Performing a Complete Account Backup
A full backup in DirectAdmin captures everything associated with your hosting account: website files, databases, email accounts and messages, DNS settings, and configuration files. Creating regular backups is essential to protect against data loss from accidental deletions, hacking, or server failures.
Creating a Backup
- Log in to DirectAdmin.
- Navigate to Advanced Features → Create/Restore Backups.
- Under the Create Backup section, select the items to include:
- Domain: Select the domain(s) to back up, or choose all domains.
- Home directory: Includes all website files.
- Databases: Includes all MySQL/MariaDB databases.
- E-mail data: Includes all email accounts and messages.
- E-mail settings: Includes forwarders, autoresponders, and filters.
- FTP accounts: Includes FTP account configurations.
- Click Create Backup.
DirectAdmin will process the backup in the background. Depending on the size of your account, this may take several minutes to complete. You will receive a message in DirectAdmin's messaging system when the backup is ready.
Where Backups Are Stored
Backups are typically saved to the /home/username/backups/ directory. The backup file will be a compressed .tar.gz archive named with the date and time of creation.
Backup Size Considerations
Your backup will count against your disk space quota. If your account is close to its storage limit, you may need to free up space before creating a backup. Consider removing old backups, clearing temporary files, or purging old email to make room.
How Often to Back Up
- Active websites: At least once per week, or daily if content changes frequently.
- E-commerce sites: Daily backups are strongly recommended due to order and customer data.
- Static sites: Monthly backups or after any significant change.