Question Test Restore failed

[CobraArbok]

Server operating system version

Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS

Plesk version and microupdate number

18.0.52 Update #3

I did a Backup - Restore test.

1. I installed Plesk in a new VPS, with no updates
2. I installed the extension to be able to backup to Dropbox
3. I've done the backup
4. I have updated Plesk, added components, added extensions
5. I did the restore, but I find the extensions installed and there is nothing to update.
6. I still made some settings changes, for example in PHP and Apache
7. I did the restore again and still find the changed settings.

Before opening a post as Issue I would like to understand if something is wrong.
I followed the guide on this page.

 

[Peter Debik]

Extension settings are not part of a backup. Also component and extension installations are not part of the backup. Only content is part of the backup.

 

[CobraArbok]

Extension settings are not part of a backup. Also component and extension installations are not part of the backup. Only content is part of the backup.

So it's important to understand what exactly is saved with the backup, both the one performed by a customer at the domain level, and the one launched by the Admin as I did yesterday.
I thought that everything was copied, starting with the OS settings (and even the O.S. itself).

In another post I was asking where it was saved, because I still can't find the file on Dropbox.

 

[Kaspar]

Plesk backups only contain data related to Plesk. No OS data or configuration is included in the backup. You'll find more information on whats included and whats not included in the Plesk Backup documentation.

 

[CobraArbok]

Plesk backups only contain data related to Plesk. No OS data or configuration is included in the backup. You'll find more information on whats included and whats not included in the Plesk Backup documentation.

Many thanks for your reply.
In that document there is also the list of everything that is not saved.

Is there any trick or suggestion to save them directly, thus excluding saving them with a backup at the Operating System level?

For example the configurations of the extensions, the Firewall rules, the same configurations of the backups, etc.

What is meant by "DB Servers"

 

[Peter Debik]

When you are using a virtual server instance, you may have a backup feature for the instance at the data center where you got it from. Many cloud hosting vendors offers such a snapshot backup feature. That would include everything, e.g. the operating system.

 

[Kaspar]

What is meant by "DB Servers"

I am not 100% sure, but I think this means any external database server that has been added to Plesk.

[...] Is there any trick or suggestion to save them directly, thus excluding saving them with a backup at the Operating System level?

For example the configurations of the extensions, the Firewall rules, the same configurations of the backups, etc.
[...]

I don't think there is a way to backup the configurations of all installed extensions.

The methode I use to backup configurations files that aren't include in the Plesk backups by default is to create a (non existing) domain (backups.system.server for example) in Plesk. And use a Bash script that copies and exports various configuration files to a directory on that domain (outside the document root). That script gets run by a cron job every night, before the Plesk backup is scheduled. That way the files are included in the regular Plesk backups. However when you restore a backup, you still have to manually copy back any to files of course. See script below.

#!/bin/bash

dir="/var/www/vhosts/backups.system.server/_backups/"

# copy dovecot configuration files
cp /etc/dovecot/conf.d/*-custom-*.conf ${dir}/dovecot/
cp -R /etc/dovecot/conf.d/custom-sieve/ ${dir}/dovecot/

# export a list of all installed extension
/usr/local/psa/bin/extension --list >> ${dir}/extensions/extensions.list

# copy fail2ban jails and filters
cp /etc/fail2ban/jail.local ${dir}/fail2ban/
cp -R /etc/fail2ban/filter.d/ ${dir}/fail2ban/

# copy mariadb configuration files
cp /etc/my.cnf ${dir}/mariadb/
cp -R /etc/my.cnf.d ${dir}/mariadb/

# copt plesk panel.ini file
cp /usr/local/psa/admin/conf/panel.ini ${dir}/plesk/

# copy postfix configuration files
cp /etc/postfix/main.cf ${dir}/postfix/

# copy roundcube configuration files and export roundcube database
cp /usr/share/psa-roundcube/config/config.inc.php ${dir}/roundcube/
chmod +r ${dir}/roundcube/config.inc.php

/sbin/plesk db dump roundcubemail > ${dir}/roundcube/roundcubemail.sql

# copy spamassassin configuration file
cp /etc/mail/spamassassin/local.cf ${dir}/spamassassin/

# export firewall rules
/usr/local/psa/bin/modules/firewall/settings --export > ${dir}/firewall/rules.json

 

[CobraArbok]

When you are using a virtual server instance, you may have a backup feature for the instance at the data center where you got it from. Many cloud hosting vendors offers such a snapshot backup feature. That would include everything, e.g. the operating system.

I also have this Backup service, but it doesn't allow me to restore on another VM, for example with a different configuration.
I therefore wanted to defend myself by copying "as much as possible", for example to Dropbox or FTP.
On the server there is not only Plesk and therefore I have to find a solution that works with a wider spectrum.

 

[CobraArbok]

I am not 100% sure, but I think this means any external database server that has been added to Plesk.


I don't think there is a way to backup the configurations of all installed extensions.

The methode I use to backup configurations files that aren't include in the Plesk backups by default is to create a (non existing) domain (backups.system.server for example) in Plesk. And use a Bash script that copies and exports various configuration files to a directory on that domain (outside the document root). That script gets run by a cron job every night, before the Plesk backup is scheduled. That way the files are included in the regular Plesk backups. However when you restore a backup, you still have to manually copy back any to files of course. See script below.

Good idea! Thank you.