One of the features found in cPanel is the option to generate a backup of your files so that you can download them. The Backup Wizard is designed to automate this process for you.
To create a backup of your files, you will need to do the following:
1. Log in to cPanel.
2. Locate the Files section and select Backup Wizard.
3. On the Step 1 of the Backup Wizard page, select Backup.
4. You will be prompted to select the type of backup that you wish to generate:
- Full Backup: This creates a copy of your entire cPanel account, including your website, e-mail, databases and settings. Select this option if you are moving your hosting account to another server.
- Home Directory: This is a folder which contains your website files as well as any e-mail messages which currently reside on the server.
- MySQL Databases: Allows you to export any databases which are used as a part of your website.
- Email Forwarders and Filters: This includes the settings for any mail forwards as well as spam filters created using the Account- and User-Level Filtering tools.
Creating a Full Backup:
- Choosing this option will take you to the Full Backup page.
- You will be prompted for a Backup Destination. If you have a remote server, then you can transfer the backup file to your server and will be prompted for the remote server login details. If you wish to download the backup directly to your computer, then select Home Directory.
- Depending on the size of your account, it may take some time to generate the backup file. A notice can be sent to you via e-mail once the backup is complete.
- Once you have made your selection, click on Generate Backup. Your account will now be backed up. Click on Go Back.
- The Full Backup page will show that your backup is still in progress. You can refresh this page to see whether the backup has been completed.
- When the backup is ready, click on the backup file link (e.g.: backup-x.x.20xx_xx-xx-xx_example.tar.gz).
- Browse to the folder where you wish to download the file to and click on Save.
Creating a Home Directory backup:
- Selecting this option will take you to Download page of the Backup Wizard.
- To save the backup, click on the Download button.
- Browse to the folder where you wish to download the file to and click on Save.
Creating a MySQL Database backup:
- Selecting this option will take you to Download page of the Backup Wizard.
- To save the backup, click on the link containing the name of your database (e.g.: example_db).
- Browse to the folder where you wish to download the file to and click on Save.
Creating backup of Email Forwarders and Filters:
- Selecting this option will take you to Download page of the Backup Wizard.
- To back up forwarders, click on the link with your domain name in the FORWARDERS box (e.g.: example.com).
- To back up your spam filders, select the link in the EMAIL FILTERS box (e.g.: filter_info.example.yaml.gz).
- Browse to the folder where you wish to download the file to and click on Save.
Note: All backup files are stored in .gz and .tar.gz formats. The contents of these files can be extracted using a program such as WinZip or WinRAR.
If you would like to create a backup which only contains your website files, then you will need to download the contents of the public_html folder. Depending on the size of this folder, as well as the number of files contained therein, it is advisable to create a compressed copy of the folder and download this file as it will take considerably less time than downloading all of the files one-by-one.
Once you have created a compressed file, you can download it using your FTP client or through the cPanel File Manager (see Downloading Your Data Using File Manager for more information).
