How To Restore cPanel Backup

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cPanel is popular for managing website backups. However, it has limitations that can cause restore failures. One main issue is the lack of consistency. Anything from network issues to low server resources can make restores fail. 

Failed cPanel restores cause a domino effect of problems. First you will face incomplete data restoration. This could mean broken links or missing content. Additionally, prolonged downtime because now you have to troubleshoot and solve for the lost data. This will disrupt user experience and impact website traffic negatively.

Is there a safe way to restore cPanel backups? What are the different ways to do so? Is it worth the effort? We’ll discuss all of that in this article.

TL;DR: cPanel restores frequently fail due to server and compatibility issues. These issues can lead to incomplete data restoration and downtime. For reliable backup restoration, consider using automated backup plugins like BlogVault instead.

There are three ways to restore your site using cPanel, and all share a key feature: the ability to choose which parts of your site to restore. For your website to function fully, you need both the site files and the database tables.

First, restore your home directory or root folder. These site files include essential elements like plugin and theme folders. Next, restore all your database tables, which hold user-generated content such as posts and comments. Together, these steps ensure a complete restoration of all data from your backup, bringing your site back to its full functionality.

Both parts of this full backup need to be restored separately. Take your time and be cautious. 

1. Using cPanel Backup Wizard

Using the Backup Wizard to restore a cPanel backup is straightforward and organized. It is designed to simplify backing up and restoring website data. It provides a guided, step-by-step interface that helps users easily restore backups, or create them in the first place. 

Here’s how you can do it: 

  1. In the Files section of cPanel, click Backup Wizard.
  2. Click Restore in the Restore section, and select Home Directory from the options displayed.
  1. Click Choose File and select the zip folder of backup files to upload and restore them.
  2. Back on the Backup Wizard dashboard, click Restore Database. When prompted, choose the file to upload and restore.

2. Using cPanel Backups

You can manage cPanel backups using this feature. It’s very similar to Backup Wizard. But the interface is designed to give you more control over what needs to be restored. 

However, this flexibility has challenges. It can be slow and unreliable with large files. This can result in incomplete restores that lead to more troubleshooting, which in turn leads to more downtime.  

Here are the steps to do so:

  1. Login to cPanel and click Backup in the Files section.
  2. Then click Choose File in the Home Directory section.Click Upload once you select a backup file.
  1. Once the site files have been restored, repeat the process for the database tables.

3. Manual restore using cPanel

Restoring your site using phpMyAdmin and the File Manager is the third way to restore using cPanel. 

This method gives you access to the backend of your website. Therefore, it also comes with some risks. You must be very cautious when making any changes because any mistake could crash your site. It’s the least reliable method because it is more prone to failing and needs more manual intervention than the other two. 

  1. Access cPanel and open the File Manager.
  2. Navigate to the root folder, and click Upload in the top right to Select File.
  1. Select the backup folder and give it a few minutes to upload.
  2. Back on the cPanel, click phpMyAdmin in the Database section.
  3. Select the database that is associated with your site.
  4. Select all the tables you want to restore and click Drop
  5. Click Import and then Choose file to select a file from your device.
  1. Scroll down and select SQL from the file type dropdown.
  2. Click Import, once you’re done.

Post-restore checklist for cPanel backups

Once you’ve restored your site using cPanel, it’s important to review key areas to ensure everything is functioning properly. Here’s a checklist of important places or pages to examine and why they matter:

  • Home page: Check your home page to ensure that the layout, images, and links are displayed correctly. Any discrepancies here can significantly impact user experience, as it is often the first page visitors see.
  • Plugins and themes: Review your installed plugins and themes to ensure they are active and working as intended. Verify functionality by navigating to pages or features specific to each plugin or theme, as any issues here could affect your site’s appearance and functionality.
  • Database-driven content: Examine pages that rely heavily on database-driven content, such as blogs, product pages, or forums. Ensure that posts, comments, and user data are intact and display correctly to maintain site integrity and user trust.
  • Contact forms and interaction elements: Test contact forms and interactive elements to confirm they are operational. This helps maintain communication with users and ensures a seamless user interaction experience.
  • Site navigation: Navigate through your site’s menus and links to verify they lead to the correct pages. Broken navigation can frustrate visitors and result in lost engagement.
  • Security settings: Review your security settings to ensure they are still intact after the restore. This includes checking firewall settings and login security measures, which are essential for safeguarding your site against threats.
  • Performance metrics: Conduct performance tests to ensure your site loads quickly and efficiently. This affects user satisfaction and search engine rankings.

