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The commands at a glance

Updated

You can also control targets, backup plans, backups, restore and settings of cloneworx Backup on the command line, without a browser. Here you find all commands of the plugin with their actions and the rules that apply to every command.

WP-CLI is not set up on your server yet? Then start with Install WP-CLI.

How a command is structured

Every command begins with “wp cloneworx-backup”. After that follow the command, the action, a name if needed and the parameters. A parameter begins with two hyphens.

# Command target, action test, target local-1
wp cloneworx-backup target test local-1

# Command plan, action run, backup plan plan-1, parameter --background
wp cloneworx-backup plan run plan-1 --background
  • You run the commands in the folder of your website, that is, where WordPress is located.
  • If you leave out the action, the default of the command applies. wp cloneworx-backup target is the same as wp cloneworx-backup target list.
  • The outputs are in English and are not translated.
  • The help of WP-CLI names the actions and parameters for every command, for example wp help cloneworx-backup target.

All commands

The action in bold is the default and applies when you name no action.

Command Actions What for More about this
target list, add, edit, remove, test, check, cleanup, moved, copy, sites, adopt, rebuild Show, create, change, remove and test targets. Check the backups at a target, clean up leftovers, answer a fingerprint conflict, find backups after a total loss. Manage targets with WP-CLI
plan list, add, edit, pause, resume, remove, run Show, create, change, pause, switch on, delete and run backup plans at once. Manage backup plans with WP-CLI
backup run, list, lock, unlock, check, download, delete Create a backup without a plan. Show, lock, check backups, write them as a file and delete them. Create and manage backups with WP-CLI
retention list, run Show which old backups would be dropped according to Max. backups, or delete them now. Create and manage backups with WP-CLI
restore precheck, run, status, keep, undo Run the pre-check, start a restore, show its state, keep it or undo it. Restore and import with WP-CLI
import none; the command takes the path of a file and the parameter --target Store a backup file at a target of this website and add it to the list of backups. Restore and import with WP-CLI
scheduler status, tick Show the schedule. With tick, check whether a plan is due and start it: that is the line for the system cron. Schedule and system cron with WP-CLI
settings list, get, set, reset Show, read, set the settings of the website and reset them to the defaults. Settings and scope with WP-CLI
scope roots, tables, exclusions, all Show what belongs to the website. Set the exclusion rules and the tables of which only the structure is backed up. Settings and scope with WP-CLI
status none Show the state of the website: the same result as the status tile of the Overview page. State, logs and support with WP-CLI
logs none List the log files or write all of them into a tar file. State, logs and support with WP-CLI
support none Print the support report or write it to a file. State, logs and support with WP-CLI
debug on, off, status Switch debugging in the log on and off. After 24 hours it switches itself off. State, logs and support with WP-CLI
notify status, check, test Show the state of the notifications, check for overdue backups now, send a test email. State, logs and support with WP-CLI
news status, subscribe, unsubscribe Show, start or end the subscription to news on cloneworx Backup. State, logs and support with WP-CLI
job run, status, abort, probe, filelist, dbexport, files Run the current job to its end, show its state or abort it. Start the probe run and the diagnostic jobs. State, logs and support with WP-CLI

Naming target, plan and backup

What How you name it Where you find it
Target After the action with its identifier (local-1, sftp-1) or its name. In the parameters --targets and --target the identifier is used. wp cloneworx-backup target list
Plan After the action with its identifier (plan-1) or its name. In the parameter --plan the identifier is used. wp cloneworx-backup plan list
Backup With its job name: date, time and an identifier of 32 characters. wp cloneworx-backup backup list

In the name of a target, upper and lower case do not matter. In the name of a plan this applies to the letters a to z; umlauts you write as they appear in the name. A name with spaces you put in quotation marks: wp cloneworx-backup plan run "Daily backup".

As which user you work

WP-CLI often runs as a different user than the website. The website could not change or delete files and folders that a command then creates later on. That is why almost every command that changes something or starts a job first checks whether you are working as the user who owns the folders of the plugin. If not, it aborts and names both users. In the example below web and vuser are the user and the group of the website; put in those of your website.

# Run as the website's user (example: web and vuser)
sudo -u web -g vuser -H wp cloneworx-backup backup run
  • The actions list and status do not check the user: you can show lists and states under any user. settings does not check it when setting either, because the command only writes to the database.
  • backup lock, backup unlock, backup download, job run, job abort, logs and support also run without the check.
  • With --force a command runs anyway and only warns. The risk remains: what it creates belongs to the wrong user.
  • restore run, restore keep and restore undo have no --force. A restore writes into the website itself.

In this process or in the background

Backup, check, cleanup, restore and import run as a job in many short steps. Without a further parameter the command runs the job itself to its end. It shows one line with the progress per step and the result at the end. It leaves out the pause between the steps from the settings.

The restore is an exception: the command hands the switch-over to the restored state to the web server and waits until it is done. More about this: Restore and import with WP-CLI.

With --background the command only starts the job. The website then continues it itself: through the self-request of the server, with WP-Cron as the safety net below. wp cloneworx-backup job status shows the state.

Command Actions with --background
target check, cleanup, adopt, rebuild
plan run
backup run, check
restore run, keep, undo
import the command itself
scheduler tick
job probe, filelist, dbexport, files

One job per website

Only one job ever runs at the same time. If one is already running, the command refuses the start and names the running job: Another job is active: …. One job per site.

Passwords and keys

The command line never accepts passwords and keys. Every value would appear there in the list of processes and in the history of the shell. That is why you set up targets with credentials on the Targets page. Afterwards you can test and check them and use them in a plan on the command line too.

The parameter --path

--path is a parameter of WP-CLI, not of the plugin: it names the path to WordPress when you are not in the folder of the website. The folder of a local target you set with --set-path.

# The path to WordPress: a WP-CLI switch
wp cloneworx-backup status --path=/pfad/zur/website

# The folder of a local target: a setting of the target
wp cloneworx-backup target add local --set-path=/var/backups

The same path as the web server

Call WP-CLI via the path through which the web server also reaches the website. The fingerprint of the installation contains the path on the server. Via another path, for example a symlink, the same installation looks like a copy: the plugin records a fingerprint conflict and writes and deletes nothing at this target.

See also