Mayur's BLOG

Backing Up the Entire Server

To backup the server configuration settings and all user data you have on your hosting machine:

1. Log in as root to your server.
2. Change to the directory, where Plesk is installed:

   cd /plesk_installation_directory/bin

3. Run the following command:

   ./pleskbackup all

   Where the is a target backup file name with absolute or relative path. The data will be backed up without disruption of hosting services and downtime. The resulting backup archive will be placed in the directory you specified.

Scheduling Backups

To schedule backup of the server configuration and all user data:

1. Click the Server shortcut in the navigation pane.
2. Click the Scheduled Tasks icon in the Services group.
3. Click Add New Task.
4. Specify when to run the backup.
   • Minute - enter the value from 0 to 59
   • Hour - enter the value from 0 to 23
   • Day of the Month - enter the value from 1 to 31
   • Month - enter the value from 1 to 12, or select the month from a drop-down box
   • Day of the Week - enter the value from 0 to 6 (0 for Sunday), or select the day of the week from a drop-down box

     You can schedule the time using the UNIX crontab entry format. In this format, you can

   • enter several values separated by commas. Two numbers separated by a hyphen mean an inclusive range. For example, to run a task on the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 20th of a month, type 4-6,20.
   • insert an asterisk to specify all values allowed for this field. For example, to run a task daily, type * in the Day of the Month text box.

     To schedule the task to run every Nth period, enter the combination */N, where N is the legal value for this field (minute, hour, day, month). For example, */15 in the Minute field schedules the task to start every 15 minutes.

     You can type the contracted names of months and days of the week, which are the first three letters: Aug, Jul, Mon, Sat, etc. However, the contracted names cannot be separated with commas or used together with numbers.

5. Specify the command in the Command input box:

   usr/local/psa/bin/pleskbackup all

   Where the is a target backup file name with absolute or relative path to its location.

6. Click OK.

   The data will be backed up without disruption of hosting services and downtime. The resulting backup archive will be placed in the directory you specified.

To schedule backup of a user account and user's sites:

1. Click the Clients shortcut in the navigation pane.
2. Click the client name you need.
3. Click the Backup icon in the Tools group.
4. Click the Schedule Backup icon in the Tools group.
5. Specify when and how often to perform backup.
6. To enable recycling of backup files, clear the Unlimited check box and type the maximum allowed number of files in the repository.

   When this limit is reached, the oldest backup files are removed.

7. Specify the combination of symbols that backup file names should begin with.

   This will help you distinguish between backup files.

8. Select the repository where you would like to store the backup file.
9. To create a multivolume backup, select the respective check box and specify volume size in megabytes.
10. To save the user account settings, select the Back up client's preferences and account details check box.
11. Select the domains to back up.
    • To back up all domains, select the check box in the upper left corner of the list of domains.
    • To back up individual domains, select the corresponding check boxes in the list of domains.
12. Click the Enable icon in the Tools group.
13. Click OK.

To schedule backup of a single domain (web site):

1. Click the Domains shortcut in the navigation pane.
2. Click the domain name you need.
3. Click the Backup icon in the Tools group.
4. Click the Schedule Backup icon in the Tools group.
5. Specify when and how often to perform backup.
6. To enable recycling of backup files, clear the Unlimited check box and type the maximum allowed number of files in the repository.

   When this limit is reached, the oldest backup files are removed.

7. Specify the combination of symbols that backup file names should begin with.

   This will help you distinguish between backup files.

8. Select the repository where you would like to store the backup file.
9. To create a multivolume backup, select the respective check box and specify volume size in megabytes.
10. Click the Enable icon in the Tools group.
11. Click OK.

Optimizing Server Performance

If you serve numerous web sites, you may want to configure the scheduled backup and restore processes, so that they do not consume much server resources.

To reduce the server load:

1. Go to Server > Backup Settings.
2. Specify the number of simultaneous backup processes in the Maximum number of simultaneously running scheduled backup processes box. The default value is 10. Type a lesser value.
3. Select the Execute scheduled backup processes with low priority check box.
4. Click OK.