cPanel comes with an extensive suite of built-in backup tools. Below, we cover how to use these cPanel Backup utilities to both backup and restore files on your cPanel account.

InMotion Hosting also offers Backup Manager to keep your account backed up and secure,

• Making cPanel Backups
• Backup Wizard
• Other Tools
• Restore From Backups

Get the best in cPanel backup tools at an affordable price with InMotion’s cPanel Hosting!

cPanel Backups

Making a Full cPanel Backup

This handy utility will create a compressed file that you then can download to your local computer for storage. Please be advised, we do not allow anyone to store backups in File Manager— you must store them off of the server.

1. Login to your cPanel
2. Click the Backup Manager button in the Files section of cPanel.
   
3. Under Other cPanel Backup Plugins, click on cPanel Backups.
   
4. In the Full Backup section, click the Download a Full Account Backup button.
   
5. On the next screen make sure the Home Directory option is selected.
   
6. If you want an email notification when the backup completes, enter your email address. If you do not want an email, select the box next to Do not send email notification of backup completion.
7. Click the Generate Backup button to begin the Full cPanel Backup. You will then see a message stating “Full Backup in Progress…” Allow some time for the backup to complete, you will receive an email notification upon completion (if you entered your email address in the last step).
   
8. Download the file from your cPanel. It will be located in your /home directory, begin with backup, and include the date. For example backup-10.26.2020_15-51-32_example.tar.gz

Downloading Home Directory Backup in cPanel

1. Log into cPanel.
2. Click the Backup Manager link in the Files section.
   
3. Under Other cPanel Backup Plugins, click on cPanel Backups.
   
4. Click the Home Directory button under the Download a Home Directory Backup section. You will then begin downloading a backup of your Home Directory. This can take several minutes to complete depending on the size of your site.
   
   
5. You can then access the file in your browser’s download directory. In this example, the home directory backup is named backup-example.com-10-4-2017.tar.gz.

You should now have successfully backed up your website files by downloading a partial home directory backup in cPanel.

Retrieve a Standard Database Backup in cPanel

1. Login to your cPanel.
2. Click the Backup Manager link in the Files section.
   
3. Under Other cPanel Backup Plugins, click on cPanel Backups.
   
4. Now under the Download a MySQL Database Backup section, click on the name of the database you wish to download. If you aren’t sure which database is associated with your site, check the name in the site’s configuration data. For WordPress sites, this is your wp-config.php file.
   
5. On your local machine, go to the folder your web-browser downloaded the database backup and you should now see the compressed .sql.gz file.

Now you’ll have a good working copy of your database locally stored safely on your own computer. If you delete something by accident, or are having any other database problems, you can then restore your database from that good backup.

Backup Wizard

The Backup Wizard provides the same functionality as the standard cPanel Backups, except that the options are separated out by section. This is helpful if you are still getting used to the backup process and want to make sure you aren’t forgetting anything, or if you are only focusing on backing up one specific item.

Create a Backup in Backup Wizard

1. Login to the cPanel.
2. Click the Backup Manager link under the Files section.
   
3. Click on the cPanel Backup Wizard link.
   
4. Click on the blue button labeled Back Up.
   
5. Choose your type of backup: Full Backup or select a Partial Backup. These options let you download a smaller file with exactly what you need.  Home Directory creates a backup consisting of everything in the user’s Home Directory. The other options will limit you to only databases (MySQL Databases) or email data (Email Forwarders & Filters), while the Full Backup option is essentially the same as the full backup above.
   
6. Determine the destination of the backup. Click the drop-down arrow and select either Home Directory, Remote FTP server, Remote FTP server (passive mode transfer), or Secure Copy (SCP).
   
7. Enter the email address to receive notification of the backup completion. If no notification is required, click that radial button.
8. Click on Generate Backup.
9. When the backup completes you will see a link that says Backups Available for Download. Click the link to download the backup file.

Other Tools

Create a custom Database Backup in PHPMyAdmin

1. Once you have logged into cPanel, click on the icon “PHPMyAdmin” in the databases section.
   
   Once you have done that you should see a screen like the one below.
   
2. Select the database you wish to export by clicking on the database name in the sidebar as indicated in the graphic below.
   
3. Click on Export in the menu at the top of the phpMySQL screen. This will bring up the options for export and also give you a confirmation of where the export is coming from.
   
