Question Can I restore/copy an account from a server snapshot?

[Denis Gomes Franco]

I am currently doing server backups via daily snapshots of the hard disk, instead of using Plesk's backup function as I did previously. In case of a failure I can then clone that snapshot to a whole new server and keep on going, or I can mount that snapshot as a secondary disk onto an existing server.

So I was wondering: would it be possible to restore or copy a single subscription if I mount that snapshot as a disk, since I will then be able to access all of those shapshot's files? It would be quite easy to simply access that secondary disk and then copy files over from /var/www/vhosts/domain or whatever, but what about other things such as mail accounts, databases, etc? Could the current Plesk installation manipulate the data on the "secondary" installation?

Or, that is not possible and I would really need to fire up another server from that snapshot, change the installation to the new IP, and run Plesk from there so I can download an account's backup from it? In this case, what about the license?

 

[Bitpalast]

No that is not possible, because you'd need to restore all the dependencies in the database for that subscription. it's not only about files.

One license = one server.

 

[Denis Gomes Franco]

Hey Peter,
Yeah I know, one license = one server, about the license what I wanted to know is, will I have to obtain a license for this temporary new server when I'll use it for maybe an hour or so - just to access the subscription, download it and then shut down the server?

 

[Bitpalast]

You can obtain a trial license from Plesk for 14 days only once in a lifetime. You can use that license for what you want to do, but you'll not be able to get a trial license ever again afterwards.

How to get a trial license for Plesk

Applicable to: Plesk Question How to get a trial license for Plesk? Answer Note: a free 14-days trial Plesk license can be requested only once per person/server for testing purposes. When it is ...

support.plesk.com

Also, wenn restoring a backup created on a different Plesk installation, in the /usr/local/psa/admin/conf/panel.ini file you need to set a variable that allows you to restore the dump from a different machine:

[pmm]
allowRestoreModifiedDumps = on

I think you also need to restart the psa service afterwards, at least that was the case in earlier versions for that variable:
# service psa restart

There may be some additional restrictions and necessary steps that are listed in

How to restore a Plesk xml.tar/xml.zip backup file on another Plesk server

Applicable to: Plesk for Linux Plesk for Windows Question How to restore a Plesk xml.tar (Plesk for Linux) / xml.zip (Plesk for Windows Server) backup on another Plesk server? Answer A Plesk bac...

support.plesk.com

 

[Denis Gomes Franco]

Thanks for the explanations, Peter!