Backup

Backup

Takes a copy of the site now, or on a schedule, and sends it somewhere that is not the server it is backing up. Full site, database only, or files only. Destinations are your own storage — MetaWrench never receives a backup.

Settings

What to back up

Full Backup is database and files: everything. Database Only is posts, pages, settings and users, and is small and quick. Files Only is themes, plugins and uploads.

Save to — Server

Saves to wp-content/mw-backups/ on this server. Fine as a quick copy before a change, but a backup on the same server as the site is lost with it. Download it from the history to keep a copy elsewhere.

Save to — Google Drive

Needs a Google OAuth Client ID and Secret, made once in Google Cloud Console; the Setup guide link walks through it. Save credentials, then Connect. Backups go to a MetaWrench folder in your Drive.

Save to — Dropbox

Create a Dropbox app, add the redirect URI the tab shows, paste the App key and App secret, save, then Connect. Backups go to a folder inside the app’s own Dropbox folder. Works on hosts that block FTP.

Save to — Amazon S3

Bucket, region, access key ID, secret access key, optional folder. Test Connection confirms before you rely on it.

Save to — FTP / SFTP (advanced)

For pushing to a server you control: a backup box, a NAS, a second hosting account. SFTP needs the ssh2 PHP extension; plain FTP works without it but sends the password unencrypted. Most people are better served by Dropbox or Google Drive.

Scheduled Backups

Enable, then frequency (Daily, Weekly, Monthly), time, type, and destination. Next scheduled backup shows below. Scheduled backups run in chunks, so they work on sites too large for a single manual backup.

When something looks wrong

A manual backup times out

The site is too large for one request on this host. Use the schedule, which runs in chunks, or do Database Only and Files Only separately.

Google Drive: connect fails or says redirect mismatch

The redirect URI in Google Cloud Console must exactly match the one shown on the tab, including https and trailing path. Fix it there and try again.

Dropbox: rejected the App key or App secret

Copy them again from the Dropbox App Console; a trailing space is the usual cause. Make sure the app has the files.content.write permission.

FTP / SFTP shows unavailable

The server lacks the PHP extension for it. The tab says which. Use a cloud destination instead; there is nothing to change on your side.

Scheduled backups are not running

WordPress cron only runs when someone visits the site. On a quiet site, ask your host to set up a real cron job hitting wp-cron.php every 15 minutes. Next scheduled backup on the tab tells you if it is overdue.

Backups are filling my storage

Delete old ones from the Restore tab, or keep fewer by backing up weekly instead of daily. A full backup is typically the size of your uploads folder.

Restore

Every backup listed with its size and date, and a Restore button beside it. A full restore replaces the database and files; a database-only restore leaves files alone. Before anything is overwritten, a rollback copy of the current site is taken, so a restore that fails partway can be undone.

Settings

Available Backups

File, size, date, and three buttons: Restore, Download, Delete.

Restore options

After pressing Restore: Full Restore, Database Only, or Files Only, then confirm. Progress shows on the page; do not close it.

Download

Saves the zip to your computer. Do this for any backup you want to keep beyond the server.

When something looks wrong

No backups found

None have been taken yet, or they were sent to a cloud destination and the server copy was not kept. Take one on the Backup tab, or download from your cloud storage and upload on the Migrate tab.

Restore failed partway

The page shows what to do and a details block for support. The rollback copy has already put the site back as it was before you started. Read the error, fix the cause (usually disk space or a permission), and try again.

I restored and now I am logged out

Expected. A database restore replaces the users table with the one from the backup. Log in with the credentials that existed when the backup was taken.

The site address is wrong after restore

You restored a backup from a different address. That is a migration, not a restore; use the Migrate tab, which rewrites the address.

I need to restore one page, not the whole site

Not supported directly. Restore Database Only to a staging copy of the site, copy the page content out, and paste it into the live site.

Migrate

Moves a site to a new host or a new domain using the same archive a normal backup produces. On the old site, take a full backup and download it. On the new site, install WordPress and MetaWrench, then upload the archive here. Files are copied first, resumably; the database is swapped last; the site address is rewritten to the new one; and a rollback copy of the current site is taken before anything is touched.

Works on hosts that lock wp-config.php (WP Engine, Flywheel): tables are renamed to match rather than the prefix changed.

Settings

Drop your backup ZIP here

Or click to choose. Large archives upload in chunks.

Before you import

Read it. A full backup contains the other site’s database, so this site becomes that site, including every user account. Your current username and password will no longer exist here; afterwards you sign in with the other site’s login. Passwords cannot be read from a backup, so if you do not know those details, stop.

The confirmation tick box

You must confirm you have the other site’s login and want to replace this one. Then Upload & Import.

When something looks wrong

Logged out after import

Expected. The database was replaced. Log in with the old site’s credentials.

Import stopped partway

Files copy resumably; run it again with the same archive and it continues. If the database step failed, the rollback has already restored the site you had; read the error details and try again.

Images are broken after migrating to a new domain

Hard-refresh first; the old domain is in browser cache. If still broken, the address rewrite missed them because they were stored with the old domain in a serialised option by a page builder. Most page builders have a “replace URL” tool in their settings; run it.

The upload fails at a certain size

Your host’s upload limit. The uploader chunks, but some hosts cap the total. Ask the host to raise upload_max_filesize and post_max_size, or use Database Only and Files Only archives separately.

I migrated to a subfolder and links point to the root

The address rewrite uses the new site’s address as set at install time. Check Settings → General on the new site shows the subfolder address before importing.