4. We are using the Quick export method. This exports the file in SQL format. If you need to select specific options for the export, then click on Custom and select your options. You should only select this if you are familiar with exporting MYSQL databases. Click on Go to complete the export.
5. You will see a screen that asks where you want to save the export file. You also have the option to name the database backup file. When you save the file, make sure that it is saved to a safe location once the export is complete.

Restore From Backups

These processes only work if you have already saved one or more backups locally. If your backup is not yet on your account but is saved elsewhere, please see the below section on Uploading. If you have made changes to an account or directory since making a backup, be sure to save any newly added or edited files before the restoration. For example, if you have a new file such as /public_html/index2.htm live on your website that didn’t exist in the backup, these files will not be overwritten during a restoration.

When you restore a partial home directory backup like we’re creating covering below, this is going to overwrite any existing files currently on your account. So if you have /public_html/index.htm file on your account, and the backup you created also has that file, the file from the backup will be restored over the current live file.

Restore a home Directory Backup in cPanel

Following the steps below you can learn how to restore a partial backup of your website including all the files in your home directory.

1. Login to your cPanel.
2. Under the files section, click on Backup Manager.
   
3. Click on cPanel Backups.
   
4. Under Restore a Home Directory Backup, click on Choose File.
   
5. Find the appropriate file on your computer and click Open.
6. The name of your backup should now be displayed, so click on Upload.
7. You should then see the progress of your files being restored.

A Note on Restoring MySQL and PostgreSQL Databases

You can restore databases within their respective cPanel applications if your database is under 50MB:

• Import MySQL databases in phpMyAdmin
• Import PostgreSQL databases in phpPgAdmin

If over 50MB, you can import the database with SSH or request technical support for data recovery assistance. For technical assistance, you must upload the database file to your cPanel account, then submit a ticket to support with the database file path and name of the database you want it restored to.

Take the guesswork out of backups and subscribe to InMotion Hosting’s Backup Manager!

If you’ve recently purchased Backup Manager or added it to your account, you may wonder how to use it most effectively. If you have a site at or near your file size limitations, here is some advice on how to optimize your Backup Manager settings.

This article looks specifically at optimizing backups to stay under the maximum size available. If you’re looking for answers to more general Backup Manager questions, here are our guides on How to Enable/Disable Backups Using the Backup Manager and How to Restore a Backup File/Folder Using the Backup Manager.

• What Are We Optimizing For?
• Basic Steps
• What Style of Backup?

What Are We Optimizing For?

By default, a Backup Manager subscription allows for account backups of up to 10 GB. If the amount of data on your account exceeds 10 GB, backup manager will not run regularly scheduled backups. In this situation, you must either delete files to bring the account under 10 GB, purchase more backup space in AMP, or adjust the files included in the backup. As long as the adjusted total is under your account limit, backups will still run.

Basic Steps

Here is a brief summary of how to adjust your backup settings:

1. Click on the Backup Manager icon in cPanel.
2. Click on the Backup Settings & Scheduling tab.
3. Expand Home Directory.
4. Under Data Included in Backup, select the desired configuration.
5. If applicable, choose which folder or folders to exclude or include.
6. Save this configuration by clicking the apply changes button.

What Style of Backup?

The Backup Manager configuration that you choose will vary depending on your account and what you prioritize. Below are summaries of the different configurations.

Choose ‘All Home Directory Folders’ while account is small

By default, enabling Backup Manager will backup all files on your account. Remember, these backups made with Backup Manager are stored on an external account; they will not affect your available storage space or the amount of space you can back up. As long as your account is reliably under your Backup Manager storage limit, stick with this option — just keep an eye on things! You don’t want to find out you ran out of space, and stopped taking backups, right when you needed one most.

Choose ‘backup selected folders’ to only backup specific essentials

This option allows you to choose exactly which folders to backup, excluding everything else. Because it’s easy to miss configuration files and other useful cPanel directories, only use this option if you know exactly what is and is not important to you and your sites. Only backing up individual folders can leave you in trouble if you create a new site and forget to adjust your backup specifications.

Use ‘Exclude Selected Folders’ to save space

If you know exactly what directories are ‘junk’, this is the option for you. This is a great way to exclude certain email accounts that are unusually full, or test sites that aren’t important or worth saving. This option ensures that newly added sites are backed up, so you are less likely to lose something by accident. Be care to only exclude folders if you know exactly what they contain. Both cPanel and WordPress can hide some configuration files in unexpected places!

