CPanelSiteSaver: Automated CPanel Backup and Restore Tool

I just wanted to share a quick bit of feedback on a resource I found that you might want to check out.

The Problem: I lost one of my Wordpress sites when my hosting company botched a transfer to a new server. So I've been looking for a way to back up my stuff. I finally realized that there's a backup function built into CPanel but you have to go in and do the backup for each site (both the directories and the WP database). I also didn't know how to restore that info, which is just as important. Then I did some research on Google and found CPSiteSaver. And the short story is that this program rocks!

What it does: CPSiteSaver automates the backup function already present in Cpanel and allows you to schedule backups that are saved in a "ready-to-reinstall-if-things-go-haywire" format. First, you setup a folder on your local machine (say “Website Backups” for instance) and it creates subfolders underneath that for each of the sites. Within each site’s folder, it will save the main files (…/public_html or …/www stuff) and it will create another folder for that site’s database (or multiple databases if you have other stuff besides WP). Second, you setup profiles for each site, specifying the CPanel login info, database name and some other stuff. Result: Now you can do manual backups at the push of a button or set scheduled backups.

How well does it do it: Well, after I got this and tested it, I also decided to ditch my web host. Long story but it made for a good test. It was pretty straightforward, backing up before I changed the DNS settings, then uploading the backup files and backup database to the corresponding domain on the new host (this is done via CPanel…there's no mass-reinstall feature built into the program). There were a few snags that I ran into so I'll share them here:

• When you restore, you have to setup a user in MySQL (the same username and password as the old installation) before Wordpress will work. If you use something like WPManagerDX to mass install your Wordpress, download the wp-config.php file and open it in a text editor. You'll find the username and password there.
• When you install on the transferred domain, use the same username for CPanel. That username affects the username of your WP database (it'll be something like mysite_wrdp1). So you could screw things up if the names aren't the same. I guess that username is present all throughout the databse, so if you change your CPanel login, you’ll have to change that username within the database too. Just more work.
• If you decide to reinstall WP on an entirely new domain, you'll have to open your database file in a text editor and change all references to the old domain to the new domain. This is a simple find-and-replace. You can use WinZip to open the .gz files that CPSiteSaver creates.

*** A Word of Warning!!! ***

Be absolutely, 100%, bet-your-life-on-it sure that you enter the correct database name when setting up your profiles. CPSiteSaver will download empty or non-existent databases and you won't know you typed in the wrong thing until you go to restore it…and find nothing there! Ask me how I know this

Other than making that mistake a couple of times, I've had absolutely no problems with this program. It's a dream if you have multiple WP sites and relieves you of one more thing on the "to-do" list. And if you have tons of WP sites, the last thing you want to have happen is have all that data get lost. Trust me, it's not fun. I suggest you pick up a copy of this program ASAP!

To your online success,

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