WP Backup failed over FTP

  • I always make back-ups of my website over FTP. Recently my site bombed (my fault I making changes). So I uploaded via FTP my BU (from just before I did the changes) and it was totally unusable. Luckily I have a second BU source and this one worked. However- what am I doing wrong in the FTP BU is the question? (I learned over the years that you can not have enough backups).

    What I do is. Log in via FTP (Cyberduck). Download my website to my Mac, compress and store it. The folder I download is in a folder called Websites, at root level, and in it is the folder with the WP installation and the other bits one needs to run a WP site (lets call the folder WS1). So, root > Folder Websites > WS1. It is this second folder (WS1) that I download completely and store. At the same time I download a copy of the MySQL database.

    In a restore I delete the whole folder WS1 on my server while logged in via FTP. Next I upload the uncompressed folder WS1 to my server via FTP. That should work, or?

    My question is: Is this the right way to do it? If not I know what to do different the next time.

    I had 3 thoughts about the possible cause:
    1. Might there be invisible folders of files that do not get copied in one or both directions. Can that be the cause?
    2. Copying from my server to my Mac I change platforms and something gets corrupted there? Can that be the cause?
    3. By copying the WP installation (the application itself) and copying it back it gets corrupted? So should I only copy other bits? And if so what are they? Can that be the cause?

    If it is not any of the above I need to find out what else might have gone wrong.

    Thanks.

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)

  • Hi

    To move a site from one server to another is just not that simple. You need to consider changes regarding to the location of the files and the site itself.
    You can do this using a plugin like Duplicator (witch is the simpler way) or follow the instructions in codex

    Thread Starter ChangeAgent

    (@changeagent)

    Thank you.

    I am not sure if you address my question here. I am not moving it from one server to another. I move it from the ISP server to my home computer, zip it and in case of a restore, unzip it and move it back. I talk here about the WS1 file (see my original post) and the MySQL file that is linked to the WS1 website.

    Would your comment still hold in that case?

    Yes, because you’re moving the site and database from one server environment to another and you need to make certain changes to make sure the database will work in the new server environment (i.e. your local machine).

    Typically these changes are to the wp-config.php (how to connect to the database) and inside the actual database where the home and site_url settings are stored in the options table. The home and site_url settings tell WordPress where it exists on a server and if these are not updated to reflect where WordPress really is, then you won’t be able to access the WordPress site.

    Thread Starter ChangeAgent

    (@changeagent)

    OK understood and in a way I knew that for when I move a site to another server.

    However, I only download it and zip it immediately. Do all those files you motion change in the download? Or upload for that matter?

    And when I upload everything is back in the same place where it was when I downloaded it. Maybe I am thick here but I do not understand what happens if those files change or need to be changed after the up- down-loads.

    Thread Starter ChangeAgent

    (@changeagent)

    Can anybody help here with my originally posted problem of doing a BU and/or restore via PDF?

    Thanks

    You mean FTP, not PDF, right?

    Thread Starter ChangeAgent

    (@changeagent)

    my wrong, indeed FTP!

    For all the folders and files in my hosting-account “root” folder, I use FileZilla (set to force showing hidden files) and SFTP to do what you are doing and I did not have any trouble even when completely restoring three sites at once a couple of weeks ago…but I do not zip or compress anything. For the databases, I use phpMyAdmin to do the same.

    Thread Starter ChangeAgent

    (@changeagent)

    leejosepho we say thank you. so only difference between us would be that I zip.

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • The topic ‘WP Backup failed over FTP’ is closed to new replies.