Latest news: There is a new version out 3.0.12.
Important: Please test on a test environment before you upgrade just in case you are still having issues. Once again if the latest version is causing problems keep using 2.1.17 as it is a stable working version until all other issues a fixed. Also bare in mind that you will no longer be able to restore your database through your website as you did using 2.1.17 version. You will now have to restore your database via your server, which is a more secure way.
Please read the latest release information below:
Version 3.0.12
- Fixed: Redirect when accessing the WordPress backend
- Added: Russian translation
- Added: Simplified chinese translation
- Fixed: German log string typo
Version 3.0 Pro
- Wizards
- Export jobs and settings as XML
- Synchronization of files to backup with destination (filename and size checked)
- Wizard to import jobs and settings from XML
- Database dump can backup other MySQL databases
- Database dump can use
mysqldump command on commend line
- Database dump can create XML files (phpMyAdmin schema)
- Use your own API keys for Dropbox and SugarSync
- Premium Support
- Automatic updates
Important: All the images below are related to the previous version 2.1.17. I will be adding new images to reflect the new version soon.
Important: Please remember to review the compatibility and post whether the update works or not on the wordpress plugin website. This is important for the developer Daniel Huesken.
This simple tutorial will guide you and help you to create a WordPress backup and restore your WordPress website using BackWpup plugin on the same server.
Just to let you know after I created the backup I deleted all the website files on my server to test this plugin.
First you need to download and install the BackWPup plugin.
Hint: Click on an image to see a larger size.
Create A Full Backup including the Database
1) Create a job and select what you want to include in the backup from the many options. See image below:
2) Make sure that you enter the backup path or else you will receive an error. See image below:
Hint: Make sure your backup folder is protected. To secure the folder you can add an index.html file or add a .htaccess file on the backup folder.
Option: If you want some extra storage, enable one of the many FTP options that BackWPup provides for you to upload directly into. I chose SugarSync which gives you 5 gb of storage for free, this allows me to keep some backups of my clients websites. The root is not visible until you have created an account. See image below.
Important: Remember to add a number of copies to your sugarsync account or else you will receive the following error. [ERROR] SugarSync API: Http Error: 499
3) Once the job has been created then you need to run the job to create the backup. See image below:
4) If everything goes well then you should receive a completed message. See image below:
5) Once you have created the backup, you can download a copy locally to your computer. See image below:
Hint: It is always better to use FTP to download or upload files.
Option: Keep a copy of the backup zipped file on your server if you have space.
Hint: If you want to create an automated process to download to your computer, create a sugarsync or dropbox account. Then download and install the SugarSync or Dropbox software on your computer and run a sync from your computer to the server using the software. Always remember the size limitations.
That is how simple it is to create a backup.
How to Restore a Full Backup to the same Server
Important: This process requires two steps to achieve the full restoration of your website.
Step 1: Upload all files and Database
You need to upload the content of the zip file you downloaded on step 5) to the server or if you kept the file on the server go to step 6).
Unzip all the files locally on your computer and upload them using ftp software like FileZilla, which is FREE. All the files must be uploaded to the same path as your website unless you choose to upload the files to a different folder and then copy them to the website path. The path will look similar as illustrated on the following examples below:
Examples:
/home/user/public_html
/home/user/www
/public_html/
(depending on your host).
6) Select the file on the server to extract. See image below:
7) Extract the file to the correct path of your website. See image below:
Example: My path is /plublic_html/myurl/wptest/ this is a sub domain
Voila the site was up and running in a few minutes. I did some test on the site by login into the admin page and had a look around and yes everything was working well. Very simple and quick. The BackWPup plugin works well and I highly recommend it.
Step 2: Restore the Database
You will find your database in the root of your website which was added in Step 1 above.
Important: Make sure the database is Unzipped.
8) Log into the website as admin. Locate tools on the left hand side and restore your database. See image below:
Important: Delete the database after you have restored it successfully.
9 ) Please note that the above options in Step 8 ) no longer applies to the new version 3.0.6. You now have to upload the database backup file to the server manually using phpMyAdmin or what ever tool you use in your server. You can follow my tutorial Test Your WordPress Site Locally, even though this tutorial is for a local server the part about phpMyAdmin is the same as a live server. If you don’t like performing this process because you either don’t have access to the server or for other reasons; I sugges that you try the following plugin WP-DBManager from Lester Chan. I have tested this plugin on all my websites running WordPress 3.5.1 and it works without a problem.
Warning!!!: Always have a latest database backup just in case something goes wrong.
Moving WordPress to a different directory
Please remember the information in this tutorial relates to backing up and restoring to the same server.
I did not add any new information here because WordPress has a great tutorial on moving your WordPress to another directory. Click on the following link moving wordpress to it’s own directory.
After you have followed the steps pointed out in the link above, you need to carry out a few more steps. These steps are very important because it can affect your SEO and performance.
- Check your website in the new location. Log into your admin panel and check to see if you have any issues, make sure that all your links are 100% correct. Check your theme and plugins.
- The first plugin you will install Velvet Blues Update URLs, this plugin will help you update all your URL’s and content links in your website.
- Install redirection plugin unless you already have it, to start redirecting any old URL’s to the new URL address. Even though the plugin above will do about 95% or more of y0ur work, you will still miss some links and URL’s.
- Install Better WP Security plugin unless you already have it. Apart from being a great security plugin, it has a nice log checker. Check regularly the log files, it will tell you of any 404 errors page not found. Some of these errors will point out any URL address that needs to be updated “redirected”.
Troubleshooting:
- Gmail does not allow emails with .bat files in them to be sent or received. BackWPup has some .bat files in its folders. A solution is to tell BackWPup to exclude itself from the archive. Daniel is planning on removing the batch files on his next release.
Run and test your website locally:
In the following tutorials you will learn how to setup WordPress locally using xampp and install your backup locally to run some testing.
- First read the following tutorial Install WordPress locally using Xampp to set up your WordPress locally
- Second read the following tutorial Test Your WordPress Site Locally which will show you how to restore BackWPup backup locally for testing and editing.
I will be adding more information in the near future. If you have any questions please leave a message.
Good luck 
