Creating backups with Softaculous

Sometimes 1 backup a day is not enough and you would like to have multiple, or automatic, backups. This is also useful if you are going to update or modify an installation. With Softaculous you can quickly create a backup of 1 application or installation. In this article we explain how you can do this.

Further on we also explain how you can automatically create backups or add extra storage such as S3, Google, OneDrive, FTP etc.

In this example we create a backup of a Wordpress site. But of course this can be done with any installation you have in Softaculous.

Log in to DirectAdmin and go to softaculous.

Go to the overview of your installation.

Then click on the green folder (Backup).

You will enter a screen where you can configure a few things.

• Backup Directory checked to create a backup of your data
• Backup Database checked to create a database backup.
• Backup notes where you can make a note about this backup.
• Backup location is default and you can choose another location here if you wish, provided you have already added it. We will discuss this further on in this article. For now we choose default.
• Click on Backup Script at the bottom.

After pressing Backup script we have to wait a moment and then the backup is ready.

You can find backups in the Backup and Restore menu. You can find that here:

Here you can also restore your backup. Restoring is easily done by clicking the green arrow:

Adding Backup Locations

In the Backup and Restore window you can also add extra backup locations such as FTP, Google, S3, OneDrive, etc. This way you can create external backups without this taking up your web space.

In the Backup and Restore window, click on Manage Backup Locations.

Then click on: Add Backup Location.

Here you can add your own backup location.

Creating Automatic Backups

You can also have backups created automatically. 4 per day or 1 every hour. This can be done by going to your installation overview in Softaculous. And modifying the installation (edit). Click on the pencil icon.

In this screen you will see onBelow the details are the backup options. Choose a frequency under Automated Backups. You can set a daily, weekly, monthly or custom frequency.

Choose your location (default or your own other external backup)

You can also set a backup rotation here. For example, if you choose 3, the oldest backup will be overwritten after 3 backups. If you choose 1, the created backup will be overwritten every time.

Scroll down and click on edit installation details.

Now you have set up automated backups for your installation. Useful for when you are making a lot of changes.

Are you getting an error message or is it not quite working? Don't panic, we are happy to help. Please contact us and we will gladly help you.