How to backup your WordPress site to Amazon S3 using BackWPup backup plugin (Part 5 of 5)

So you have done all the hard work of setting up a backup plugin. And you have ensured that your site gets backed up on a regular schedule.

And unfortunately something has gone wrong with your website that requires a recovery from the the backup.

First, determine the extent of the damage:

– Do you need to restore the database?
– Do you need to restore the WordPress files?
– Or do you need to restore both?

Perhaps you are not sure which files need to be restored. Or you may not know whether the database is completely hosed, or simply missing a few rows.

In this article I will show you how to completely restore your website assuming you have been doing a complete backup which includes all the WordPress files.

First, do another manual backup of the website and keep it just in case you need some files or data from it.

After this you are ready to wipe your website clean.

If you are not confident enough to restore the site yourself and need an expert to restore your site, contact us and we will be happy to work with you.

If you want to start with a clean slate and restore the entire site to the state it was in at the time of the last backup then you will need to delete all the WordPress files and delete all the data from your WordPress data.

Ok, if you are sure about proceeding then lets begin.

Step 2) Delete all the data from your wordpress database:

Most cPanels provide phpMyAdmin for database administration. Using phpMyAdmin, drop all the wordpress database tables that are used by the site.

If the database is used by multiple websites make sure to delete only the database tables used by the site that you want to restore.

Using your FTP client or your Hosting Provider’s cPanel, delete all the files under your website’s root folder. Usually the root folder is called public_html or www. Delete all the files and folders under this folder.

In the screenshot above, the WordPress installation is under /public_html/testbackup. Most WordPress sites are installed directly under public_html.

Most hosting providers will provide phpMyAdminor similar interface for database administration. Using phpMyAdmin, drop all the wordpress database tables that are used by the site.
If the database is used by multiple websites make sure to delete only the database tables used by the site that you want to restore.

1) Choose the correct database
2) Select all the tables. If the database is used by multiple websites make sure to delete only the database tables used by the site that you want to restore.
3) Choose the “Drop” action. This deletes the selected tables from the database.

1) Copy the backup zipfile to your wordpress root folder (usually public_html).
2) Unzip the zipfile.

Your files are now restored! Really.

The backup file contains a called <database_name>.sql – where <database_name> is the name of your database. This file contains all the necessary instructions to retore your database to its last known state.

In order to insert this data into your database download and copy the restore script from this zip file (http://api.backwpup.com/download/backwpup_db_restore.zip) to your website’s root folder. This zipfile contains backwpup_db_restore.php. Now this file (backwpup_db_restore.php) should be alongside wp-config.php and wp-content folder under your root folder.

Now visit this URL from the browser: http://your.website.com/backwpup_db_restore.php and follow the prompts

All the necessary fields will automatically get filled. You don’t have to add or change any data.

The Restore script alows you to change the URL of your site. Note: This means that you can use this process to change the URL of your site – not just for restoring a broken site!

Click the Restore button

The script will show a confirmation screen as show above.

Now you’re website is restored!!!

But you are not yet done. There is one very important step left.

Using your FTP program (FileZilla shown above) or your hosting provider’s cPanel, delete the backup SQL file and the restore script.

This is extremely important. If you keep these files around an unauthorized person can invoke the restore script or even learn the database name and password and hack into your website!

That’s it!

Your website is restored to the state of the last backup!

And this concludes this 5-part series on WordPress Backups.

What are your backup strategies? What are your lessons learned? Do you have any stories about how a timely backup saved your site and your sanity? Let us known in the comments below.