The above strategies will help you keep your backups within your current limitations. As your site grows, though, you may find yourself needing more space to back up your site: no problem! You can always purchase additional Backup Manager storage blocks in AMP.

Backup Manager is available on a variety of plans, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting!

Should you use WordPress backups, a database backup, or something more comprehensive like Backup Manager or WHM scheduled cPanel backups? The answer is yes!

Different backup solutions solve different problems. Some backups are quicker to restore, while others are more comprehensive. If you ever find yourself facing a crisis, more backups will mean more options. It’s easy to manage multiple sources of backups once you figure out your routine!

• WordPress Backups— Custom Configured
• Database Backups— A Good Habit
• Backup Manager— Your Site’s Safety Net
• Full Account Backups— Transfer and Archive
• WHM Scheduled Backups for Resellers
• Choose What to Use

WordPress Backups— Custom Configured

There is WordPress plugin for nearly any situation you find yourself in. As you can imagine, there are numerous plugins available to help you backup your site. Look for one that allows you to schedule backups so that they run automatically. You’ll also want these backups to be stored off your server to some form of external storage: after all, if all your backups were stored on your site, and something happens to your site, the backup files would likely be in trouble too.

For a comprehensive look at WordPress backups, check out our Resource Guide!

Database Backups— A Good Habit

Your database is the heart of your website. Think of it this way: rebuilding a WordPress website with nothing but the database is a frustrating but straightforward afternoon of work for a professional developer. Rebuilding a WordPress website with everything except the database is all but impossible.

Any quality backup solution must backup the database as well. Make sure whatever you are using is doing so— otherwise you may run into serious trouble later!

A good habit to get into is backing up your database anytime you’re about to do something unusual. If you’re updating an old site’s plugins that haven’t been updated in months, backup the database. Going to try running a custom script to replace all of the links on your site? Backup the database!

If you work from the command line, get in the habit of backing up the database by exporting a copy before you do anything else. Make it a habit. Make it a hotkey. Make a custom app that does nothing but backup your database when you hit a big red button— just backup the database manually before you try to run it. If you aren’t comfortable with the command line, you can make database backups via cPanel and phpMyAdmin instead.

Backup Manager— Your Site’s Safety Net

InMotion Hosting started offering our Backup Manager as an option in Spring of 2019; the software has proven particularly helpful, especially when it comes to dealing with malware and site hacks. I’ve personally used it to carry out site restorations in minutes that would have previously taken an hour or two under optimistic circumstances. Backup Manager has a lot of utility that is similar to WordPress backup plugins, but it operates on the account level. This gives you a bit more control than solutions contained entirely within WordPress itself.

If you are interested in trying backup manager, here is how to purchase a subscription using the AMP marketplace!

Full Account Backups— Transfer and Archive

Any hosting account with a cPanel, even those already using a solution like Backup Manager, have access to cPanel’s built in Backup tools.

These backups are thorough, but they are large and not really optimized for quick restorations. They’re great if you are going to transfer your site, but they work by replacing an existing cPanel account with the version of it that was available when the backup was created. Things like individual emails, recently changed files, and even some database settings can end up overwritten if you rely only on these types of backups.

It’s possible to tear open the backup and pour through the files to find exactly what you’re looking for, but this is both time consuming and prone to configuration errors— the sort of thing you do only when all other options have failed. It’s best to view this type of backup as a fallback: make them occasionally and store them securely, but have another system in place for quicker, focused restorations of individual sites.

WHM Scheduled Backups for Resellers

If you have a VPS or Dedicated Hosting plan, you can use WHM to regularly create full account backups of various cPanel accounts.

Our best advice for these backups is that you make them as a courtesy for your clients, setting up either regular site-backups with something like a WordPress plugin or advising your clients to create backups in addition to these themselves. These backups are essentially full account backups: useful for total account restorations, but slow and unwieldy if you simply want to restore a single site. Plus, it’s never a good idea to take on full responsibility for your clients’ site backups unless you have planned to do so in advance: the time investment required to check up on and test backups to be sure everything is going as planned can add up quickly as you get more clients!

There is a frequently occurring issue with WHM backups you need to watch out for: because WHM always creates a backup before deleting any old backups, it’s easy to get a disk space warning, even with just a few sites. Here is our guide on how to deal with the issue.

