Category Archives: Administration

BackUpWordPress saves a backup copy of your site files and/or database. If you need to know how to retrieve and restore from your backups, here is our handy guide: Please note that once a restore has been run on either the database or site files, you will not be able to retrieve the previous version so you may wish to create a last-minute backup of your database and files locally just before you run the restore process.

Download

There are 2 ways to do this:

1. Within WordPress dashboard go to Tools – Backups. This will take you to the Manage Backups page.
The Manage Backups page will let you select from all of your backup schedules. You should click on the schedule that you require. All your backups for the schedule will be listed in date order. Select the latest backup from the top of the list and click on the Download link to save it locally.

2. Connect to your site via FTP. Look for the wp-content folder and inside it you will find a folder called backups containing zip files of all the latest backups named by backup date. Select the latest backup file and transfer a copy locally.

Unzip

Once you have a zip file of the latest backup saved locally, unzip the files. In OS X, you can simply double-click on the file. In Windows, you can use an archiving tool to extract the backup file (there are many available for download on the internet). The unzipped file will contain your database file (ending .sql), your sites files or both, depending on how you have configured the BackUpWordPress settings. The default setting is for both database and site files to be backed up.

Restore your files

The backup site files consist of three folders called wp-admin, wp-content and wp-includes plus a number of php files and a .ht access file. You will need to upload the site files to your site and overwrite the existing files. This can be done via FTP using the file manager provided by your hosting company panel or via an FTP or SFTP client (such as Filezilla for PCs or Transmit for Mac). Make sure you choose to replace the existing files with the new ones. If you are restoring your site after a hack or virus attack it is better to delete all the site files prior to uploading the new files in case additional files have been added.

Restore your database

You will then need to import your database. This should automatically overwrite the old tables. There are a number of different ways that this can be done:

• Using a tool such as phpMyAdmin. This and similar tools are usually available via your hosting company panel.

• Using a desktop tool.

• MySQL commands via the command line prompt.

• For more information see WordPress codex article on restoring your database from backup.

Again, if you are restoring after a security breach it may be better to delete all old database tables before importing the new ones.

Using phpMyAdmin

phpMyAdmin is a program used to manipulate databases remotely through a web interface. A good hosting package will have this included. For information on backing up your WordPress database, see Backing Up Your Database.

Information here has been tested using phpMyAdmin 4.0.5 running on Unix.

The following instructions will replace your current database with the backup, reverting your database to the state it was in when you backed up.

Restore Process

Using phpMyAdmin, follow the steps below to restore a MySQL database.

1. Login to phpMyAdmin.
2. Click “Databases” and select the database that you will be importing your data into.
3. You will then see either a list of tables already inside that database or a screen that says no tables exist. This depends on your setup.
4. Across the top of the screen will be a row of tabs. Click the Import tab.
5. On the next screen will be a location of text file box, and next to that a button named Browse.
6. Click Browse. Locate the backup file stored on your computer.
7. Make sure SQL is selected in the Format drop-down menu.
8. Click the Go button.

Now grab a coffee. This bit takes a while. Eventually you will see a success screen.