Troubleshooting

We often resort to backups during a crisis. Maybe a theme update failed and crashed your site. Maybe you want to restore a site because you want to roll back some design changes. Whatever the reason, time is of the essence. When your restore fails it is very frustrating. 

Pro tip: Test your website backup and ensure it won’t fail when needed. We also recommend redundancy—take multiple copies of good backups. 

Try one of the following troubleshooting methods to recover your site as much as possible. 

Corrupted backup files

A file is considered corrupt when its data is damaged, unreadable, or unusable. Incomplete backup processes, even those caused by network issues, can cause corruption. Malware targeting insecure storage can alter files, leading to corruption too. Also, errors during file compression or using incompatible encoding methods can corrupt backup files.  

At this point, the only thing you can do is restore a different file. You will have to fall back on a different backup file. Worst case scenario, you can try to recover your site from an online archive. It’s not easy, but that’s the only way to recover your content. 

File permissions issues

File permissions decide who can read, modify, or run a file on a server. They are one way of keeping files safe by allowing only certain people to access or edit them. If file permissions are wrong, they can block the restore process by stopping access to important files or folders. This can prevent files from being updated or accessed during the restore. If permissions are too strict, important parts might not be restored properly, causing problems with your website.

To avoid this:

  • Precheck permissions by accessing the File Manager in cPanel.
  • Ensure permissions align with standard settings (e.g., directories often use 755, while files use 644).Modify permissions if necessary and reattempt the restore.

Network interruptions 

This might seem obvious, but network interruptions can stop your restore. It’s a small but critical factor that results in a lot of frustration. So no, we strongly recommend against restoring a backup on a coffee shop network. Check the speed and connection stability before you start restoring a site. 

Lack of server resources

Server resources refer to the essential components like CPU, memory (RAM), storage space, and bandwidth that a server uses to operate and manage tasks. Insufficient resources can lead to slow loading times, crashes, or inability to perform tasks like backups and restores. Unfortunately, backups and restores eat up those resources

In PHP, the max_execution_time constant is set to limit the maximum time a script can run. This ensures that processes don’t continue indefinitely, which could exhaust server resources. By default, this time is often set to 30 seconds, preventing long-running scripts from affecting server performance or causing timeouts. You can adjust the PHP time limit in the php.ini file if necessary, balancing between allowing sufficient processing time and conserving resources.

Your only solution is to reach out to a webhost that offers more resources. You may need to choose a web hosting provider that provides that flexibility or invest in a higher plan to buy more server resources. 

Configuration conflicts

Mismatched settings might cause restore failures. Double-check database configuration settings like the database name, username, and password. Sometimes, a database connection error occurs when these configurations don’t match. It could also crash your site. 

So it’s important to ensure that the database settings match those in the wp-config file. Similarly, check the compatibility of PHP and database versions with your site’s requirements.

Correct any discrepancies in configuration files, such as wp-config.php for WordPress sites, before restoring your site.

Should you use cPanel for restores?

Troubleshooting is time consumin but necessary with cPanel backups and restores. It’s important to consider whether cPanel is the best option for your website backups. 

When you want to recover a website, your backup must be quick, reliable, and easy to implement. cPanel’s backups, unfortunately, come with the severe downsides, like: 

  • Prone to failure: cPanel backups often fail, particularly with larger websites, resulting in incomplete or corrupted backups.
  • Hard to manage: The backup process requires manual initiation and oversight, making it difficult to keep track of and maintain regularly. 
  • Resource intensive: Running backups through cPanel can consume significant server resources, such as CPU and memory, potentially slowing down your website.

When to restore your site using cPanel?