Choose What to Use

With all of these options, what arrangement of backups is best? While the specifics will vary depending on your business, your clients, and the time you have available, I like to recommend a ‘two systems’ approach. Have one system that focuses on quick restoration and backups that are stored off-server. WordPress Plugins and Backup Manager serve this purpose nicely as most WordPress backup plugins can be configured to save the backup to external storage, while Backup Manager automatically stores all backups on a separate server here at InMotion. This will be your main backups: frequently updated and easy to retrieve and use quickly.

For the other system, I advise using the ‘slower’ solutions like cPanel backups. Make these weekly to monthly and drop them on somewhere they are cheap to store, like a secured external hard drive or cheap web based storage space. You won’t normally want to use these as your first choice, but if you ever need them you’ll be glad you have them, and have them saved elsewhere!

When using CentOS 8, you may find yourself looking for an open source cloud storage solution that you can use to set up your own file sharing network between your various devices. One option is Nextcloud, the open source cloud storage software. This software can be installed on most devices available today, making it a versatile component in data management.

cPanel server admins can use easier installation methods.

In this article, we will outline how to install Nextcloud on CentOS 8 using the command-line interface. Please note that in order to complete the steps in this guide you will require root SSH access to your server. This process requires familiarity with Linux commands, so we only recommend performing this installation if you are comfortable with command-line operations.

Topics Include:

• Prepare for Installation
• Install Nextcloud

Install Nextcloud on your Dedicated Hosting server and start sharing files today!

Prepare for Installation

dnf install -y epel-release yum-utils unzip curl wget \ bash-completion policycoreutils-python-utils mlocate bzip2

dnf update -y

dnf install -y httpd

systemctl enable httpd.service

systemctl start httpd.service

dnf install https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm

dnf install https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-8.rpm

dnf install yum-utils

dnf module reset php

dnf module install php:remi-7.4

dnf update

dnf install -y php php-gd php-mbstring php-intl \ php-pecl-apcu php-mysqlnd php-opcache php-json php-zip

dnf install -y mariadb mariadb-server

systemctl enable mariadb.service

systemctl start mariadb.service

dnf install -y redis

systemctl enable redis.service

systemctl start redis.service

Now that your server has been prepared for the installation, you can move forward with the next steps. 

Installing Nextcloud

wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/nextcloud-19.0.1.zip

unzip nextcloud-19.0.1.zip 

cp -R nextcloud/ /var/www/html/

mkdir /var/www/html/nextcloud/data

chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/nextcloud

systemctl restart httpd.service

firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-service=http --permanent

firewall-cmd --reload

Congratulations, you now know how to install Nextcloud on CentOS 8!

When setting up a new server running the Linux operating system Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, you may find yourself looking for an open-source cloud storage solution that would allow you to easily move data between your various devices. One such solution is Nextcloud, a popular open source cloud storage solution that can be installed on most devices available today. In this article, we will outline how to install Nextcloud on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Please note that in order to complete these tasks, you will need root SSH access to your server.

cPanel server admins can use easier installation methods.

Topics Include:

• Prepare for Installation
• Install Nextcloud

Install Nextcloud on your Dedicated Hosting server today!

Prepare for Installation

Before you can install Nextcloud, you will likely need to install Apache, MariaDB, and PHP modules. Apache allows Nextcloud to communicate with the public internet while MariaDB acts as the database storage solution. PHP is the programming language that allows Nextcloud to function properly.

apt-get install apache2 mariadb-server libapache2-mod-php7.2

apt-get install php7.2-gd php7.2-json php7.2-mysql php7.2-curl php7.2-mbstring

apt-get install php7.2-intl php-imagick php7.2-xml php7.2-zip

Install Nextcloud

In order to install Nextcloud, you will first need to download it from the official Nextcloud website. 

wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/nextcloud-19.0.1.zip

unzip https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/nextcloud-19.0.1.zip

Congratulations, you have successfully installed Nextcloud on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS!

In this article: 

• Accessing Backup Manager
• Purchase Backup Space
• Backup Settings
• Perform a Restoration
• Storage Breakdown
• System Performance Tuning

Accessing Backup Manager

Follow these steps to access and manage the backup manager options in your WHM.

1. Log into WHM as the root user.
2. Type “backup” in the search box. 
3. Click the Backup Manager link under the Plugins section.

