How To Back Up and Restore Your Plesk Data

Backing up and subsequent restoration of Plesk settings and data can be accomplished in a variety of ways. Plesk data backup/restore is performed by Plesk Backup and Plesk Restore utilities, while individual domains are typically backed up and restored via domain_bu.exe utility or through Backup feature accessible through Plesk control panel GUI. Note: You can backup and restore individual domains through Plesk Backup and Plesk Restore

utilities, although using domain_bu.exeshould be quicker and more convenient for this task. Plesk Data Backup Plesk data backup is carried out by Plesk Backup utility, which has both GUI and command line interface. To access Plesk Backup utility and back up your data: Click Start on the taskbar and select SWsoft > Plesk program group in the Start menu. 2. Click Plesk Backup to access Plesk Backup utility. 3. Follow the instructions provided in the Backing Up Your Plesk Data section to successfully create a backup of your Plesk data. Plesk Backup utility can also be accessed through command line interface by running backup.exe located in the%plesk_dir%\admin\bin\ folder (where %plesk_dir% is the system variable defining the folder where Plesk is installed). To learn more about using the command line interface of Plesk Backup utility, refer to the Backing Up Plesk Data Through Command Line Interface section. Plesk Data Restore Plesk data restoration is done by Plesk Restore utility, which is entirely GUI-based. To access Plesk Restore utility and restore your data: Click Start on the taskbar and select SWsoft > Plesk program group in the Start menu. 2. Click Plesk Restore to access Plesk Restore utility. 3. Follow the instructions provided in the <a id="h16124" class="jump(see)template" title="Restoring Your Plesk Data" href="15693.htm" target="_self">Restoring Your Plesk Data</a> section to successfully restore backed up Plesk data. Individual Domains Backup/Restoration Individual domains are backed up and restored by domain_bu.exe utility, which can be accessed through command line interface by running domain_bu.exe located in the %plesk_dir%\admin\bin\ folder (where %plesk_dir% is the system variable defining the folder where Plesk is installed). For detailed instructions on how to

1.

1.

use domain_bu.exe utility, refer to Backing Up And Restoring Domains section. Note: Individual domains can also be backed up and restored through internal Plesk Control Panel means. This feature is called Back Up and it is located in the Domain section on a domain management page in Plesk. For more information about this feature, refer to Backing Up And Restoring Domains section.

--==2

What Plesk Data Is Backed Up and Restored

What Plesk Data Is Backed Up And Restored The following data can be backed up and subsequently restored by Plesk Backup/Restore utilities: Plesk control panel configuration and Plesk server settings: System settings o Plesk IP addresses pool o Plesk license key Plesk services configuration o DNS zone templates o Mail preferences o ODBC settings o Plesk scheduler configuration, including scheduled tasks with their parameters o IIS application pool configuration and usage policy settings o SSL certificates o Shared SSL settings o Default domain skeleton o Server application settings Note: Only the settings of server applications are backed up and restored, not the server applications themselves. o Site application settings (Application Vault) Note: Only the settings of site applications are backed up and restored, not the site applications themselves. o Acronis True Image scheduled backup settings o Spam-filter settings Control panel settings o Control panel logo settings o Session settings o Control panel preferences and system preferences o Inferface management preferences o Notification settings o Action Log settings o Event Manager configuration o Inferface skins o Custom buttons Plesk Administrator preferences o Control panel Administrator personal settings o Control panel access policy configuration Plesk Administrator templates o Client templates o Domain templates Client settings and data: Personal settings

 CP interface settings Report and report delivery settings Limits and permissions IP addresses pool Site applications (Application Vault) pool IIS application pool settings Default domain skeleton for all client domains Control Panel logo Custom buttons Domain Templates Traffic usage statistics Domain settings and data: General domain settings o Domain user settings (including CP interface settings, personal information and permissions) o Report and report delivery settings o Domain preferences o Domain limits o Domain aliases o Domain backup settings (including backup schedule settings and FTP connection settings) o Custom buttons Domain services configuration o Mail configuration (including mail accounts, their settings and messages in the mailboxes) Note: If you are restoring to a Plesk installation with a different mail server, messages in the mailboxes will not be restored. o Mailing lists and their settings o DNS configuration o MySQL databases o Microsoft SQL Server databases Note: Only local Microsoft SQL Server databases can be backed up and restored. If remote Microsoft SQL Server databases are used, only their configuration can be backed up and restored. o Domain SSL certificates o Tomcat Java application list and applications themselves o ODBC settings Hosting configuration o Physical hosting configuration o Web users and their settings o Subdomains list o Web directories protection o Virtual directories and their settings o Domain-wide MIME types configuration (MIME type settings for individual directories are not backed up and restored) o Domain-wide error documents configuration (Error documents configuration for individual directories is not backed up and restored) o Anonymous FTP settings o Log rotation preferences o Scheduled tasks o Installed Site Applications and their preferences o Installed ASP.NET web applications and their preferences

o Performance settings o IIS application pool settings o Shared SSL settings o Hotlink protection settings o Domain home directory, excluding log files o Standard and frame forwarding settings (IP address and destination URL) Subdomain settings and data o Subdomain hosting configuration o Web directories protection o Virtual directories and their settings o Subdomain-wide MIME types configuration (MIME type settings for individual directories are not backed up and restored) o Subdomain-wide error documents configuration (Error documents configuration for individual directories is not backed up and restored) o Installed Site Applications and their preferences o Installed ASP.NET web applications and their preferences o Shared SSL settings o Hotlink protection settings Interface skins

