Import a backup from a file

A backup that you downloaded as a file, you bring back into the list of backups with the import: on this website or on another one where cloneworx Backup runs. Afterwards you restore it like any other backup.

What you need

• the backup file with the extension .tar, as the plugin delivered it when you downloaded it,
• a usable target on this website: that is where the import stores the backup,
• free space in the work folder of the plugin the size of the file.

Without a usable target, nothing can be imported:

1. Import to target is empty and disabled.
2. No usable target: set one up on the Targets page first.

How you set up a target: Which target suits you?

Step 1: Open the tile

Open the Restore page and, in the main tile, click Import from file.

1. Dismiss closes the tile.
2. The upload area takes the backup file.
3. Choose file opens the file picker of your computer.
4. Import to target offers the usable targets. The first one is preselected.
5. Import is disabled as long as no file is chosen.

Step 2: Choose the file and the target

Drag the file onto the upload area, or click Choose file. Then, under Import to target, choose the target where the backup should be stored.

1. The name and the size of the chosen file.
2. Import to target names the chosen target.
3. Import starts the upload.

Step 3: Upload

Click Import. Leave the page open until the upload is finished.

1. Buttons and dropdown menu are disabled. The tile cannot be closed during the upload.
2. The bar shows the state of the upload.
3. Uploading: … of …

The upload runs in parts. That is why large files also work when your server limits uploads:

• The first part is 4 MiB in size, never larger than the server accepts.
• If the server refuses a part or the connection breaks off, the page halves the part and tries again, down to 64 KiB.
• After every part, the server names the position where it stands. If an answer gets lost, the page continues exactly there.

Already on receipt, the plugin takes the file apart and checks its structure. A file that is not a backup of this plugin ends the upload immediately.

Step 4: Wait for checking and storing

After the last part of the upload, the import starts on its own.

1. Upload complete; the backup is being checked and stored.
2. The progress of the import with the current phase.
3. Abort backup aborts the import. The link carries this name during an import too.

The import works in this order:

1. Checking: The plugin reads every part of the backup against its checksum. A damaged part ends the import; nothing is stored.
2. Transferring: The backup goes to the chosen target, the same way as a fresh backup.
3. Registering: The backup gets its entry in the list, and the plugin rewrites the catalog at the target.
4. Cleaning up: The plugin removes the uploaded data from the work folder.

Step 5: Read the result

1. The imported backup appears in the list under “…”. The message names the target.
2. The imported backup in the list. It is where it belongs according to the start of the original backup. As the date, the row shows the time of the import.

The tile closes. The backup is now in the list, also on the Backup page. You can restore it via More …, then Restore: Restore the website from a backup.

If something does not work

If the upload or the start of the import already fails, the cause appears in red in the tile, after Import failed: …

Cause in the message	What you can do
This file is not a backup file of this plugin.	Choose the file that the plugin delivered when you downloaded it, unchanged. The file must contain exactly one backup.
The uploaded file does not contain a complete backup.	The file is missing the info file or a part, or a part has the wrong size. Download the backup again.
Not enough free space in the work folder for this file.	Free up space on the web server, and start the import again.
This backup is already stored at the chosen target.	The backup is already in the list. An import is not necessary.
A different backup with the same name exists in the index; the file is not imported.	The list holds a backup of the same name with different content. The plugin does not overwrite it.
The chosen target is not usable at the moment.	Test the target on the Targets page, or choose another one.
This upload is unknown or has expired. Start the import again.	An upload that gets no new part for an hour is cleaned away by the plugin. Start the import again.
A job is already running.	Wait until the running job has finished.

If the import fails later, during checking or transferring, a red message appears below the main tile:

1. The message names the cause. If the import fails at the target, it also names the target and the message from the target or from cURL.
2. Log opens the log of the import.

The tile stays open with the chosen file. Whatever a failed or aborted import has already transferred to the target, the plugin removes there again.

Good to know

• The plugin never deletes an imported backup automatically. It does not count for Max. backups. It stays until you delete it.
• It does not count for the warning about overdue backups.
• If the same backup is already stored at another target, the import creates no second entry: the chosen target is added to the existing entry.
• The file may be at most 32 GiB in size.
• As long as a restore is running or its rollback is open, the main tile does not show the Import from file button.

See also

• Download a backup
• Restore the website from a backup
• Restore a backup on another website
• Find backups again after a total loss
• Restore and import with WP-CLI

On the command line

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

If the backup file is already on the server, you import it with WP-CLI without an upload. You name the target with --target; without a target, the command does not start.

# Import a backup file to the target local-1
wp cloneworx-backup import /tmp/backup.tar --target=local-1

# Check whether the backup is in the list
wp cloneworx-backup backup list