Create and download a backup

You can back up a website at any moment, for example before a big change. The site stays online while the backup runs.

Back up now

Open Websites, choose the website and open the Backups tab.
Click Back up now.
Optionally add a Note of up to 200 characters, such as “before updating the shop”.
Click Start backup.

The backup appears in the list as soon as it is made, first as Backing up, then Checking, then Verified.

Backups you start by hand:

are always full copies of the website’s files and database;
show a Manual label in the list;
are never removed by the automatic schedule. They stay until you delete them.

Backup labels

Each backup in the list shows what made it:

Automatic: made by the automatic schedule.
Manual: started by you or a team member.
Recovery point: made by Netkeel before a change it can undo, such as a restore or a staging push. Older recovery points are removed automatically.

A backup may also show Off-site copy (a copy is also kept off-site) or Off-site only (the copy on the server is gone and only the off-site copy is left).

Download a backup

On the Backups tab, find the backup.
Click Download.

The download starts in your browser. You get one archive file named after the website and the backup date. It contains the website’s files and its database.

Backups that exist only off-site download straight from off-site storage, as a .tar file instead of a .tar.gz.

Delete a backup

Open the backup’s menu (the three dots).
Choose Delete backup and confirm.

The backup’s files, its database snapshot and any off-site copy are removed for good.

You cannot delete a backup while it is being made, copied off-site or restored. You also cannot delete a full copy that newer Changes only backups build on. Delete those newer backups first.

If a deletion does not finish, the backup shows Deletion needs attention and its menu offers Retry deletion.