Backing up

[Johnboy1974]

Guys for the past 6 months I've been backing up my forum through the maintenance mode on the smf forum itself. Someone's told me that's not the right way to do it, and it should be backed up through the host and the cpanel. Have I been doing it wrong for the last 6 months.

[Kindred]

http://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Backup

[Johnboy1974]

Kindred, so what's the point of backing up through the forum then?.

[Kindred]

it is there as a legacy system and for people who do not have access to cpanel or phpmyadmin backups.

there are known issues with it which were fixed in 2.1, but - due to continual complainers (and despite the fact that it was fixed), the entire thing was removed from 2.1

[Johnboy1974]

Kindred I have looked into backing up via my host godaddy and its a fairly simple process. It backs up the my SQL database. I will maybe do this once per month. Should I continue my weekly backup that I do through the forum, or is it now pointless.

[Kindred]

the backup from the hosting panel will be a better choice, so you can skip in forum option.

Don't forget to ALSO backup files....

[Johnboy1974]

Kindred many thanks, much appreciated.

[a10]

Other (additional) possibility >  http://www.mysqldumper.net/

[Johnboy1974]

the backup from the hosting panel will be a better choice, so you can skip in forum option.

Don't forget to ALSO backup files....

Is this all the files in my web root folder, I need to back them up to my computer.

[a10]

Is this all the files in my web root folder

No, use a FTP program for those files. https://filezilla-project.org/  (be sure to set Transfer type to Binary)

[Kindred]

actually, a10gf, I typically DO use use the host backup to grab a ZIP or TAR of all files on the site.

[a10]

When Johnboy wrote "Is this all the files in my web root folder" he was not referring to any separate file backup process, seemed like he was thinking the mentioned SQL backup would include files in addition to db. And agree of course, can be done with host control panel, but filezilla is (very) good.

[Johnboy1974]

Guys now I'm not sure what files it is I'm actually meant to back up- can someone point me in the right direction please. I'm ok with saving the MySQL database is the other files I'm unsure about and where try are located. Thanks

[Kindred]

you have to make TWO backups.

1- the database (.sql or archived version of .sql)
2- the files (either through your backup option of the hosting panel or by downloading all of the site files and directories using FTP (if using filezilla, make sure to set the transfer type of BINary))

[a10]

what files it is I'm actually meant to back up

My backup process:
1. The complete db (all tables) using phpmyadmin > export. In addition I use mysqldumper for extra++ safety.
2. The forum files using ftp (drag the forum folder over to the pc).

See attachments (examples from 1.1.18 shown). The ftp screenshot shows the server (Remote site) on the right, the backup on the pc (Local site) on the left. If using Filezilla, remember the Binary setting.

All in all just a few clicks and 10 seconds of work, then sitting back & have a coffee, watch the downloads and enjoy the peace of mind. Hoping this helps, good luck.

[Johnboy1974]

Thanks guys I will give it a try tomorrow.