Author 詩語

WARNING: Link not following

WARNING: Link not following
When the following message is displayed while you are creating a backup
WARNING: Link /folder_1/folder_2/…/folder_n not following,

then BackWPup has found a so-called 「symlink」 and will exclude it from the backup to prevent problems. The inclusion of symlinks in your backup could result in an endless loop.
Symlinks are not real directories; they are merely references to a directory located elsewhere. Find out more about symlinks here.
There are two things you can do to prevent this warning:
a) manually exclude the directory indicated in the warning from the backup if a backup of this directory is not mandatory (which would be the case for e.g. the log directory).
Go to BackWPup → Jobs via the backend, select the relevant Job and click the tab Files. There you will find various options for excluding files.

Important: The tab 「Files」 will only be visible if you have previously indicated a backup of the files in the tab 「General」.

b) include the actual folder in the backup if you need to back up the directory. The relevant settings are available in the tab Files → Extra folders to backup, where you specify the absolute path of the directory for backup. Determining the actual folder is an advanced topic. Please contact your hosting provider if you don』t know how to do that.

Backing up additional databases with BackWPup

Backing up additional databases with BackWPup
BackWPup allows you not only to back up the database for your WordPress installation, but also to back up additional databases that are not part of your WordPress installation.

To back up a different database, you first need to create a new backup job.  To do so consider the following image and select BackWPup Pro -> Add new job
Next you need to access the tab DB backup and remove the check next to Database connection – Use WordPress database connection.

Once you have removed the check, input fields will appear where you can select a new database. To do this you have to enter the host, the database user and the database password. Your hosting provider will give you the information you need.

Finally, change any other settings you need on this site and click on Save changes. This way additional databases could be managed by BackWPup.

How to save backups to your FTP server

How to save backups to your FTP server
You can save your backups to any FTP server you have access to. It can be another server than the one your WordPress is running on. The only requirement is that the FTP functions of PHP are enabled on that server.
Please note: in the backup job, under the tab General you will find the section Backup File Creation. The Backup type has two options: Synchronize file by file to destination and Create a backup archive. When using an FTP server for your backups, it is not possible to use synchronization of files.
To use an FTP server as backup destination, follow these steps:

At job creation or when editing the job, in the tab General, section Job Destination, choose Backup to FTP.
At job creation, in the tab General
A new tab To: FTP appears. Go to this tab.
A new tab To FTP appears Go to this tab
At the top, enter the FTP credentials for the destination. You can get these from your host.
Under Backup settings you choose the folder where to store the backups. Also, choose the amount of backups to be kept in that folder. If this amount is exceeded, the oldest backup will be deleted. If you don』t want to delete any backups, enter 0 in this field.
In the section FTP specific sections you can configure the FTP connection accurately:

Timeout for FTP connection: in seconds. Specifies how long the script waits to connect to the server before cancelling the connection.
SSL-FTP-connection: uses a secure connection. OpenSSL must be supported by PHP to use this.
FTP passive mode: we recommend to have this box checked. It jumps in when a firewall is used. If you want to learn more about the FTP passive mode, read the Wikipedia article File Transfer Protocol.

Test the backup job by running it manually. After it finished successfully, you should see the backup on the FTP server in the specified folder.
You should see the backup on the FTP server

Archive Path and/or Restore Path is not set

Archive Path and/or Restore Path is not set
While copying files during the restore process, following error message may occur:
Error message:
Archive Path and/or Restore Path is not set; Archive Path: %1$s; Restore Path: %2$s
BackWPup Issue Archive Path Restore Path not set – The Solution:

The problem in this case is that the decompressed archive directory and/or the restore directory (where to copy the files) are not set in the registry. This error leads to partial restoring. Instead of a complete restore, you only get a database restore.  At first, please check whether the file 「wp-content/uploads/backwpup-restore/restore.dat」 contains all required info. If this is not the case, or if the file doesn』t exist, please try to set the permission for the directory to 755 or 664 and try again.

Sending in log files for the support

Sending in log files for the support
If our support has asked you to send in log files, please read through this document how to do this. It is important for our support to review the so called debug log files. First, you have to set the Logging Level under Settings -> Logs to 「Debug (not translated)」. We can only offer support in German or English, so the log files should not be translated.

Debug log: not translated

Second, you need to start the job again that you have trouble with. This time, a more comprehensive log file is generated. Now you can download the log file under BackWPup -> Logs.

Download the log file under BackWPup Logs

You need to send this log file via email or via the Support form to our support.
IMPORTANT: Set the logging level back to 「Normal」 once the problem has been solved.

Can I quit a running backup job via FTP, if it doesn』t work in the admin area?

Can I quit a running backup job via FTP, if it doesn』t work in the admin area?
Generally, you can quit a running backup job via the admin area by clicking on the Abort button below the progress bar.
Abort button below the progress bar
If this is not working you can quit the job via FTP. You need an FTP program for this, like Filezilla.