Restoring your site using cPanel is an essential skill in website management, particularly in scenarios where you need reliable recovery options. Here’s when and how you should use cPanel for restoring your site:

  • When your backup is downloaded: Having a backup downloaded to your local device or cloud storage means you have an accessible copy of your website’s data. In the event of data loss on the server or if the server itself is co:mpromised, you can use cPanel to upload and restore this backup. This ensures that your site can be quickly returned to a prior state, safeguarding your content and user experience.
  • When your backup plugin doesn’t offer restores: Backup plugins are a convenient way to automate the backup process, but they aren’t infallible. If your backup plugin fails—perhaps due to an update error or malfunction—manual restoration via cPanel becomes a crucial fallback. You can restore your website manually by uploading your downloaded backup through cPanel, enabling you to circumvent plugin-related issues.
  • When you’re testing your backups: Regularly testing your backups is a best practice to ensure they work as expected when needed. Using cPanel, you can set up a duplicate or staging environment to test your backup files by restoring them there. This process confirms that your backups are complete and functional, offering peace of mind that they will perform effectively during an actual restoration need.

Alternatives to cPanel backups

There are several affordable backup plugins to choose from, as an alternative to cPanel backups. We cannot stress enough the importance of investing in good backup solutions. 

BlogVault emerges as an exceptional choice in this regard. It offers a range of features that enhance reliability and cater to diverse backup needs like:

  • Off-site storage: We always recommend that you follow the 3-2-1 backup strategy. This means storing 3 copies in two different devices and in at least 1 other physical location. BlogVault solves this by saving multiple copies on their own servers. This adds an extra layer of security, protecting your data from local server issues.
  • Incremental backups: BlogVault uses incremental backups in a smart way. It backs up in increments but saves them in combination with a full backup. This solves the problem of traditional backup restores requiring the full backup and all the increments taken since the full backup. 
  • Automatic backups: A big problem with cPanel backups is that it needs human intervention. Every time you need a backup, you have to initiate it manually. When deciding your backup schedule frequency, you may need more than one backup a day. This is nearly impossible with cPanel. With automated operations, BlogVault requires no manual handling, freeing you from overseeing backup processes. You can just set it up and forget it till you need it. 
  • Easy-to-use interface: BlogVault’s user-friendly interface makes navigating and managing backups simple. It also has an external dashboard. Even if your site has crashed, you can use the emergency connector feature and restore your site from the dashboard.
  • One-click restores: You don’t want to be researching how to restore a cPanel backup when your site crashes. With BlogVault, you can restore your site from the dashboard, in minutes. This significantly reduces the downtime. 
  • Custom schedules: BlogVault allows you to generate backups, providing flexibility and control over when backups occur. Even if you don’t, BlogVault takes a daily backup of your site. This is enough for static sites. You can upgrade to a higher plan if you want more backups. 
  • Real-time backups: With real-time backup capabilities, BlogVault captures changes as they happen. This is ideal for high-traffic sites like an ecommerce website. This ensures that your latest data is always protected.

Final thoughts

Restoring cPanel database or files can be incredibly time-consuming if you have a large site. The time consumed multiplies with the troubleshooting. It requires too much manual work and can be complicated to manage. 

On the other hand, using a service like BlogVault provides better protection with features like off-site storage and automated real-time backups. These tools ensure your data is safe and easy to restore, giving you the freedom to focus on your website without worrying about losing valuable information. Remember, picking a strong backup solution is key to keeping your site running smoothly.

FAQs

How do you restore a full backup on cPanel?

To restore a full backup in cPanel, first, upload your backup file to the home directory using File Manager or FTP. Since cPanel does not support full account restores, you may need your hosting provider’s assistance. Alternatively, you can manually restore specific components, like files through File Manager and databases through phpMyAdmin.

How do I download a full backup from cPanel?

To download a full backup, log into your cPanel account. Navigate to the Backup section and choose Download a Full Account Backup. Save the backup file to your local system by following the on-screen instructions.

What is a full cPanel backup?

A full cPanel backup includes everything in your cPanel account, such as website files, databases, email accounts, and settings. It’s a comprehensive snapshot of your entire account’s data and configuration.

How do you restore a database in cPanel?

To restore a database in cPanel, access phpMyAdmin through your control panel. Select the database you want to restore, click on the Import tab, and upload the database backup file from your computer. 

What is the best way to backup your site?

The best way to backup your site is to use a comprehensive and automated tool like BlogVault. It offers off-site storage, real-time backups, and user-friendly management, ensuring your data is secure and easily restorable without manual intervention.

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