Now that you know how to find the Backup Manager WHM, we will go over the available options and settings you will find there.

Purchase Backup Space

1. On the Backup Manager Page click the Purchase Backup Space button. This will take you to AMP. 
2. Under the section titled Automated Backups you will see your account’s current usage. You can select a quantity to add storage in ten-gigabyte (10 GB) increments. Add enough slots so that your total backup space is greater than your current disk space.
   For instance, if you have twelve gigabytes (12 GB) of disk space used and have ten gigabytes (10 GB) of backup storage space you will need to select one (1) ten-gigabyte (10 GB) slot from the Quantity drop-down. This will bring your total available storage for backups to twenty gigabytes (20 GB). With twelve gigabytes (12 GB) of disk space used, this gives you about eight gigabytes (8 GB) for your site to grow! We recommend you monitor your disk space often, to ensure that you always have enough backup space available.
3. Click Add to Cart.
4. Click Continue to Cart to proceed to checkout.
5. Select your Payment Method or add one, if necessary, by clicking on Add New Payment Method.
6. Click the ORDER button to complete your purchase.

Backup Settings

The Backup Settings tab is where you can enable and disable automatic file and database backups. Below is a description of the available settings.

Perform a Restoration

This tab is where you can restore files or databases that were backed up using Backup Manager. Below is a breakdown of the available options and how to use them.

Storage Breakdown

Here you can view how much space your backups are taking and also limit the amount of backup space cPanel users can use. Follow these steps to set cPanel user backup size limits.

Set cPanel Limits

1. Click the toggle next to the Limit Account Usage option. You will then see the additional options.
2. If you want to set a “Default limit for new accounts” enter a value in the box in Gigabytes.
3. Enter an address in the “Email to send Notifications” field if you want to be messaged when a backup limitation is reached.
4. You will see existing cPanel users listed. Enter a value in the “Backup Limit” field as needed. 
5. Click the toggle on the right to enable or disable email notifications.

System Performance Tuning

This tab lets you set load and bandwidth limitations when backups or restorations are being performed. You can also select peak hours, filter what information is logged, and set the directory for temporary files here.

High-Availability Cloud VPS subscriptions offer complete snapshots as an alternate way of making backups.

• Finding the Backup Manager in cPanel
• Describing the Sections of the Backup Manager
• How to Restore a Backup
• Backup Settings
• Specifying Child Account Backup Storage

High-Availability Cloud VPS subscriptions offer complete snapshots as an alternate way of making backups.

How to Find the Backup Manager in cPanel

Finding the Backup Manager in the cPanel is a quick and easy task.

1. Log in to the cPanel.
2. Scroll down to the Files Section.
3. You will then see the icon for the Backup Manager as per the screenshot above. Click on Backup Manager to launch the application.

Understanding the Sections of the Backup Manager

The interface of the Backup Manager can be described in two sections. The first section starts with a description of the Backup Manager followed by two lines that display the storage space needed by your upcoming backup and the total space used by all of your backups. There is also a button that lets you purchase additional space. You can see this section highlighted below.

The second part of the Backup Manager interface is divided into three main tabs. This portion of the Backup Manager is where you perform website file backups, database backups, and restorations. The third tab is for child accounts that have been created within your cPanel. Child accounts are simply websites that you added through your cPanel account. You can see this section in the screenshot below.

We will step you through each section and give you the steps on how to restore your backups, make backups for your entire account, and specify storage space for your child accounts.

Restoring Backups

Restorations are divided into Backup Types:

• Home Directory – this area is where you can select website folders to be included in the restore
• MySQL – this where you can select database backup files to be restored

How to Restore Website Files

When you restore your website files you have the option to restore from a specific date, restore all files, or restore specific files that you select. You also have the option of selecting where the files will be restored and if you wish to receive an email notification when the restoration is complete. Follow these steps to restore a backup:

1. Click on the arrow next to Home Directory to expand the options for restoring files.
2. Click on the drop-down arrow next to the date in order to select a specific date to restore. Note that you would need to have multiple backups for this option to work.
3. Next, you need to select all the files option or select files to restore.

4. After you have selected what you want to restore, you will select where the restoration will occur. You can also elect to restore to a different location. You will need to provide that location, but it would still be within the same account.

As per the warning in the first option, if you restore to the original location, it will overwrite and replace existing files that are different but keep files that are not found in the backup. This means that if a file name is the same in the backup, but with a different date (older or newer), then the file would be replaced. If the file name is not found in the backup, then it will remain.