By default, Plesk Backup utility is set to back up everything from the list above, excluding interface skins. What Plesk Data Is Not Backed Up And Restored The following data is not backed up (and, accordingly, not restored) by Plesk Backup/Restore Utilities: Server Applications (only their settings are backed up and restored) Default Site Applications available for installation in Application Vault Help Desk configuration and data Firewall settings MySQL and Microsoft SQL databases connection settings Default ASP.NET application packages available for installation in ASP.NET Web Applications SiteBuilder configuration and data ASP.NET server-wide settings MIME types configuration for each directory Error documents configuration for each directory Messages in the mailboxes, if you are restoring to a Plesk installation with a different mail server ==

Backing Up Your Plesk Data

Plesk data backup is carried out by Plesk Backup utility. Using this utility, you can: Back up your Plesk data via easy-to-use GUI Choose what Plesk data should be backed up, with a couple of clicks Quickly and efficiently schedule backups Use command line interface to back up your Plesk data or integrate backup in your own applications and batch files Save certain combinations of backup settings to reuse them later

To see the list of data that can be backed up with Plesk Backup utility, see the <a id="h15962" class="jump(see)template" title="What Plesk Data Is Backed Up and Restored" href="15727.htm" target="_self">What Plesk Data Is Backed Up And Restored</a> section. To back up your Plesk data:

1.

Start Plesk Backup utility (Start > All Programs > SWsoft > Plesk > Plesk Backup) 2. Select the objects you want to back up. o You can choose what clients and domains you want to backup by selecting the corresponding checkboxes in the Select the objects to be backed up menu. o When selecting or deselecting a client, all domains of this client are selected and deselected as well. o You cannot back up a domain without backing up the client it belongs to. If a domain is selected to be backed up, its owner will be automatically selected as well. o Use Select All to select all available objects and Clear All to deselect all objects previously selected. 3. Choose the appropriate backup options. o If you are making a full backup, it is recommended that you leave the Suspend control panel services during backing up checkbox selected to ensure that backup procedure is performed correctly and that resulting backup file is not corrupted. o If you are making selective domain backup, we recommend you to clear the Suspend control panel services during backing upcheckbox and leave the Suspend domain operations during backing up checkbox selected. This will ensure that domains which are not backed up are accessible during the backup procedure. o If you do not want to see the warning messages that are displayed if problems are encountered during the backup process, select theDo not prompt with warnings checkbox. To see the list of encountered problems, click Show Details >> on the backup results message window after the backup process is finished. Note that this button is disabled if no problems were encountered. o Leave Back up domains content selected to back up domains content. Note: If you do not back up domains content, web applications and databases might not function properly after the subsequent restoration. o Leave Back up mailboxes content selected to back up messages in the mailboxes. o Leave Back up databases content selected to back up the MySQL and local Microsoft SQL Server databases. Note: If you do not back up databases content, web applications and databases might not function properly after the subsequent restoration. o Leave Back up control panel configuration and server settings selected to back up Plesk Control Panel preferences and server-wide settings. o Select Back up interface skins to back up currently installed inferface skins. 4. Select the destination for the backup file. o Choose Store backup file on local drive to store the backup on a local hard disk or local network. Use Browse to specify the filename and location for the backup, and click OK to confirm your choice.

o Choose Store backup file on FTP to store the backup on a remote server via FTP protocol. Click FTP settings to specify FTP server, base FTP directory and login credentials. Select the Passive mode checkbox to use passive mode for FTP transfers. Click Apply to save the changes. Note. The backup file size is limited to 2 GB. All backup files over 2GB are split into several volumes, named in accordance with the following scheme: FileName -> FileName.1 -> FileName.2, etc. Enter a description for the backup file in the Description field. Select a temporary folder for backup purposes, if the hard disk partition where Plesk is installed doesn't have enough free space. Under Filemenu, click Set Temporary folder... and specify the required folder. Click OK. 7. Save the backup configuration, if necessary. Under File menu, click Save config, specify the filename and configuration file location, and clickOK to confirm your choice. To use an existing backup configuration, click Load confing, find the required file and click OK. 8. Click Start to start backup. If Suspend control panel services during backing up or Suspend domain operations during backing up options were selected, Plesk will stop the required services automatically before proceeding with backup. 9. After the backup process is finished, you will be prompted with a message that dispays the backup results, including all possible problems encountered during the procedure. Click OK to close the window, or click Show Details >> to see what problems were encountered. Note that this button is disabled if no problems were encountered.

