{"id":42830,"date":"2015-02-23T20:51:12","date_gmt":"2015-02-23T15:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=42830"},"modified":"2026-10-08T19:05:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T13:35:23","slug":"backup-websites-on-hosting-server","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Back Up Websites on Your Hosting Server (WHM, cPanel, hPanel)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Do you know if your website is actually backed up? Many site owners rely on their hosting provider and have never checked. If your site is hacked, a plugin update breaks it, or the server fails, a recent backup is the only quick way back. Here&#8217;s how to back up websites on your hosting server easily, with WHM on a VPS or dedicated server, or with the backup tools in cPanel and hPanel on shared hosting, plus the settings that matter most.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> On a VPS or dedicated server, log in to WHM as root and open <strong>Backup &gt; Backup Configuration<\/strong>. Enable backups, choose daily, weekly and monthly schedules and how many copies to keep, store them in <code>\/backup<\/code> (not <code>\/home<\/code>), and add an off-site destination. On shared hosting, use your control panel&#8217;s backup tool (cPanel Backup, JetBackup or hPanel Backups) and download a copy regularly.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ad93c3babaad\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ad93c3babaad\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#Back_up_a_VPS_or_dedicated_server_with_WHM\" >Back up a VPS or dedicated server with WHM<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#Step_1_Open_Backup_Configuration\" >Step 1: Open Backup Configuration<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#Step_2_Set_the_schedule_and_retention\" >Step 2: Set the schedule and retention<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#Step_3_Choose_what_to_back_up\" >Step 3: Choose what to back up<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#Step_4_Pick_a_safe_backup_directory\" >Step 4: Pick a safe backup directory<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#Step_5_Add_an_off-site_destination\" >Step 5: Add an off-site destination<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#Watch_your_storage_space\" >Watch your storage space<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#Back_up_websites_on_shared_hosting\" >Back up websites on shared hosting<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#WordPress_backup_plugins\" >WordPress backup plugins<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#Follow_the_3-2-1_backup_rule\" >Follow the 3-2-1 backup rule<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#Frequently_asked_questions\" >Frequently asked questions<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#How_often_should_I_back_up_my_website\" >How often should I back up my website?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#Does_my_hosting_company_back_up_my_site\" >Does my hosting company back up my site?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-hosting-server\/#Where_are_WHM_backups_stored\" >Where are WHM backups stored?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Back_up_a_VPS_or_dedicated_server_with_WHM\"><\/span>Back up a VPS or dedicated server with WHM<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you manage your own server with root access, WHM can back up every account, its files and its databases on a schedule.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_1_Open_Backup_Configuration\"><\/span>Step 1: Open Backup Configuration<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Log in to WHM as root and go to <strong>Backup &gt; Backup Configuration<\/strong>. Turn on <strong>Enable Backups<\/strong> and choose <strong>Compressed<\/strong> backups to save space.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-42831\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-server.png\" alt=\"WHM backup configuration to back up websites on hosting server\" width=\"282\" height=\"269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-server.png 282w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-server-150x143.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 282px) 100vw, 282px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_2_Set_the_schedule_and_retention\"><\/span>Step 2: Set the schedule and retention<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Choose how often backups run (daily, weekly, monthly) and how many copies of each to keep.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"border alignnone wp-image-42832 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-schedule.png\" alt=\"WHM backup schedule and retention\" width=\"381\" height=\"501\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-schedule.png 381w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-schedule-114x150.png 114w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-schedule-228x300.png 228w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 381px) 100vw, 381px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_3_Choose_what_to_back_up\"><\/span>Step 3: Choose what to back up<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Back up user accounts, their files, and all databases. Including system files makes restoring a whole server much easier.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"border alignnone wp-image-42833 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-database.png\" alt=\"Back up databases in WHM\" width=\"447\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-database.png 447w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-database-150x106.png 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-database-300x213.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 447px) 100vw, 447px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_4_Pick_a_safe_backup_directory\"><\/span>Step 4: Pick a safe backup directory<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>WHM stores backups in <code>\/backup<\/code> by default, outside the <code>\/home<\/code> folder where all the sites live. Keep it that way. Never store backups in <code>\/home<\/code>: if someone gains access to a user account, they could tamper with backups there, but they can&#8217;t touch a root-owned folder.