Not backing up

Hi,

To help us work out the cause of your problem, can you please send us a copy of the full backup log?
This can be found in the UpdraftPlus Existing Backups tab. The contents will be too long to post here directly, but you can use an online service such as Dropbox or Pastebin, and post the link here.

Thanks,
Bryle

@bcrodua

Done, thanks for looking into this.
Link to file.

Can you install the free plugin WP Crontrol and take a screenshot of your Cron Events?

I don’t need to see all of them, just the top few.

Done!
Link to file.

Apologies for the delay over the weekend. Unfortunately, I need a screenshot rather than an export.

…right…

Oh well, here you have it:

screenshot

Thank you for this.

Your issue looks like it’s due to low visitor numbers.? UpdraftPlus can only make a backup when WordPress is loaded into Memory.? This normally happens when someone visits the site.?

I would recommend setting up a number of dummy visits to the site via an external cronjob.

These are automated tasks performed by the server.

You will need to set up an automated task to visit your site (please set the cron job to visit: https://yourdomain.com/wp-cron.php?doing_wp_cron )every 5 – 10 minutes (This will also keep the rest of your WordPress scheduler running):

Your hosts may have a tool to set up a cronjob, or you can use an online  tool such as EasyCron

@vupdraft

Hi, I beg to differ, for the following reasons:

1.
No matter what I change in the schedule settings, the only cron job that ever gets created on this WordPress install is:

updraftplus_clean_temporary_files

On a Virtual Machine running an exact copy of my WordPress install, after installing and configuring UpdraftPlus there are more cron jobs being created:

updraftplus_clean_temporary_files
updraft_backup
updraft_backup_database

2.
Because I know that WordPress cron is not the most reliable scheduling tool, I have cron jobs running on the server level and those run flawlessly.

Can you try setting your schedules to manual and pressing “Save” and then setup your schedules again and press “save” again, do the cron jobs show?

@vupdraft

That… Created the cron jobs.
How it makes sense logically and/or technically is a different question, though…

It’s good that the cron jobs are showing. However, you are still going to need to set up those dummy visits. Please see here for our guide on this: https://updraftplus.com/faqs/my-scheduled-backups-do-nothing-backup-now-stops-midway/

There are only two reasons why scheduled backups don’t run but manual ones do.

1. There is an issue with your site scheduler – we checked this with the screenshot you provided.
2. Low visitor numbers – all the evidence point to this.

Hi @vupdraft

Sorry it took a while, I’ve been busy with other things.

You write: “There are only two reasons why scheduled backups don’t run but manual ones do.”
That, I understand. What I don’t understand, is why setting up the plugin did not create the necessary WP-cron job to perform the back-up in the first place.

Which is why I specifically mentioned the difference in cronjobs between my live site and a test site in a Virtual Machine.

But anyway, using real cron instead of WP-cron is the better option anyway – imho.

Cheers!