oldest backup
If there is insufficient storage space remaining for the attempted backup process, the backup will delete the required number of oldest backups in order to make space for the current backup process.
Restore
To restore your site to a previous backup you can click on that item’s restore icon () in the far right ‘Actions’ column.
All existing backups will remain even after restoring to an earlier point in time, so the site can be again restored to a newer backup if needed.
It’s recommended to create a current backup of your site before restoring to an earlier version in the event you need to return to the most recent state or recover more recently created items.
The site can also be restored to a previously downloaded backup file via the 3 dot menu () at the top of the table and selecting “Upload Backup File”.
Backup files can only be restored to the same site they were created from.
Backup/Restore Process
Once a backup or restore process is initiated, the progress of the backup/restore process will be shown for the duration of the backup. No other backup/restore operations will be possible during this process.
You may navigate away from this page while a backup or restore process is running and the process will continue unaffected. However, you may want to return at a later time to check the status or to ensure it has been completed successfully.
An email notification will be sent to the Portal owner only in the event of there not being enough storage space available for the backup process (and only if the Advanced Backup Settings are configured for such notification).
The Advanced Backup extension implements ‘Full Backup’ operations, meaning all site data is stored in each backup file - unlike other backup operation types such as ‘Incremental’ or ‘Differential’ backups.
Cancelling
A backup or restore process can be cancelled by clicking the cancel icon () at the end of the progress indicator bar.
Any website files altered during the process will then be restored to their previous state in order to correctly cancel the backup/restore process.
Storage
The Website Backup feature utilises the site's disk space storage. To gain additional storage space for backups, consider adding storage space to your site's configuration via your reseller Portal.
Admin Interface
From the website admin, the backup extension can be accessed from the main menu under ‘Settings’ > ‘Website Backup’.
Admin Users
The Advanced Backup extension is available from both the reseller Portal and the website admin. However, by default, website admin users are not configured with permissions to access the extension. This can be adjusted via the ‘Admin User Roles’ to configure fine-grain control for how admin users can use and access the extension.