5. Type in an email if you wish to receive an email notification. This is helpful if the backup is large as it may take some time.
6. Click on the Restore button to restore your backup.

How to Restore a Database Backup

1. Click on the arrow next to MySQL in order to begin restoring a database.
2. To restore from a specific date, click on the drop-down arrow to choose a different backup. You would need to have multiple backups in order for this option to work.
3. Click on the drop-down arrow in order to select a specific database to backup. The Backup Manager backs up all of the databases created within the cPanel account. If you have several databases, then you will need to specify one to restore.
4. Select where your database will be restored (dump path). You will be able to create a folder by typing a name in the blank field. Note that your restored database is being sent to your account location.

5. The Restore Method allows you to select one of the following options:
   
   – Dump backup to the dump path that you specified previously
   – Dump current database and overwrite the database on your
   MySQL server
   – Overwrite the database without getting a dump of your
   database
   
6. Type in an email address to get a notification when the restore is complete.
7. Click on the Restore button to restore your database backup.

Backup Settings

When you click on the Backup Settings & Scheduling tab you will see Home Directory and MySQL. Each option can be expanded by clicking on the arrow. The Home Directory gives you the option to configure and schedule the backups for your website files.

Home Directory Settings for Backup

After the schedule settings, you will see a section labeled Data Included in Backup. Here you can select the files to include in your backup. You have the option to select all folders in the home directory, backup selected folders, or exclude selected folders. You can then select the folders using checkboxes in the window as per the screenshot below.

Once you have the settings set the way you want them, click on the Apply button to save your changes.

MySQL Settings for Database Backup

The settings for making database backups can be seen by clicking on the arrow next to MySQL.

Child Accounts

cPanel accounts can include child accounts that can be part of the overall account backups. There may be instances when each child account needs to have limits imposed on their backups. The options provided with Child Accounts allow you to set the backup limits for each account as well as email notifications.

You can disable backups for a specific child account by setting the backup limit to 0.

Once you have the limits set for your child accounts, click on Apply Backup Limits to save your changes.

For more information, please see our optimization guide and more in InMotion’s Backups and Restorations page.

This guide will cover:

• Finding your AWS Username.
• Connecting to your AWS Instance via SSH.
• Dumping your MySQL database in AWS.
• Transferring data to your new server.

Transferring from AWS? Choose one of our Dedicated Hosting plans for the ultimate hosting experience.

Finding Your AWS Username

As you will need to know the username for the server instance you’re working on in order to connect, here is a list of common usernames and their respective Amazon Machine Images (AMI):

• Amazon Linux 2 or Amazon Linux AMI: ec2-user.
• CentOS AMI: centos.
• Debian AMI: admin or root.
• Fedora AMI: ec2-user or fedora.
• RHEL AMI: ec2-user or root.
• SUSE AMI: ec2-user or root.
• Ubuntu AMI: ubuntu.

Note: If ec2-user and root do not work, check with the AMI provider.

Connecting to your AWS Instance via SSH

1. Log into your IMH Server via SSH.
2. Create a working directory using the make directory command mkdir and change directory cd into it.
3. Upload your .pem key pair file to the server into the working directory via SCP.
4. Establish an SSH connection to the AWS instance using this command:
   
   

   ssh -i /path/my-key-pair.pem ec2-user@ec2-198-51-100-1.compute-1.amazonaws.com

5. You are now connected to your AWS instance via SSH and can begin running commands. 

Note: The .pem key pair is generated when the instance is first created and the file should be saved in a secure location. If this file is lost, it is impossible to recover it and the instance will not be accessible. 

Dumping your AWS Database Via SSH

Once you’ve established an SSH connection to your AWS server instance as outlined in the previous section, you can use MySQL commands to review the databases on the server and dump them into an .sql file that can be transferred to your new server:

Note: If you do not know the database username or password, you may need to first switch into the root user using the following command: 
sudo su root

1. To see what databases exist on the server, run the command:
   
   

   mysql -e SHOW DATABASES;

2. Once you’ve determined which database you’d like to dump, you can use this command:
   
   

   sudo mysqldump -u database_user -p database_name > database_name-backup.sql 

   
   The system will ask for a password at this point. If you’re logged in as the root user you don’t need one, so just hit enter until the command prompt returns. If you are not logged in as the root user, you will need to provide the database user password in order to proceed.
3. You should now have a file on your server called “database_name-backup.sql”. Be sure to move this file using the move mv command to the same directory as your site files and then close the SSH connection to the AWS instance.

