Creating a Full Backup in DirectAdmin

<h3>Performing a Complete Account Backup</h3> <p>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.</p> <h3>Creating a Backup</h3> <ol> <li>Log in to DirectAdmin.</li> <li>Navigate to <strong>Advanced Features &rarr; Create/Restore Backups</strong>.</li> <li>Under the <strong>Create Backup</strong> section, select the items to include: <ul> <li><strong>Domain:</strong> Select the domain(s) to back up, or choose all domains.</li> <li><strong>Home directory:</strong> Includes all website files.</li> <li><strong>Databases:</strong> Includes all MySQL/MariaDB databases.</li> <li><strong>E-mail data:</strong> Includes all email accounts and messages.</li> <li><strong>E-mail settings:</strong> Includes forwarders, autoresponders, and filters.</li> <li><strong>FTP accounts:</strong> Includes FTP account configurations.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Click <strong>Create Backup</strong>.</li> </ol> <p>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.</p> <h3>Where Backups Are Stored</h3> <p>Backups are typically saved to the <code>/home/username/backups/</code> directory. The backup file will be a compressed <code>.tar.gz</code> archive named with the date and time of creation.</p> <div class="alert alert-warning"><strong>Important:</strong> Backups stored on the same server are not protected against hardware failure. Always download a copy of your backup to a local computer or transfer it to a remote storage location for safekeeping.</div> <h3>Backup Size Considerations</h3> <p>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.</p> <h3>How Often to Back Up</h3> <ul> <li><strong>Active websites:</strong> At least once per week, or daily if content changes frequently.</li> <li><strong>E-commerce sites:</strong> Daily backups are strongly recommended due to order and customer data.</li> <li><strong>Static sites:</strong> Monthly backups or after any significant change.</li> </ul>