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This documentation page is for Joomla! 3.x

This documentation page does not apply to our software versions for Joomla! 4.0 and later versions. If you are not using Joomla 3 please consult the documentation index to find and read the correct version of the documentation.

Entering your Download ID
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Entering your Download ID

[Note]Note

If you are using Akeeba Backup Core, the free of charge edition of Akeeba Backup, you do not need to and must not enter a Download ID. The Download ID is only required for the for-a-fee Akeeba Backup Professional edition.

Akeeba Backup Professional is the for-a-fee edition of Akeeba Backup with additional features. Downloading it, either for installation from scratch or as an update to an already installed but older version on your site, requires confirming that you have an active subscription which gives you access to Akeeba Backup Professional downloads. When you download the installation ZIP file from our site this means that you need to log in to our site first. However, when downloading updates through Joomla you really don't want to and usually cannot be asked to log in to our site. The Download ID is used in this case to identify you to our download servers. Furthermore, a Download ID linked with an active subscription is also required to use some remote file storage services such as Dropbox and OneDrive (specifically: any remote storage service which uses OAuth2 or a variation thereof, therefore requiring a special “mediator” script which runs on our servers).

Using your Download IDs on your clients' sites

Our software license allows you to use your Download IDs on the sites of your clients. However, you must tell your clients that:

  • Downloads and support for the software covered by the Download ID is provided by you, not Akeeba Ltd.

  • If they want to receive support and / or downloads directly from Akeeba Ltd they need to purchase a qualifying subscription on our site. In this case they do not qualify for the renewal discount.

  • They are not allowed to use the Download ID on any other site or use the Download ID to download the software for any reason other than updating or reinstalling the covered software on the same site the Download ID was entered in. In other words, they cannot use the Download ID to install or update our software on any other site.

If you are no longer administering a site where you have entered a Download ID you must revoke or regenerate that Download ID. You need to do the same if you believe that your Download ID is being used by third parties in an unauthorized manner. Please note that unauthorized use of Download IDs could have consequences on your subscription with us.

Finding your Download ID

Download IDs come in two flavors, your main Download ID and Add-on Download IDs.

You can find your main Download ID in the My Subscriptions page of our site. We recommend using this Download ID only on your own site(s). This Download ID cannot be revoked, it can only be regenerated. If it's regenerated you will need to enter the new Download ID on all of your sites which can be a significant hassle.

You can generate an unlimited number of Add-on Download IDs without additional charge in the Add-on Download IDs page. Unlike the main Download ID you can revoke (disable) any Add-on Download ID at any time. As long as you only use one Add-on Download ID per site revoking or regenerating it will not affect the other sites' ability to download and install updates.

Entering your Download ID on a newly installed copy of Akeeba Backup

If you just installed Akeeba Backup on your site go to Components, Akeeba Backup. You will be shown a message at the top of the page that you need to enter your Download ID. The message includes a link to a page on our site where you can find and copy your main Download ID. After entering either your main Download ID (NOT recommended) or an Add-on Download ID (recommended) click on the Apply button to save it.

If Akeeba Backup or Joomla! was already showing you that an update for Akeeba Backup is available please follow the steps under "Further steps if a download was available before entering a new Download ID" below.

Enter or view your Download ID on Joomla 3

If your site is built on Joomla! 3 go to Components, Akeeba Backup and click on the Options button in the toolbar.

Click on the Live Update tab.

Enter your main or Add-on Download ID in the Download ID are and click on Save & Close on the toolbar.

If Akeeba Backup or Joomla! was already showing you that an update for Akeeba Backup is available please follow the steps under "Further steps if a download was available before entering a new Download ID" below.

Enter or view your Download ID on Joomla 4

If your site is built on Joomla! 4 DO NOT use the Options method above. It will not work. Joomla! 4 provides a centralised download key management interface.

From the main administrator page of your site click on System on the sidebar.

Click on the Update Sites link towards the bottom of the middle column on the System page.

Find the Akeeba Backup Professional entry on the list and click on it to open the edit page.

Enter your main or Add-on Download ID in the Download Key area. Click on the Save & Close button on the toolbar to apply the Download ID.

