BackupBuddy

BackupBuddy

Running on thousands of sites, BackupBuddy is an all-in-one solution for backups, restoration, and migration. Back up to your server, Amazon S3, a FTP/FTPS account, or an email. Use the backup with the Importing & Migrating script to quickly and easily restore your site on the same server or even migrate to a new server with a different domain and database. Whether you’re an end user or a developer, this plugin is sure to bring you peace of mind and added safety in the event of data loss. Our goal is to keep the backup, restoration, and migration processes easy, fast, and reliable.

Frequently Asked Questions

We recorded a segment of questions we have fielded about BackupBuddy and here’s a 4-5 minute video talking about it with our lead developer Dustin Bolton:

• Does it backup everything? Yes. It backs up the SQL database, plugins, files, themes, scripts, and everything else in the WordPress database and directories.
• Can I back up to Amazon S3 or other remote servers? Yes. BackupBuddy supports backing up to your local server as well as remote locations such as the Amazon S3 cloud, FTP, FTPS, and email.
• Do I need to install WordPress on the destination server before importing?
  No. BackupBuddy’s importer script, importbuddy.php, handles restoring you WordPress installation, files, database, and all settings. It also handles migrating the URL and other settings if you changed hosts.
• Does BackupBuddy do incremental backups?
  This feature is in the works for an upcoming version of BackupBuddy.
• Does it take care of all the path changes? Yes. It handles changing the URL, file paths, permalinks, etc.
• Is there a size limit? There is no set limit. However, server configurations determine how much can be backed up. Script timeout time, memory limits, CPU usage, and harddrive utilization all can have an influence on backup capabilities. BackupBuddy is meant to back up WordPress sites, not entire servers or vast amounts of data. Shared hosting usually allows for backing up sites 400-1500MB before server limitations prevent progression.
• Can I upgrade later to the Developer Plan? Yes. Check out details here for that.
• Any server requirements? PHP 5.2 with command line ZIP or the ZipArchive class is recommended for optimum speed and functionality. Some users have reported success using PHP 4 though it is not supported. BackupBuddy core functions automatically fall back to slower methods on systems not meeting recommendations including Windows, older PHP versions, and systems lacking ZIP functionality using the built in automatic compatibility mode. Not all features are available on pre-PHP 5.2 systems. Advanced options are available to help with compatibilities in poor hosting environments. Some advanced features may not be available in compatibility mode. For more information see our Detailed Server Requirements.
• Are there any hosts known to be incompatible?
  BackupBuddy includes a multitude of debugging and compatibility options to help work around any server issues. DreamHost is currently the most problematic server environment though work-arounds are available in almost all cases. See our Host List for more information on reported issues with some hosts. Almost all hosting environments can be adapted to if a problem does occur.
• Is WordPress MU or Multisite functionality supported? We do not officially support MU or multisite currently. However, it has been reported that in MU BackupBuddy can backup either the current site or all sites on the single WP installation and in WordPress 3.0’s multisite, it backs up the entire set of sites on the single WP installation.
• Are Windows servers supported?Yes! However, BackupBuddy will fall back to the slower compatibility mode as described in the question above when running on a Windows server. Some advanced features may not be available in this mode.

BackupBuddy Benefits

Here are the primary features and benefits:

• Backup your entire WordPress install – including the widgets, themes, plugins AND SQL database … the entire package! You should not leave the backup process up to your web host … just like your laptop or desktop computer, you should be doing regular backups of your blog or website … with BackupBuddy, you can schedule backups and have them sent off-site to Amazon S3, an FTP/FTPS account, or to your email.
• Restore your WordPress site fast — the restore function within BackupBuddy is a simple restoration process where you upload a script and your backup files and it restores WordPress, your themes, widgets, plugins, and everything else. Other backup solutions only backup; BackupBuddy restores too!
• Migrate a WordPress site to another domain or server easily – If you build custom WordPress sites for clients this plugin is for you! This is a HOT feature for WordPress developers who build a custom site for a client on a temporary domain (like a sandbox or playground site) then want to reinstall the ENTIRE site with widgets and all on a live client domain.
• Backup Scheduling – BackupBuddy can do daily, weekly, bi-monthly, monthly backups … and includes email, FTP, FTPS, and Amazon S3 options to another server
• Automatic Plugin Upgrades in WP Dashboard – When new versions of BackupBuddy come out during your membership year, you can easily upgrade the plugin straight from the Dashboard

Other Features

Remote backup storage to Amazon S3, over FTP / FTPS, email backup files, email notifications, option to back up entire database, directory excluding, backup file integrity checks, built-in help and hint system

Reviews and Testimonials

• WPTavern says BackupBuddy is a ‘home run’
• ThemeLab says ‘nothing comes close to this one’
• Magnetic Webworks calls BackupBuddy a ‘major time-saver’ and ‘potential life-saver’
• Item-9 Consulting says ‘this plugin is a unique and surprisingly simple solution’.
• Blogging Teacher says “Overall I found Backup Buddy to be the best WordPress backup option that I have tested so far thanks largely to its very simple recovery process, which is a huge time saver over any of my previous restore options.”

Video Tour

How to Backup WP Easily

Comprehensive Product Tour

Screenshots

Installation

• Unzip the downloaded file.
• Use your favorite FTP client to put the folder in your plugins directory (wp-content/plugins)
• Go to the plugins page in your WordPress Dashboard
• Activate the plugin

Check out our Quick Steps to Getting Started video tutorials here.

How to Backup WP Easily

How to Create a Database in cPanel

Membership Plans