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"border alignnone wp-image-42834 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-folder.png\" alt=\"WHM backup directory setting\" width=\"397\" height=\"178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-folder.png 397w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-folder-150x67.png 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/backup-folder-300x135.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 397px) 100vw, 397px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Also tick the option to <strong>retain backups in the default directory<\/strong>, so local copies are kept even after they&#8217;re copied to another destination.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-42835\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/retain-backups.png\" alt=\"Retain backups in the default backup directory\" width=\"438\" height=\"157\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/retain-backups.png 438w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/retain-backups-150x54.png 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/retain-backups-300x108.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 438px) 100vw, 438px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Step_5_Add_an_off-site_destination\"><\/span>Step 5: Add an off-site destination<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A backup on the same server won&#8217;t help if the whole server fails. In <strong>Additional Destinations<\/strong>, add Amazon S3, an S3-compatible service, SFTP or Google Drive. Here&#8217;s how we set up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/backup-websites-on-amazon-s3\/\">website backups on Amazon S3<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Watch_your_storage_space\"><\/span>Watch your storage space<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Backups are big. When we set this up, each daily backup of our server used about 1 GB. Keeping two daily, two weekly and two monthly backups used over 6 GB, about 30% of our 20 GB hosting plan, and more frequent backups could easily fill half of it. Balance how many copies you keep against your disk space, and move older copies off-site.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Back_up_websites_on_shared_hosting\"><\/span>Back up websites on shared hosting<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Most shared hosting plans don&#8217;t give you WHM, but they still include backup tools:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>cPanel Backup:<\/strong> go to <strong>Files &gt; Backup<\/strong> to download a full account backup, or separate home directory and database backups.<\/li>\n<li><strong>JetBackup:<\/strong> many cPanel hosts include it, with daily snapshots you can restore with one click.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hostinger hPanel:<\/strong> <strong>Files &gt; Backups<\/strong> shows automatic weekly or daily backups, depending on your plan, and lets you create and download your own.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Don&#8217;t rely only on your host&#8217;s automatic backups. Download a copy every month, or use a plugin to send backups off-site automatically.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"WordPress_backup_plugins\"><\/span>WordPress backup plugins<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>For WordPress sites, a plugin adds a second layer. <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/updraftplus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UpdraftPlus<\/a> (free) schedules backups to Google Drive, Dropbox or S3. Jetpack VaultPress Backup, which we&#8217;ve used for years, takes real-time cloud backups and offers one-click restores. Knowing how to work with your database also helps in emergencies, for example to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2021\/09\/change-wordpress-password\/\">change a WordPress password with phpMyAdmin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Follow_the_3-2-1_backup_rule\"><\/span>Follow the 3-2-1 backup rule<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Keep <strong>3<\/strong> copies of your data, on <strong>2<\/strong> different types of storage, with <strong>1<\/strong> copy off-site. For a website that could mean the live site, a server backup, and an off-site copy on S3 or Google Drive. And test a restore every few months, because a backup that won&#8217;t restore is no backup at all.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frequently_asked_questions\"><\/span>Frequently asked questions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_often_should_I_back_up_my_website\"><\/span>How often should I back up my website?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Daily for sites that change often, such as stores or busy blogs. Weekly is enough for sites that rarely change.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_my_hosting_company_back_up_my_site\"><\/span>Does my hosting company back up my site?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Most do, but retention and restore options vary, and backups may be on the same infrastructure. Check your plan, and keep your own copies.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_are_WHM_backups_stored\"><\/span>Where are WHM backups stored?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In <code>\/backup<\/code> by default, plus any additional destinations you configure.<\/p>\n<p>Have you checked the backup settings on your server lately? Do it today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you know if your website is actually backed up? Many site owners rely on their hosting provider and have&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":42831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,25,7],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-42830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogging","category-domain-hosting","category-security","tag-tutorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63656,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42830\/revisions\/63656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}