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Backups are crucial for any website, whether you run a blog, an e-commerce store, or just a business website. If you mistakenly delete your critical application files, break your website's functionality during development, or simply want to revert to a previous version of your website, an adequately configured backup can be your savior, so you can always restore your application to an earlier version using the Point-in-time Restore feature.
The point-in-time restore relates to restoring data from a defined time in the past. This feature is meant to facilitate you in restoring your websites from a range of recently created backups.
Cloudways Backup System
Cloudways Platform offers an offsite, resilient, and automated backup system for all your websites to give you complete peace of mind with the ability to restore your application in case of unforeseen events.
Cloudways offers two different types of backup systems:
Deciding What to Restore: Full vs. Partial Restore
If you use Cloudways Flexible, there are two approaches when it comes to restoring your website:
Partial Restore (Only for Cloudways Flexible)
In Cloudways Autonomous, you can only use Full Restore.
1. Full Restore
Full restore means that you restore application web files and the database simultaneously. Here, application web files refer to your application's public_html and private_html folders. The full restore option is helpful in the following scenarios:
When the issue is unknown.
Application is inaccessible, including the backend.
In case of a security breach.
2. Partial Restore
Partial restore means that you only restore either application web files or the database. Here, application web files refer to your application's public_html and private_html folders. The partial restore option is helpful in the following scenarios:
When only the database is problematic.
When only the web files have issues.
How to Restore Your Application
Here are a few simple steps to do a point-in-time restore of your application.
First of all, please select your platform:
Cloudways Flexible
Step #1 — Navigate to Backup and Restore
Log in to your Cloudways Platform using your credentials.
From the top menu bar, open Servers.
Next, choose the server where your desired application is deployed.
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New Interface
Click www.
Next, choose your application name.
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New Interface
Under Application Management, select Backup and Restore.
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New Interface
Step #2 — Restore the Application
Here, select Restore Point from the dropdown.
Click Restore Application Now.
Important
The Time Zone of restore points is UTC – Coordinated Universal Time.
Ensure you have sufficient disk space available before restoring your application. We recommend at least 2.5x space free for application data. For instance, if your current application data size is 100 MB, we recommend having at least 250 MB of free disk space for the restore operation. In case of insufficient disk space, you can scale up your server.
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New Interface
Here, choose the Restore Option:
Complete Restore — Restore application web files and the database simultaneously. Here, application web files refer to your application's public_html and private_html folders. It is also known as Full Restore.
Web Files — Restore application web files only. Here, application web files refer to your application's public_html and private_html folders. It is also known as Partial Restore.
Database — Restore the application database only. It is also known as Partial Restore.
Finally, click Proceed.
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New Interface
The total restore time is dependent on the size of the application data. You will also be notified once the restore process is completed.
Rollback and Delete Options
Your website is backed up right before the restore operation, so you can click Rollback if you want to undo the restore.
Important
Please note that the Rollback option would only undo the changes done in the previous step. For instance, if you restored web files only, the Rollback option would only undo the web file changes.
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New Interface
If you are satisfied with the restored version of your website, click Delete to remove the backup that was created before the restore operation. It allows you to go back to the main screen to use the restore feature again in the future. If you don't delete that particular backup, it will automatically be removed after 24 hours.
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Cloudways Autonomous
Step #1 — Navigate to Backup and Restore
Log in to your Cloudways Platform using your email address and password.
From the top menu bar, open Applications.
Then, choose your desired application.
Next, click Workflow/Tools.
Select Backup/Restore.
Navigate to Restore.
Step #2 — Restore the Application
Here, select your desired Restore Point.
Click Restore
Important
The Time Zone of restore points is UTC – Coordinated Universal Time.
Here, choose if you also wish to take on-demand backup and restore or just restore. We recommend using Backup and Restore.
If you choose Backup and Restore, your website is backed up right before the restore operation, so you can always restore this latest backup if you want to undo the restore for any reason.
The total restore time is dependent on the size of the application data. You will also be notified once the restore process is completed.
That's it! We hope this article was helpful. If you need any help, then feel free to search your query on Cloudways Support Center or contact us via chat (Need a Hand > Send us a Message). Alternatively, you can also create a support ticket.