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Hi there Pete –

It sounds like the backup is actually hanging. Have you checked the file that appears on FTP? Is it a complete backup that is saving or a partial one?

Unfortunately, hosting environments can really mess with full backup completion sometimes. Try following some of these tips to see if we can help isolate the issue you’re having:

• can you run a database-only backup manually?
• try to exclude your /wp-content/uploads folder, then run a manual backup. Does this work?
• try disabling all other plugins, and switch to a default theme if possible as plugin conflicts can occur. Does that help?

Let me know what you find out and we can troubleshoot from there,

Kat

Hi Kat,

Many thanks for your swift reply. Have had to go away this weekend and was only able to get back to this today.

I think you are right about it being a partial file on the FTP version as it is less than half a Gb and the estimated size is 1Gb.

I have tried a manual back up and that, sadly doesn’t work. However I have tried a manual back up excluding the Uploads folder and that worked brilliantly. I then tried a manual back up with everything other than the Uploads folder excluded and it didn’t work. The memory amount here was 940Mb. Could size be an issue? Would excluding different folders in the Upload file help?

Sadly the site is for a client of mine and is currently live, it is not an option to change the theme or deactivate plug ins as my client is using the site daily.

Everything else works fine, everything bar the Uploads folder. if you have any more advice that would be great.

Many thanks in advance, looking forward to hearing from you.

Pete Batchelor

Hey there Pete!

I think you found the issue here – the size of the site, in some hosting environments (especially one that’s almost 1GB!) can play havoc with creating consistent backups.

I think creating a split schedule is exactly what you need to do here. You can literally split the backup between different uploads folders and create 2-3 backups schedules to run on alternate days/times so you don’t overload the server. (ps – check out which folders are the largest on the server as well, since some of those might be adding to the total!)

Here’s a doc with more information specifically on how to do this.

https://bwp.hmn.md/support-center/troubleshooting/splitting-backup-workload/

Check back with me if you have any problems after this is set up, but I think you’ll find this is the ticket to getting it working!

Kat

Hi Kat,

Many thanks for your useful and prompt help on this. I have tried reducing the size of the files to be backed up and those to be excluded. When it gets down to 175Mb it still fails, but at 108Mb it backs up correctly. This appears to be the solution.

Many thanks again,

Pete