backing up a joomla site

what is the best way to back up a joomla site. copy paste sql? after every change?

 

the best method for me would be the quickiest and easiest. If you have CPanel, click on Backups, then select the joomla SQL database in question, then simply save it to your PC when the download starts. It is probably a lot easier then going into phpmyadmin and exporting it every change.

good luck.

 

so I see I can back up in Cpanel... If something goes wrong or I get hacked can I just upload that sql again and everything back to normal? or would I have to copy and paste into another sql I make? Ill be searching around looking for info and I understand if you dont want to take the time to answer a total noob question. I just want to be sure I have all angles covered before I go live with a few sites.

 

If you have cPanel the best way is Full Backup of course

Just click the link "Generate/Download a full backup" at the backup page and create a backup..

When it finishes it will send you an e-mail and it will place your backup to your top directory as a backup-....tar.gz

When something happens to your site you can tell your hosting company about this tar.gz file..All they have to do is that...

Then they will login their WHM as root and restore your account via this backup..In 1-2 minutes your site will be back with all the data when you generated your backup

 

He could do that himself to restore via SSH. However his question is about the important parts of him joomla site, being the actual information held within the SQL tables, not the fantasco click and install cms .

OnlineStudios, if you need to restore a sql backup simply upload it to your phpmyadmin and you will be good to go, or cut and paste and run the query.

Try not to keep your backups on your server or near your account. if an attacker ever got root or access the first thing i would do is to place a few shells or evil scripts into your backups to ensure access for later...

Is there anything else I could help you with?

 

thanks for the info... I will continue to learn security and will probably have posts in the future. For some reason this entire area of web development skipped my mind in the planning stage. I thought I was too small to have to worry about security but after reading some of these threads looks like I better know what to do if someone wants to get crazy on one of my sites.

 

now that I thinkn about it... it is probably stupid for me to be posting messages about this because If I ever put links in my sig people will be like "look at this guy, he has no clue." then I get cracked.

 

cPanel full backup option lets you to pack all your account.It packes your files,databases,mail accounts,mails,passwords,statistics and etc..

So there is no need to think about important parts since it packs all including the important ones too.

And it is really so easy for a system admin using cPanel to restore it.All hosting companies that say "We are backing up the sites daily/weekly and monthly" are using the same method.WHM backs up all accounts at the server each day and puts them in a folder at server.When you want your backup they give you a tar.gz file.If you want them to install your backup they just restore your account with this tar.gz file.

Also you dont have to save it at your account.You can freely download it when it finishes then you can delete it from your account.And when it is needed you can simply upload it and tell your hosting company its place and they can restore your account from it.

 

Yeah. Joomla uses a MySQL database.

Make a backup via phpMyAdmin.

 

I know what a full back up is. I was referring to his question instead of a generic answer. Your site must be small if you consider downloading your backups. No pun intended, but for many people out there like myself we have a few gigs worth of data and to download it would be simply redundant and a waste of time and bandwidth. a cold site is the best solution, a dedicated backup server is a must for my needs.

OnlineStudio, you don't have to worry about your signature containing your link. take the necessary steps to ensure you have mitigated the risks involved, and you should be fine, and if you were attacked you would have the sql information of your clients per say to get back upto speed

Onlinestudio, I am currently in process of writing a small security paper from a blackhat's point of view on starting a web venture or site. It will detail what precautions to take and what someone would look for to attack. Also a few tips and tricks on preventing a skiddie from identifying you as a target. I think it may assist you I will PM you with the pdf link when i finish it.

 

If you have a joomla based web site, I would say that always backup the database and the template that you have used for your website. In this way, if your site fails or anything happens you can install Joomla on your site and dump the sql file and upload the template. Thats one way to keep things in proper way which ever control panel you use.