In this article you will learn:
- Why to back up your website and how often
- How to perform a manual backup
- How to restore a website from a backup
- Common problems
- Frequently asked questions
Backup basics
A website backup can save you in a situation where someone attacks your website, you accidentally delete part of the site, or it gets damaged by a problem with the installation or update of the content management system.
VEDOS backups
We back up regular Webhosting (NoLimit, LowCost) once a week. These backups are used to restore data in the event of a server failure, so they are not intended for restoration at the customer's request.
We back up Webhosting Extra once a day. Backups are available up to 5 days back, and we restore the data free of charge upon request.
More detailed information about backups on our side can be found in the article Backups ⧉.
We do not provide backups older than 1 week.
Send requests for providing a backup authorized via the contact form ⧉. In the request, include:
- Webhosting name or service/order number
- Subject of restoration: FTP, database, both
- Date from which you are requesting the backup (the technician will provide the exact dates and times of the available backups)
- Restoration method: overwrite all current data on FTP with data from the backup, or upload the data from the backup to a separate folder on FTP. We upload the database export to FTP unless you agree otherwise with the technician.
- Agreement with the restoration price according to the valid price list.
Your own backups
Our system performs backups automatically, regardless of whether you are making changes at the moment or not. So if you are planning a major intervention on the website, for example deleting files or installing (updating) a new CMS/plugin, back up the system manually as well. This will prevent a situation where our backup is too old and does not include, for example, changes made recently, or conversely is too new and the original working website is no longer available.
Also make your own backup in case the website is compromised. A compromise can be discovered weeks or even months after malicious files were uploaded or clean code was overwritten with malicious code, and our backups will then be compromised as well.
We recommend keeping the last 3 backups in case the most recent one is damaged or compromised.
Manual backup
To create a complete website backup, you usually need to save:
- Files from FTP, meaning the code, styles, scripts, and media that make up your website. Every website has files on FTP.
- Data from the database. Most websites use a database, including those built on CMS platforms (WordPress, Joomla, etc.).
FTP backup
To create a backup of files from FTP, follow these steps:
- Create a folder on your computer for storing the backup. We recommend including the date in the name for easier sorting or searching, for example zaloha_domena-tld_221231.
- Connect to FTP and find the directory where your website is located – usually www, or www/domains/(your website domain).
- Download the website files to the prepared folder:
- WebFTP ⧉: Select the website directory or all files and click the download button.
- Desktop client: Select the website directory or all files and drag them into the prepared folder.
The WebFTP client packages the files into an archive before downloading, but due to limited performance (it is a web application) it is not suitable for large websites or websites containing a large number of files. In such cases, we recommend the FileZilla client.
After downloading the files, we recommend running an antivirus scan of the backup folder.
Database backup
To create a backup of the database files, follow the instructions for exporting the database in the article Webhosting – Import and export of a database in phpMyAdmin.
Save the exported file in the folder with the file backup. If you do not have these files in an archive (zipped), we recommend saving the database file in an easily identifiable separate folder.
Restoring a website from a backup
If you request a restore from a VEDOS backup ⧉, you can request that the original website files be overwritten. The technician uploads the database backup to FTP.
To restore a website from a manual backup, follow these steps:
- Connect to FTP and check that it contains the basic directory structure.
- Find the directory where the broken website is located – usually www, or www/domains/(your website domain). If this directory does not exist, create it.
- If the directory with the broken website contains the original files, delete them.
- Upload the backup files through the WebFTP ⧉ interface or a desktop FTP client.
- Import the database according to the database import instructions in the article Webhosting – Import and export of a database in phpMyAdmin.
- Clear the browser cache and check whether the website works.
Common problems
Common backup problems include:
- Unavailable FTP
- Deleted Webhosting service
- Non-functional VEDOS backup
- Website not working after restoring from your own backup
Unavailable FTP
Problem: It is not possible to log in to FTP with Webhosting.
Cause: FTP is most often unavailable for disabled services.
Solution: If the Webhosting expired no more than 5 days ago, customer support can enable FTP for you in order to obtain a backup. Send a request for temporary activation via the form ⧉ and include the Webhosting name. Support may refuse or charge for temporary activation of the Webhosting at its own discretion.
If the service is functional, follow the instructions for resolving FTP problems.
Deleted expired Webhosting
Problem: I can't see the Webhosting service in my account. How do I get to the data?
Cause: If you do not see the service in your account and the website expired more than 30 days ago (7 if you terminated it), the service and all its data have been completely deleted on our side.
Solution: You can create the service again, but we are unable to restore the data. So restore your own backup if you have one, or create a new website.
Non-functional VEDOS backup
Problem: A technician restored from a backup, but the website is still not working.
Cause: Technicians usually restore data by overwriting the original files on FTP (unless the option to restore to a separate folder is requested) and by uploading the database backup to FTP as well. Database import is usually not part of the restoration.
The source of the problem on the website may also have been active before the backup was taken, so the restoration did not fix the problem.
Solution: Make sure the original data was overwritten with the backup data and that you imported the database backup uploaded by the technician to FTP. If the website is restored correctly but still not working, unfortunately the problem was already part of our backup. In that case, use an older backup of your own, or deal with the problem with a specialist (we do not handle disinfection or repairs of compromised or otherwise damaged websites on our side).
The fee for restoration from backup, even if it does not solve the problem, is non-refundable.
Website not working after restoring from your own backup
Problem: We deleted all the content on FTP, uploaded the backup, but the website still doesn't work.
Cause: Deleting FTP damaged the basic Webhosting directory structure.
Solution: Make sure you have the basic Webhosting directory structure set up correctly. If problems persist, set up temporary FTP access for support according to the instructions and ask for help via the form ⧉. Requests are usually handled directly by support or the CMS department within 1 business day, but this is an intervention beyond standard support, so the response time may be significantly longer.
Frequently asked questions
We had a backup on WEDOS Disk, but it was deleted. Can you restore it for us?
No, we do not back up data on WEDOS Disk. Disks created for free with a hosting service (Webhosting, VPS) are deleted by the system together with the data of that service (typically on the 30th day after expiration, or on the 7th day in the case of service termination).