Note: If you are not using MySQL as your data storage solution, you will need to check the documentation for the software you are working with as the transfer process will likely differ.

Transferring Data from AWS Instance to InMotion Hosting Server

1. Once back in the shell for your InMotion Hosting account, you can use SCP to begin the transfer of data using the following command:
   
   

   scp - i /path/key.pem -r ec2-user@ec2-198-51-100-1.compute-1.amazonaws.com:/path/to/awsdata/ ~/home/user/newtransferdir

   
   When connecting using this method you will need to ensure that you are in the same folder as the necessary .pem key file otherwise the connection will not work.
2. To speed up the transfer process, you may want to create a .zip archive of the necessary data. You can do this via the following command:
   
   

   zip -r "archive name" /path/to/files

3. Alternatively, you can create a gzipped .tar archive using the following command:
   
   

   tar -cfvz myfile.tar.gz mybackupdir

4. Once the .zip or .tar archive has been created you can use SCP to transfer it to the new server as described in Step 1.
5. Once the transfer process has finished you can close the SSH connection to the AWS instance and begin working with your data on the new server.

By following these steps, you will be able to successfully transfer site data, email data, or other software that may be stored on your AWS hosting service. Finding a new home for your data is just a few keystrokes away!

Similar to cPanel backup scheduling in WebHost Manager (WHM) (for VPS / Dedicated Hosting only), Grav offers options to configure what’s included in backups, different backup configurations with specified schedules, and how many backups to retain at once.

Below we’ll cover how to create Grav backups with the Admin plugin and SSH.

• Create Manual Backups
  • Retention Settings
• Backup Retention Settings
  • Retention Settings

Create a Backup with Grav Admin

Download an up-to-date Grav backup within minutes.

1. Log in to your Grav Admin plugin.
2. Click Tools on the left.
3. At the bottom, modify the settings in the Backup Profiles section.
   

   Name	Profile name for the settings
   Exclude Paths	Type directory paths to not backup
   Enable Scheduled Job	Toggle to enable automatic backups
   Root Folder	Type location for /backups directory
   Exclude Files	Type files as needed
   Run Scheduled Job	Set timeframe and time to auto-backup if enabled

4. Click Save at the top.
5. Click Add item to create a new backup profile if needed.
6. In the upper-right corner, click the down-arrow beside Backup Now and select your backup profile.
7. Click the Download icon to the right of the backup under Backup History for local storage.

View scheduled backups as cron jobs in the Scheduler tab. Backups are noted in the Logs section with the Notice level and backup URL.

Configure Retention Settings

Grav has three retention options you can choose under Backup Purge Configuration:

Create a Backup in SSH

Users with SSH access can easily create and manage backups with some straight-forward commands. Even users uncomfortable with the command line interface (CLI) should have few issues creating a Grav backup if needed.

1. Log in to SSH or cPanel Terminal.
2. Navigate to the Grav directory with the cd command.
3. Type the command bin/grav backup. You’ll see the prompt below upon completion.

Grav Backup
===========

Archiving 5000 files [=====================] 100% 7 secs Done…

[OK] Backup Successfully Created:
/home/cpaneluser/public_html/grav-subdomain/backup/default_site_backup–20190905201159
.zip

Manage Settings in SSH

Manage backup purge configuration and backup profiles in the system/config/backups.yaml or create the user/config/backups.yaml custom configuration file. Editing backup settings in the Admin plugin will create an user/config/backups.yaml file.

Learn more about Grav CMS in our Support Center.

• How do I Force HTTPS in Grav CMS?

• Understanding the alert
• Examples of alerts
• How to resolve backup storage full

In this article, you can learn about the Backup Manager’s Exceeded Storage Space Alerts. You can also learn how to address the alert by maintaining your available backup storage or purchasing more backup slots.

Understanding the Alerts

Keeping website backups is crucial to ensuring the stability and security of your website data. Protecting your website data is critical in today’s world of breaches and hacks. Our servers are patched regularly to maintain optimal security. Unfortunately, sometimes the programs running your website may become susceptible to intrusion and disrupt your data’s integrity. With the Backup Manager, you could restore the lost/corrupted data quickly and easily right from cPanel.

