Backing up your website with cPanel
To create a full website backup:
- Login to your cPanel via your URL: http://www.yourwebsite.com:2083 or similar
- Now that you’ve logged in you’ll see select Backup
- Select Full Backup
- Select the destination for the website backup to be kept:
- You can store the files in your home directory on your web server by selecting Home Directory from the drop-down menu.
- Always download your backed up website.
- cPanel can also utilize FTP to your PC or MAC. To do this, fill in the appropriate FTP information using something like FileZilla.
- Click Generate Backup. You will receive an email staying a short time later stating that your website has been successfully backed up.
- To download a copy of the backup file to your computer, click the filename under Backups Available for Download.
Each website backup is date stamped so you can easily see which are the oldest backups. Website Name-MM-DD-YYY.
The file will be stored as a “tar ball,” or compressed data file, with the filename extension .tar.gz.
Keep in mind you don’t want too many backups in the home directory as this will add unnecessarily large data files to your website. Over the long term your web hosting fees may need to be increased if you keep all your backups in your home directory.
