Initial setup: install and create the first backup

Six steps from the activated plugin to the first finished backup: set up a target, switch on the plan, start the backup, read the result.

What you need

• WordPress 6.5 or newer and PHP 7.4 or newer,
• a MySQL or MariaDB database,
• a single website: the plugin does not support WordPress Multisite,
• a user account with the role Administrator,
• a place for the backups: a folder on the server or the credentials of a storage service.

The plugin also needs the PHP extensions zlib and mysqli. Whether something is missing is shown on the Settings page in the tile System and support.

Step 1: Activate and open the plugin

Install the plugin in WordPress on the Plugins page and activate it. Afterwards the WordPress menu holds the entry cloneworx. Click it: the Overview page opens.

1. The entry cloneworx is in the WordPress menu.
2. Overview is the menu item of the open page.
3. Targets is the menu item of the page on which you set up your target in step 2.
4. The grey status tile reports Your website is not backed up yet. Below it stand the note Create a plan first; “Back up now” then runs it. and Next backup with not scheduled yet.
5. Back up now takes you to the Targets page as long as there is no usable target.
6. Schedule backup leads to the Backup page.
7. Backup plans shows your plans. Right now it says No plan yet.

The plugin does not create a target on its own and does not start a backup. A plan needs a target: so set up the target first. The plugin then creates the first plan itself.

Step 2: Choose the target type

A target is the place where your backups are stored. Open the Targets page, click Add target and choose the target type.

1. The target types that exist: Local folder, FTP / FTPS, SFTP, WebDAV, Amazon S3, S3-compatible, Google Drive and Dropbox.
2. Dismiss closes the selection.

Step 3: Set up and save the target

Fill in the form. The fields depend on the target type; each type has its own article in the section “Targets” of this guide. Test connection checks your entries without saving. Save saves the target and tests the connection right away.

A target of the type Google Drive or Dropbox has no fields for credentials. You sign in with Google or with Dropbox; after that the target is saved and tested: Store backups in Google Drive, Store backups in Dropbox.

1. All targets are connected. is the title of the green status tile.
2. The message names the target: “…” saved and connected.
3. The new target is in the list. The green dot means: connected.

A target is usable only after a successful connection test. With your first target the plugin creates the plan “Daily backup”: daily at a randomly chosen time, everything, to this target, Max. backups 7. The plan is paused until you switch it on.

Step 4: Switch on the plan

Open the Backup page and click Schedule backup. The tile Backup plans appears. In the Extended view it is already on the page.

1. paused stands next to the switch. A click on the switch switches the plan on; then it says active.
2. Paused, no backups are scheduled. After switching on, this shows Next run with date and time.

Click the switch at 1. You change rhythm and time via More …, then Edit. More on this: Schedule backups automatically.

Step 5: Start the first backup

On the Backup page or on the Overview, click Back up now. With exactly one plan the backup starts right away, even if the plan is paused: only the schedule is paused.

1. What the running backup is backing up and to which target.
2. The progress: phase, entries, amount and the remaining time.
3. Abort backup stops the backup at the next step.
4. Back up now is blocked as long as a job is running.

You can close the page: the backup keeps running.

Step 6: Read the result

At the end of the backup a message appears below the main tile.

1. The band at the top edge runs down: a green message closes by itself after 8 seconds.
2. Dismiss closes the message immediately.

Message	Meaning
green Backup complete.	The target has the complete backup, nothing was left out.
yellow Backup complete with warnings.	The backup is there, but something did not go smoothly. The message names the number and kind of warnings, the link Log the details.
red Backup failed.	The backup failed, nothing of it remains at any target. The message names the reason, the link Log the details.

Afterwards the backup is in the list Backups. After a complete backup the Overview reports: Your website is backed up. More on warnings and errors: When a backup fails or ends with warnings.

If something does not work

Message	What you can do
Not ready yet: …	This is how the status tile of the Targets page reports a target without a successful connection test. Click Test connection there.
“…” saved, but the connection test failed: …	The target is saved, but not usable. Correct its settings according to the reason in the message and test again.
Switching on needs at least one usable target.	On the Targets page, test the connection of the target and switch the plan on afterwards.

Good to know

• An active plan runs on its own; no page needs to stay open for that. But if nobody calls your website in the hour after the scheduled time, the run is skipped: Start backups on time: set up a system cron.
• If a backup ends with an error or with warnings, the plugin by default sends an email to the admin address of the website: Set up email notifications.

See also

• How the interface is laid out
• The “Overview” page
• Create a backup right now
• Restore the website from a backup
• The commands at a glance

On the command line

WP-CLI not set up yet? How to install WP-CLI.

The same steps work with WP-CLI. The command line does not accept passwords and keys: you set up a target with credentials on the Targets page. Creating does not test the connection here; the second command does that.

# Create a local folder as a target and test it
wp cloneworx-backup target add local --name="Archiv" --set-path=/var/backups
wp cloneworx-backup target test local-1

# Show the backup plans with ID and state
wp cloneworx-backup plan list

# Enable the first backup plan
wp cloneworx-backup plan resume plan-1

# Run the backup plan now
wp cloneworx-backup plan run plan-1

# Show the state of the website
wp cloneworx-backup status