Find backups again after a reinstallation

The plugin has been newly installed and no longer knows its earlier settings. The backups of the earlier installation are still stored at the target, but they are not in the list. This is how the plugin takes over the folder of the earlier installation and brings that installation’s backups back into the list.

Why the list is empty

Every installation of the plugin has its own folder code, and the backups of an installation are stored at every target in the folder cloneworx-backup-<code>. The folder code is stored in the WordPress database. The plugin starts with a new code

• if it removed all settings when it was deleted: on the Settings page, the switch When the plugin is deleted, remove all settings and the index. Backups are kept. was on,
• or if WordPress is running with a new or empty database.

In both cases the list of backups is empty as well, and the plugin does not know the folder of the earlier installation. It looks for that folder as soon as you have set up the target again the way it was before.

If you only deactivate the plugin or delete it without the switch, you do not change the code: targets and list are then kept. More on the switch: Uninstall the plugin.

Step 1: Set up the target again

On the Targets page, set up the target as before: the same storage, the same folder. The article for the target type shows how, for example Store backups on an SFTP server.

After saving and a successful connection test, the plugin looks at the location of the target. If it finds the folder of another installation there, the tile Backups found at “…” appears. The folder of the earlier installation is such a folder: it carries a different code from this installation.

Step 2: Choose the folder of the earlier installation

In the folder of every installation, a small catalog is stored at the target next to the backups: it names the website and carries the fingerprint of the installation that backs up there, formed from the address of the website and the path of the installation on the server.

1. The folder of the earlier installation: the address of the website from its catalog, the number of backups, the date of the last one, the version of the plugin and the name of the folder.
2. This is my website: take it over

Check the address: it has to be your website. Then click This is my website: take it over.

If the tile does not appear, open it yourself: in the More … menu of the target with Find backups at this target.

If a folder has no readable catalog, it shows unknown website (no readable catalog) and the number of backup folders the plugin was able to count.

If the plugin cannot take over the folder at the moment, the button This is my website: take it over is greyed out, and the reason is given below the folders.

Step 3: Confirm taking over the folder

1. Cancel
2. Take over

The confirmation dialog names the folder and, below it, the address of the website. With Take over this happens:

• This installation continues with the folder code of the earlier one.
• The log folder and the work folder move along.
• Empty folders with the previous code are removed at local targets.
• The backups stored in the folder are added to the list.
• The catalog at the target receives the fingerprint of this installation. The plugin then treats the website as moved.

Step 4: Wait until the backups are in the list

1. The message: the folder has been taken over, the backups are being added to the list.
2. The progress: how many entries have been read already and how long it will still take.
3. Abort search

The plugin searches the folder at the target for all backups, including those that the catalog does not name. For every backup it fetches the info file and checks whether every file of the backup is stored at the target in its size. At the end, the result appears:

1. The result: how many backups were found, how many were added to the list and how many were already in it.

The backups are now in the list on the Backup page. You can restore them on the Restore page: Restore the website from a backup.

• A backup that is missing a file or whose file is cut off appears in the list with a red cross.
• The full check reads every backup completely: in the More … menu of the target with Check the backups at this target.

Other cases

Backups in the plugin’s own folder are missing from the list

Here the folder code has stayed the same: the backups are stored in the plugin’s own folder, but the list does not know them at this target. This happens when a target was removed and set up again at the same location, or when a backup was taken out of the list with Only remove the entry from the list; nothing is deleted at the targets. while its files are still stored at the target.

The plugin adds such backups to the list on its own: after a target is saved with a successful connection test, and when you choose Find backups at this target in the More … menu of the target.

1. The message Backups found at “…”: … are being added to the list. names the target and the number of backups.
2. The progress names Finding backups, the entries read and the remaining time.
3. Abort search

Adding the backups runs as a job as in step 4 and ends with the same message about the result.

In two cases the plugin does not add these backups on its own. Then the tile Backups found at “…” appears with the sentence … backups in the plugin’s own folder are not in the list yet. and the button Add them to the list:

• Another job is running at the moment. Click Add them to the list as soon as the job has finished.
• The catalog in the plugin’s own folder belongs to another website. It then carries a different fingerprint from this installation, for example because the website has moved (new address or new path on the server) or because this installation is a copy of another website. The tile then additionally shows a yellow note:

1. Add them to the list adds the backups from the plugin’s own folder to the list.
2. The yellow note reads The catalog in this folder belongs to another website (…). Adding the backups to the list confirms that this website moved here. A copy of a website must not do this: its retention would delete the backups of the original. The brackets contain the address of the website from the catalog.
3. The folder of another installation: address, number of backups, name of the folder.
4. This is my website: take it over is greyed out as long as the plugin cannot take over the folder.
5. The reason, for example: the list of this installation already contains backups.

The address in note 2 is the address of the website that wrote the catalog in the plugin’s own folder. Click Add them to the list only if that was this website before its move, with its earlier address or in its earlier path, and the installation there no longer exists. The plugin then adds the backups to the list and rewrites the catalog at the target with the fingerprint of this installation: with this you confirm that the website has moved.

The plugin finds nothing at the target

If you choose Find backups at this target in the More … menu of the target and the plugin finds nothing at the location of the target, the tile reports Nothing found at “…”: no folder of another installation, and every backup in the plugin’s own folder is already listed.

After a target is saved, no tile appears if the plugin finds nothing. If you expected the backups of an earlier installation, check whether the server and the folder of the target are the same as before.

If something does not work

Message	What you can do
Taking over is possible only on a fresh installation without backups in the list. Add single backups with “Import from file” instead.	The list of backups of this installation is not empty. The plugin then does not take over the folder: see the box at the end of step 2.
A job is running. Try again when it has finished.	The plugin takes over the folder only when no job is running any more. Wait until the job has finished, and then choose Find backups at this target again in the More … menu of the target.
No backups found in the plugin’s folder at “…”.	Check the server and the folder of the target.
“…”: … backups found, … added to the list; … incomplete, marked with a red cross.	For restoring, take a backup without a red cross.
The backups at “…” could not be added. See the log.	The search failed, or you aborted it. The link in the message leads to the log. Then start again: in the More … menu of the target with Find backups at this target. The plugin then adds the backups on its own, or the tile offers Add them to the list.

Good to know

• A backup that the plugin adds to the list as a new entry belongs to no backup plan. In the Extended view, the Plan column shows the word reclaimed for it; on the Backup page, the Plan filter with reclaimed shows only such backups. The plugin never deletes them automatically.
• If the entry of a backup is already in the list, for example still under a removed target, the entry only gets this target added and keeps what the Plan column shows. For automatic deletion this backup counts as before: Define how many backups are kept.
• For the warning about overdue backups, backups with reclaimed do not count as backups of this website. So switch a backup plan on again: Schedule backups automatically.
• Locks recorded in the catalog are kept.

See also

• The “Targets” page
• Restore the website from a backup
• Check backups at a target and clean up leftovers
• The website has moved or is a copy
• Manage targets with WP-CLI

On the command line

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

Finding backups also works with WP-CLI. Set up a target with credentials on the Targets page beforehand: the command line does not accept passwords and keys. The command line does not add backups to the list on its own: rebuild is there for that.

# Show what is stored at the target's location
wp cloneworx-backup target sites sftp-1

# Take over the folder of a previous installation
wp cloneworx-backup target adopt sftp-1 --folder=cloneworx-backup-0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef

# Add backups from the plugin’s own folder to the list
wp cloneworx-backup target rebuild sftp-1