If Akeeba Backup or Joomla! was already showing you that an update for Akeeba Backup is available please follow the steps under "Further steps if a download was available before entering a new Download ID" below.

Further steps if a download was available before entering a new Download ID

Joomla applies the Download ID when it is looking for updates, not when it tries to download updates. This is a weird implementation detail that dates back to design decisions made before Joomla 1.6 was released, back in 2009. Unfortunately, this means that entering a new Download ID after Joomla shows that updates are available does NOT apply the new Download ID immediately and causes updates to fail. You need to follow all of the steps outlined below, in this specific order, without doing anything else on your site's administrator area in between to let Joomla see the new Download ID. Please do not file support tickets or bug reports about this with us; extension updates are managed by Joomla core code and we have no influence over it.

  • Go to Joomla's extension update page.

    On Joomla 3: From the top menu of your Joomla! administrator click on Extensions, Manager. From that page click on the Update tab found in the left-hand sidebar.

    On Joomla 4: From the sidebar of your Joomla! administrator click on System. On the new page find the Update area towards the bottom of the middle column and click the Extensions link.

  • Click on the Clear Cache button in the toolbar.

  • Next up, we need to clear the Joomla administrator cache. This is required because Joomla caches the database queries which retrieve the Download ID in its administrator cache. If you do not clear the cache it won't see the new Download ID.

    On Joomla 3: From the top menu of your Joomla administrator click on System, Clear Cache. In the drop-down menu above the list choose Administrator (by default the other option, Site, is selected). Click on Delete All in the toolbar.

    On Joomla 4: From the sidebar of your Joomla! administrator click on System. On the new page find the Maintenance area towards the top of the left column and click the Clear Cache link. Unfortunately, Joomla 4 makes it impossible to easily select just the administrator cache so we'll be deleting all cached content. Click on Delete All in the toolbar.

  • Go back to to Joomla's extension update page.

    On Joomla 3: From the top menu of your Joomla! administrator click on Extensions, Manager. From that page click on the Update tab found in the left-hand sidebar.

    On Joomla 4: From the sidebar of your Joomla! administrator click on System. On the new page find the Update area towards the bottom of the middle column and click the Extensions link.

  • Click on the Clear Cache button in the toolbar again, even if you don't see any update items. The page should be empty. If it's not empty repeat all of these instructions from the beginning. Sometimes Joomla does not clear the cache when you tell it to so you need to do this entire weird dance all over again. Sorry, it's not something that has to do with us, it's a core Joomla code issue.

  • Click on the Find Updates button in the toolbar again.

  • You should now see the update to our software and be able to install it.

Troubleshooting updates to the Professional release

If you still cannot install our software please check that the Download ID is entered correctly. If it's not entered correctly enter the correct Download ID and follow all of these instructions again.

If the Download ID is entered correctly but it's not active in the Add-on Download IDs page you will need to enable it. After enabling it you will be able to download and install the update without having to follow these instructions again.

If the Download ID is correct please make sure that you have an active qualifying subscription on our site. If your subscription has expired you need to purchase a renewal on our site. Once the renewal is active you will be able to download and install the update without having to follow these instructions again, as long as you have not changed your Download ID.

If you still cannot download updates despite having the correct Download ID and an active subscription try waiting for 24 to 48 hours. In very rare cases Joomla's update cache gets stuck despite following the instructions above and you just need to wait until Joomla decides it has to reload it.

If the updates are still not downloading please make sure that you are using a version of Joomla and PHP that is supported by the new version of our software. If you are not sure please consult our Compatibility page.

If you've followed all these troubleshooting steps and the update is not downloading at all you need to contact your host and ask them to allow traffic to www.akeeba.com and cdn.akeeba.com over port TCP 443 (HTTPS), make sure that the PHP cURL module is installed and activated on the version of PHP your site is using and that finally the libcurl and libssl system libraries the cURL module is compiled against are up-to-date versions. If your host cannot help you with any of these requests (despite this being literally what you are paying them to do) you can install updates manually. Kindly note that Akeeba Ltd is not responsible for your hosting environment and that the requirements for downloading updates from our site are met by server software released roughly 5 years ago. If your host cannot provide 5 year old software and open ports in their firewall you should probably be migrating your site to a more up-to-date, competent host.

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