How do I run my first backup and test a restore?

What you need

A working install, a destination to write to, and one test account on the panel with some files and one database. Do not use a customer account for the first run.

1. Add a destination

1. Open Destinations and choose + Add destination.
2. Pick a provider and fill in the form. Display name is required.
3. Choose Add destination.
4. On the new destination's card, choose Test. You should see "Connection successful".

You must create the destination before you can test it; the form has no test button. A local destination on the same disk is fine for a first run but is not a backup you can rely on. See Choose and add a destination.

2. Create a backup job

1. Open Backup jobs and choose + New job.
2. Give it a Job name, for example test-nightly.
3. Leave Source as "Panel accounts (cPanel / DirectAdmin / Plesk)" and pick the Panel type on this server.
4. Choose your Destination.
5. Under Accounts, choose "Selected accounts" and tick your test account.
6. Leave all Content to back up switches on: Files & directories, MySQL databases, Email accounts, DNS zones, SSL certificates.
7. Choose Create job. The Add schedule dialog opens by itself.
8. Pick a Run trigger (Every hour, Daily, Weekly or Monthly), keep Backup type at Incremental, and set the Hour and Minute in server time. Choose Add schedule.

Details: Create a backup job and Schedules and retention.

3. Run it and read the result

1. In the job list, choose the Run now icon on your job. A manual run is always a Full backup (every file is checked, only changed or new files are read).
2. The job's status changes to Running. There is no progress bar for backups.
3. When it finishes, open Backup points. Click your run for details. If it ended with warnings, the message is shown there.
4. Choose Verify now in the point's detail. This checks that every stored object is still on the destination.

Do not rely on a green status alone. Open the point and read any Warnings badge. See Run a backup and read the result.

4. Restore a file

1. In the panel or over SSH, delete one file in the test account and note its path.
2. In BackupWall, open Restore and choose + New restore.
3. Step 1, Select point: choose the point you just made.
4. Step 2, Configure: pick the test account, choose Files only, tick the file you deleted under Choose specific items, and choose Restore to original account.
5. Step 3, Confirm: read "This will overwrite existing data" and choose Queue restore.
6. Wait for Completed on the Restore page. "Completed with errors" means some items failed; open the entry to read why.
7. Check the file is back with the right owner, permissions and content.

For a database, repeat with Databases only, after changing something in a test database so you can see the difference. A restore overwrites live data and there is no dry run, but every overwrite restore first takes a safety copy you can undo. See Safety copy and undo.

5. Do these before relying on it

• Set up Disaster Recovery.
• Set up alerts so failures reach you.
• Add a remote destination (S3, SFTP or similar) and run a restore from it.