“People say you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. Truth is, you knew what you had, you just never thought you’d lose it.”

You also never know when disaster will strike. If for some reason your account goes over the limited backup space, your data will no longer be able to be backed up. Because of the importance of backups, we have designed several alerts to notify you, if that happens. It is vital to take action immediately if you notice any of the Backup Manager Exceeded Storage Space Alerts.

Examples of Alerts

We are dedicated to ensuring your success, which is why we have designed multiple Backup Manager alerts. 

This cPanel alert (illustrated above) indicates that your account has exceeded the available space for backups. The button labeled Purchase Backup Space will direct you to log into AMP to visit the Marketplace. There, you can purchase as many ten-gigabyte (10GB) slots as you need.

This AMP alert (illustrated above) indicates that the backup storage is full for the cPanel account exampl3. It also advises to purchase additional backup slots for more space or to manage that account’s disk space on the server.

NOTE: If you are a reseller, it’s important to know that the alert is indicating the cPanel account that is running out of space. Keep in mind, you can select which child account(s) you would like backed up from the main reseller’s cPanel account.

This email alert (illustrated above) is sent to notify you that your account has exceeded the backup space limit. It also provides multiple suggestions for correcting the issue.

Regardless of which alert you see, read on to learn what corrective action is best to take, depending on your circumstances.

How to Resolve Backup Storage Full

So you filled up your backup storage slots, don’t fret, there are a few options for fixing this. However, resolving this issue sooner than later is important, so that your backups will continue to run. Read on to learn how to address this issue.

Purchase More Storage Slots

Your first ten-gigabyte (10 GB) storage slot is included in your Backup Manager Plugin Subscription. Need more? Then get some, by following the instructions in our guide How to Add Storage for Data Backups using the AMP Marketplace. Below is the full Backup Manager pricing Breakdown.

NOTE: Only $2.50/month gets you 10 GB of storage and only $1.50 per additional 10 GB. At checkout, the total charge will include a prorated amount for each month until your next web hosting subscription's renewal date. This way your Web Hosting and Backup Manager subscriptions' renewal dates align for one convenient renewal payment based on the term you selected for your hosting plan. Additional storage can be added directly from your Account Management Panel.

Select Folders to Include/Exclude

If you do not need all your data backed up, then you can select which folders you would like to include or exclude from the backup. Follow the steps below to guide you.

1. Log into your cPanel account.
2. Navigate to the Backup Manager, by clicking on the icon under the Files heading.
3. Click on the Backup Settings tab.
4. Click on the arrow to expand the Home Directory section.
5. Under Data Included in Backup, you will see a few options. Refer to the table below for more details about each option you can select:
   

   Option:	Description:
   All Data	Select this option to backup all the folders located in your home directory (i.e., /home/exampl3/).
   Backup Selected Folders	Select this option to backup only the folders you select from your home directory.
   Exclude Selected Folders	Select this option to backup all data except the folders you select from your home directory.

6. Select an option and a basic file manager will be displayed. You can review the folders in your account and select which ones to include or exclude in your backup(s).

   NOTICE: As you make selections, the Total Selected indicator will show you how much available disk space your selections will take up.

7. Click on the Apply Changes button to save your changes.

Select Accounts

If you are a reseller you can select which accounts will be backed up. Simply follow the steps outlined in our guide How to Assign Backup Space to Child Accounts Using the Backup Manager.

Remove Files

Don’t need EVERYTHING? Here are some suggestions for what can be removed.

• Backups – Once you create and download a cPanel, you can go ahead and delete the backup file(s) from the server. Be sure you save it to your computer before removing it.
• Email Accounts – If you are no longer using an email account, you can remove it entirely. If you are still using the account, then simply delete any unnecessary emails. This can help reduce the amount of disk space your account uses because emails are stored in your home directory under the /mail/ directory.
• File Manager Trash – If you have deleted things and are still seeing a high disk space, you may need to empty the trash. This can be done through File Manager. Simply follow the instructions in our guide: How to Permanently Delete Trash in File Manager.

Now, you should be more familiar with the Backup Manager’s Exceeded Storage Space Alerts and how you can purchase more backup storage slots or maintain your disk space. Be sure to check your backups regularly to protect yourself from disaster. Go to our Backups and Restorations page for more articles and options for backing up your files or restoring them.