Backup & Restore Drupal

ThetaJoin provides full server daily & weekly backups, and can provide MySQL, and filesystem backups too. Backups are not 100% infallible, and it's very important to have a site disaster recovery process that has been tested, and verified to work. Multiple tested, and verified backups are the only sure way to know if your site disaster recovery plan is solid. Don't find out in the middle of a disaster that your backups are corrupt. Remember, backups happen leisurely, but recovery happens in a crisis.

 

WE HIGHLY ENCOURAGE ALL CLIENTS MAINTAIN A SET OF BACKUPS ON THEIR OWN.

 

Backing Up the Drupal MySQL Database

Logon to the phpMyAdmin MySQL using a link similar to https://www.example.com/phpmyadmin. Click on the Export tab on the phpMyAdmin main menu. Select all databases except information_schema in the Export area of phpMyAdmin. You want all MySQL databases backed up. In the Options->Database export options, check add DROP DATABASE. In the Options->Structure area, check Add DROP TABLE / VIEW / PROCEDURE / FUNCTION, Add CREATE PROCEDURE / FUNCTION.

Export Drupal MySQL Database

Scroll to the bottom of the Export page, select the Save as file, and gzipped in compression. ThetaJoin servers are configured to support up to 256MB file uploads. By choosing gzipped, your database can be around 2GB in size, depending upon how well your export file compresses. Once configuration is complete, click the Go button.

Drupal MySQL Export

After clicking the Go button, you'll be presented with a download screen from your web browser. Save the file to your desktop.

Download Drupal MySQL Database

 

Restoring the Drupal MySQL Database 

Restoring your Drupal MySQL database into your ThetaJoin server is a simple process. Click on the Import tab in phpMyAdmin, the choose your file that contains your backed up Drupal MySQL databases. Once selected, click the Go button to restore your database.

Import Drupal MySQL Database

The results of restoring your Drupal MySQL database should look like the image below.

Drupal Database Import Results

 

Backing Up Drupal Site Files

Our goal is to create a tar.gz file with all of your Drupal files. This file could be very large depending upon how big your Drupal site is.

Creating Backup Archive with Webmin

Webmin makes it easy to create your Drupal site tar.gz or tgz file. Logon to Webmin, then navigate to the File Manager through Others->File Manager. Select the directory that contains your Drupal site files, then the click the Save button. You'll be presented with a Download Directory dialog box. Click on the TAR.GZ button. Your web browser will prompt you to download the newly created tgz file. Save this tgz file to your desktop.

Drupal Archive Webmin Creation

You now have a backup of your Drupal site. Store all these files in a safe place.