5. 6.

== ====

Backing Up Plesk Data Through Command Line Interface

To back up all Plesk data, except interface skins, using CLI, run the following command in the %plesk_dir%\admin\bin\ folder (where %plesk_dir% is the system variable defining the folder where Plesk is installed): backup.exe -f <path\filename> Note: Specify the path and the name of the file instead of <path\filename> variable. If the path is not specified, backup file will be saved in

the PLESK_DATA_DIR\Backup folder (where PLESK_DATA_DIR is the folder you selected during the installation of Plesk for the location of Plesk data) E.g., to back up all Plesk data, except interface skins, into the C:\backup\psa folder with backup file named my_psabackup.bu, run the following command in the %plesk_dir%\admin\bin\ folder (where %plesk_dir% is the system variable defining the folder where Plesk is installed): backup.exe -f c:\backup\psa\my_psabackup.bu In order to use custom backup configuration for backing up Plesk data with backup.exe utility via CLI, you need to create a configuration file with required backup settings. To create a configuration file for Plesk Backup utility:

1.

Start Plesk Backup utility (Start > All Programs > SWsoft > Plesk > Plesk Backup) 2. Select the objects you want to back up. o You can choose what clients and domains you want to backup by selecting the corresponding checkboxes in the Select the objects to be backed up menu. o When selecting or deselecting a client, all domains of this client are selected and deselected as well. o You cannot back up a domain without backing up the client it belongs to. If a domain is selected to be backed up, its owner will be automatically selected as well. o Use Select All to select all available objects and Clear All to deselect all objects previously selected. 3. Choose the appropriate backup options. o If you are making a full backup, it is recommended that you leave the Suspend control panel services during backing up checkbox selected to ensure that backup procedure is performed correctly and that resulting backup file is not corrupted. o If you are making selective domain backup, we recommend you to clear the Suspend control panel services during backing upcheckbox and leave the Suspend domain operations during backing up checkbox selected. This will ensure that domains which are not backed up are accessible during the backup procedure. o If you do not want to see the warning messages that are displayed if problems are encountered during the backup process, select theDo not prompt with warnings checkbox. To see the list of encountered problems, click Show Details >> on the backup results message window after the backup process is finished. Note that this button is disabled if no problems were encountered. o Select Back up domains content to back up domains content. o Select Back up mailboxes content to back up messages in the mailboxes. o Select Back up databases content to back up the MySQL and local Microsoft SQL Server databases. o Select Back up control panel configuration and server settings to back up Plesk Control Panel preferences and server-wide settings. o Select Back up interface skins to back up currently installed inferface skins. 4. Select the destination for the backup file. o Choose Store backup file on local drive to store the backup on a local hard disk or in the local network. Use Browse to specify the filename and location for the backup, and click OK to confirm your choice. o Choose Store backup file on FTP to store the backup on a remote server via FTP protocol. Click FTP settings to specify FTP server, base FTP directory and login credentials. Select the Passive mode checkbox to use passive mode for FTP transfers. Click Apply to save the changes. Note. The backup file size is limited to 2 GB. All backup files over 2GB are split into several volumes, named in accordance with the following scheme: FileName -> FileName.1 -> FileName.2, etc. 5. Enter a description for the backup file in the Description field. 6. Select a temporary folder for backup purposes, if the hard disk partition where Plesk is installed doesn't have enough free space. Under Filemenu, click Set Temporary folder... and specify the required folder. Click OK.

7.

Save the backup configuration. Under File menu, click Save config, specify the filename and configuration file location, and click OK to confirm your choice. To load an existing backup configuration, click Load confing, find the required file and click OK. To back up Plesk data via CLI, using custom backup configuration file: Run the following command in the %plesk_dir%\admin\bin\ folder

(where %plesk_dir% is the system variable defining the folder where Plesk is installed): backup.exe -f <path\filename> --config-file <path\filename> Note: Specify the path and the name of the files instead of <path\filename> variable. If the path to the backup file is not specified, backup file will be saved in the PLESK_DATA_DIR\Backup folder (where PLESK_DATA_DIR is the folder you selected during the installation of Plesk for the location of Plesk data) E.g., to back up Plesk data using backup configuration file named basic_bu.psc located in the c:\My

Documents\Plesk into theC:\backup\psa folder with backup file named my_psabackup.bu, run the following command:
backup.exe -f c:\backup\psa\my_psabackup.bu --config-file "c:\My Documents\Plesk\mypsabackup.bu"

Another method, easier

Add this line to the crontab

/usr/local/psa/bin/pleskbackup clients /backup/`date '+%d%B-%Y'`.tar.gz crontab -e 0 4 * * * /usr/local/psa/bin/pleskbackup clients /backup/`date '+%d%B-%Y'`.tar.gz