Connect to your web server via the FTP program.
Go to the root directory of your WordPress installation and from there, go to /wp-content/uploads. There you can find a folder named backwpup-xyz-temp, where xyz identifies the job.
Delete this folder. If you find multiple temp folders, delete them all.

Please note: If you have changed the location of the temporary folders in your wp-config.php, you have to switch to the folder you chose in step 2.

Error: Dropbox-API: (6) couldn』t resolve content.dropboxapi.com

Error: Dropbox-API: (6) couldn』t resolve content.dropboxapi.com
BackWPup says ERROR: Dropbox-API: (6)? In case you chose Dropbox as backup target, you might get the following error message when uploading the backup to Dropbox:
ERROR: Dropbox API: (6) Couldn't resolve host 'content.dropboxapi.com'
According to Dropbox this is a DNS error – read: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/API-support/Error-Dropbox-API-6/m-p/193010. Due to that, the domain content.dropboxapi.com cannot be resolved correctly.
In this case you should contact the hoster as the network and internet connection of the web server needs to be checked. On the other hand, the error might have occured due to a temporary internet outage while uploading the file.
In case the upload to Dropbox displays this error message after a couple of tries, you should definitely contact the hoster.

My backup jobs don』t seem to run as scheduled

My backup jobs don』t seem to run as scheduled
BackWPup uses the WordPress Cronjob system (WordPress Cron), to execute scheduled backup jobs. WordPress has no internal clock, so it checks the server time regularly and runs activities that are due. This happens every time someone (or yourself) is browsing your website.
If no one visits your website for some time, it can lead to some trouble with the Cron. In this case, a Cron job on the server needs to be set up, which regularly calls the URL http://yourdomain.com/wp-cron.php.
You can find out easily if the WordPress Cron is working correctly:

Create a new post and set the publish date in the future. 10 Minutes are enough.
Log out of WordPress and close your browser window (this is important!).
After 11 or more minutes, check if your post was published. If not, something is wrong with the WordPress Cron.

If you encounter problems with starting backup jobs via WordPress Cron, the setting option Start job with EasyCron.com can be considered. Then you don』t need traffic on your website to start the backup jobs at the desired time.
EasyCron is especially helpful, if your webhost does not allow loopback connections or does not offer Cron jobs on the server side.
Start job with EasyCron

What is FTP passive mode, when and how to use it with BackWPup?

What is FTP passive mode, when and how to use it with BackWPup?
BackWPup gives you the option of connecting to your FTP server using passive mode. But what is passive mode and when should you use it?
An FTP connection is made up of two channels: the command channel and the data channel. In active mode, the client connects to the server to establish the command channel, but the server connects back to the client to establish the data channel. The issue is that if the client is behind a firewall, remote connections may be blocked. In such a case, passive mode can be useful.
Passive mode allows the client to establish both channels, so the firewall won』t block the FTP connection. The problem in this case is that the server may also be behind some firewall. If so, passive mode may not be feasible.

Table of Contents

How to Know Which Mode to UseHow to Enable/Disable Passive ModeHow to Know Passive Mode is Enabled in Your Debug Log
1. How to Know Which Mode to Use
Generally the host your FTP server is on should tell you whether to use passive mode or not. If they don』t say, you can usually default to active mode.
However, it may also take a bit of trial and error. If you try active mode and the connection fails, you can try enabling passive mode. The inverse is true as well: if you have passive mode enabled and it』s not working, try disabling it.
2. How to Enable/Disable Passive Mode
When you select FTP as a destination for one of your backup jobs, there will be an option to enable passive mode. If you check that box, then passive mode will be enabled.
How to Enable/Disable Passive Mode
3. How to Know Passive Mode is Enabled in Your Debug Log
If passive mode is enabled, you』ll see something like this in your debug log:
[...] FTP client command: PASV
[...] FTP server reply: Entering passive mode

If you start seeing errors soon after these lines, then you might want to disable passive mode.

What placeholders can I use in archive names and what do they mean?

What placeholders can I use in archive names and what do they mean?
At some settings in BackWPup you need to choose a file name. For example, you can create a name for the archive of a job, which can consist characters and placeholders. Here is a list of available placeholders and their meaning:

%d = Day of month, two digits with leading zero
%j = Day of month, without leading zero
%m = Month number, with leading zero
%n = Month number, without leading zero
%Y = year, four digits
%y = year, two digits
%a = lowercase ante meridiem (am) and post meridiem (pm)
%A = uppercase ante meridiem (AM) and post meridiem (PM)
%B = Swatch Internet Time
%g = Hour in 12 hour format, without leading zero
%G = Hour in 24 hour format, without leading zero
%h = Hour in 12 hour format, with leading zero
%H = Hour in 24 hour format, with leading zero
%i = Minute, two digits, with leading zero
%s = Second, two digits, with leading zero

The placeholders allow you to create individual file names for the backup files.
Example: backwpup_611506_%Y-%m-%d_%H-%i-%s creates, if the job runs on 17th June of 2016 at 13:11:10, the archive with the name backwpup_611506_2016-06-17_13-11-10.zip.