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Create a backup right now

Updated

This is how you start a backup by hand: with Back up now or via the menu of a backup plan. At the end a finished backup is stored at your target.

What you need

  • a usable target, that is a target with a successful connection test,
  • a backup plan. With your first target the plugin creates the plan “Daily backup”. The plan may be paused.

In the interface every backup runs via a plan: the plan defines what is backed up and where to.

Step 1: Start the backup

Open the Overview page or the Backup page and click Back up now. If there is exactly one plan, its backup starts right away.

Status tile of the Overview page with the button Back up now

  1. Your website is backed up. is shown when the last backup was complete.
  2. Last backup names time, size and target.
  3. Next backup names the next run according to the schedule and its plan.
  4. Back up now starts the backup.
  5. Restore latest backup leads to the Restore page.

Step 2: Choose the plan

If there are several plans, the plugin asks which one should run. Click the name of the plan.

Dialog window with the question which plan should run

  1. Which plan? appears only with more than one plan.
  2. The cross closes the dialog window without starting a backup.
  3. One button per plan with its name. A click starts the backup of this plan.

Step 3: Follow the progress

Tile Backup while a backup is running

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

The phase says what the plugin is doing right now, for example Exporting the database, Packing files or Transferring to the targets. As long as the remaining time is not yet known, it reads calculating the remaining time ….

You can close the page. The backup keeps running: the website drives it itself, and the page shows the state again when you come back. In the list of backups the running backup stands as the first row, with a spinning ring. The column Type reads Running.

Step 4: Read the result

At the end a message appears below the main tile.

Green message after a completed backup

  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. 		Every 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, Log opens the log of this backup.
red
Backup failed. 		No target has the backup. The message names the reason.

Yellow and red messages stay until you close them or begin a new action. What to do then: When a backup fails or ends with warnings.

Run a plan via its menu

Every plan can also be started directly. The tile Backup plans is on the Backup page: in the Compact view, Schedule backup brings up the tile, in the Extended view it is always visible. In the row of the plan choose More …, then Run now.

Tile Backup plans with the open menu of a plan

  1. More … opens the menu of the plan.
  2. Edit opens the form of the plan.
  3. Run now starts a backup right away with the content and the target of this plan.
  4. Delete deletes the plan after a confirmation prompt.

Run now also works for a paused plan: only the schedule is paused. The backup counts as the last run of the plan. It does not shift the next run according to the schedule. If a job is already running, nothing starts.

Abort a running backup

Click Abort backup below the progress display. The tile reports Abort requested; the backup stops at the next step. The backup removes what it has already transferred to the targets and ends with the yellow message Backup aborted. In the list it stands with a grey dot; the column Type reads Aborted.

Yellow message after aborting a backup

  1. Backup aborted.
  2. Log opens the log of the aborted backup.

If something does not work

Message What you can do
No plan yet. Create a plan first. Nothing starts. In the Compact view the Backup page brings up the tile Backup plans. On the Overview page, Schedule backup leads to the Backup page. Create a plan: Schedule backups automatically.
No usable target yet. Set one up on the Targets page. The plugin opens the Targets page. Set up a target there or test the connection of the existing one: Which target suits you?
The backup could not be started: … After the colon stands the reason, for example The plan has no usable target. or A job is already running. Show log opens the general log.

Good to know

  • Only one job ever runs at the same time. A plan that becomes due in the meantime starts right afterwards.
  • The backup takes over content and target of the plan at the start. If you change the plan while it is running, that applies only to the next backup.
  • A backup started by hand counts towards its plan, also for Max. backups.
  • After every good backup the plugin deletes what goes beyond Max. backups and clears away leftovers of aborted jobs.

See also

On the command line

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

With WP-CLI you run a plan or start a backup without a plan; the latter exists only here. The command drives the backup itself to the end; with --background the website takes that over.

# Run a backup plan now (ID or name)
wp cloneworx-backup plan run "Daily backup"

# Start and let the website drive the backup
wp cloneworx-backup plan run plan-1 --background

# Backup without a plan: everything, to every usable target
wp cloneworx-backup backup run

# Show the progress of the running job
wp cloneworx-backup job status

# Cancel the running backup
wp cloneworx-backup job abort

# Show the backups, newest first
wp cloneworx-backup backup list

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