Backup and Restore in ISPConfig

? Backup Configuration and Management

ISPConfig Backup System

ISPConfig includes an integrated backup system that can automatically backup websites and databases.

Configuring Website Backups

1. Navigate to Sites → Websites
2. Select website to configure
3. Go to "Backup" tab
4. Configure backup settings:
   • Backup interval: Daily, Weekly, or Monthly
   • Number of backups: How many to keep (1-10)
   • Backup directory: /var/backup or custom
   • Backup format: tar.gz (compressed)
   • Exclude directories: Specify folders to skip
5. Save configuration

Backup Schedule Options

What Gets Backed Up

• Website backup includes:
  • All files in web directory
  • Website configuration
  • SSL certificates
  • Cron jobs
  • FTP users
• Database backup includes:
  • Complete database dump
  • All tables and data
  • Stored procedures
  • Triggers and views

Manual Backup Creation

Via Command Line

# Backup website files
tar -czf website_backup.tar.gz /var/www/clients/client1/web1/web/

# Backup database
mysqldump -u root -p database_name > database_backup.sql

# Combined backup with timestamp
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
tar -czf backup_$DATE.tar.gz /var/www/clients/client1/web1/
mysqldump -u root -p c1_database | gzip > db_backup_$DATE.sql.gz

Backup Storage Locations

• Local backup: /var/backup/web[ID]
• Custom location: Define in backup settings
• Remote backup: Mount remote storage via NFS/CIFS
• Cloud backup: Sync to cloud storage separately

Restoring from Backup

Restore Website Files

1. Locate backup file in /var/backup/
2. Extract to temporary location:

   tar -xzf backup.tar.gz -C /tmp/restore/

3. Copy files to website directory:

   cp -R /tmp/restore/web/* /var/www/clients/client1/web1/web/

4. Fix permissions:

   chown -R web1:client1 /var/www/clients/client1/web1/web/

Restore Database

# Restore from SQL dump
mysql -u username -p database_name < backup.sql

# Restore compressed backup
gunzip < backup.sql.gz | mysql -u username -p database_name

# Restore via phpMyAdmin
# 1. Login to phpMyAdmin
# 2. Select database
# 3. Import → Choose file → Go

Automated Backup Scripts

Custom backup script example:

#!/bin/bash
# ISPConfig backup script

# Variables
BACKUP_DIR="/backup"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d)
WEBSITE="/var/www/clients/client1/web1"
DATABASE="c1_database"

# Create backup directory
mkdir -p $BACKUP_DIR/$DATE

# Backup website
tar -czf $BACKUP_DIR/$DATE/web_$DATE.tar.gz $WEBSITE

# Backup database
mysqldump -u root -pPASSWORD $DATABASE | gzip > $BACKUP_DIR/$DATE/db_$DATE.sql.gz

# Delete old backups (keep 7 days)
find $BACKUP_DIR -type d -mtime +7 -exec rm -rf {} ;

# Send notification
echo "Backup completed for $DATE" | mail -s "Backup Report" admin@domain.com

Backup Best Practices

• Schedule regular automated backups
• Keep multiple backup versions
• Store backups offsite/cloud
• Test restore process regularly
• Document backup procedures
• Monitor backup job success
• Encrypt sensitive backups

Off-site Backup Solutions

• rsync: Sync to remote server
• FTP/SFTP: Upload to backup server
• Cloud sync: AWS S3, Google Cloud, Dropbox
• Backup services: Third-party backup solutions