It is important to regularly back up your most important web files on your local computer or alternative disk drive. HostPapa offers a very easy to use Backup Wizard within your cPanel control panel. The Backup Wizard allows you to create a backup of your entire site or just parts of it. You can then use the File Manager to download the backup file onto your computer.
Please ensure that you take a few minutes to back up your files every time you update or upload new pages. This could save you a lot of time and aggravation, should your files be lost or overwritten.
Creating a backup:
- Log in to your HostPapa dashboard: https://www.hostpapa.com/dashboard
- Click on My cPanel. If you have more than one domain associated with your HostPapa account, click on the appropriate domain link, then enter your cPanel password if required.
- From the Files section, click on the Backup Wizard icon.
- In Step 1, click Backup.
- In Step 2, click either Full Backup or Partial Backup:
- Home Directory will only back up the files located in your /public_html folder.
- MySQL Databases will back up all of your site’s SQL databases, but will not backup your email database.
- Email Forwarders & Filters will back up your custom forwarders and filters, but will not backup email accounts assigned to those.
- Unless you need only specific files backed up, we strongly urge you to run a Full Backup whenever you use the Backup Wizard.
- On the new screen, select a Backup Destination from the dropdown list. If you provide an email address, the Backup Wizard will send you an email letting you know the backup is complete. This can be handy if your site is quite large, as it may take more than a few minutes to create a backup file.
- When ready, click Generate Backup. The Backup Wizard will create a backup file and leave it at the specified backup destination. Please note that the Backup Wizard may return you to the cPanel before the backup is complete. If you provided an email address in Step 5, you will be notified when your backup is ready to be downloaded.
How to download a backup:
- From the Files section, click on the Backups icon.
- If you chose a Full Backup, click the Download or Generate a Full Website Backup button and click on a backup file name listed under Backups Available for Download. Select a location to store the backup file and the download will begin.
- If you specified a Partial Backup, select the appropriate option from the list on the lower half of the page. Select a location to store the backup file and the download will begin.
Restoring a backup:
Partial backups can be restored through the Backup Wizard. Just start the wizard as if creating a backup, but on Step 1 select Restore. The wizard will then walk you through selecting and uploading the backup file, and once complete, the wizard will restore the data in that file.
Full backup files require a HostPapa technician to restore – please open a support ticket here: https://hostpapa.com/dashboard
More details on how to open a support ticket can be found here.
Backing up your website’s information is an important part of keeping your website secure. HostPapa Automated Website Backup performs this task automatically. For more information about how Automated Website Backup works, click here.