Bugs in Akeeba Backup for Joomla! 5.0.x series and Akeeba Solo / Backup for WordPress 1.8.x series

25 May 2016

Akeeba Backup 5.0 was written from scratch. Despite testing it fully, several major bugs were overlooked and others introduced through subsequent releases.

We apologize for having to release five versions in a little over a week. Akeeba Backup 5 was a complete rewrite of our software. No matter the amount of testing, when something is rewritten you tend to bump to unexpected issues (like half of the hosts out there lacking a feature that was added in PHP ten years ago) or miss a few use cases.

What happened in Akeeba Backup 5.0.4?

Version 5.0.4 introduced a bug where automatic restoration failed, as two files which didn’t belong there were being included in the backup archive as part of the restoration script. All backups taken in version 5.0.4 will fail after the final restoration step, unless you remove the affected files. Despite that the restored site will function properly.

Can I restore a broken backup archive?

Yes, you can still restore your backups! After extracting the backup using Kickstart please delete the files installation/platform/steps.php and installation/platform/iniprocess.php using FTP or your site's control panel before clicking the Run the Installation button.

What are we doing to address these ongoing issues?

We understand 5 releases in the space of two weeks is a bit extreme. It’s very inconvenient for you, for which we apologize. (Trust us, it’s not fun on this end either.)

In the current dev release (available below), we have thoroughly tested Akeeba Backup once again. However, prior to releasing it as a stable version 5.1, we would like to request your help in beta testing it. (We’re only human, though often we wish otherwise.)

Beta Releases (they're quite stable)

We consider the following beta stable enough to be used on live sites. Please use them and do report any issues you may encounter on Twitter or through our contact form. While we can't promise to reply to each one of you personally do rest assured that we do read all of your contact requests and act on them.

Akeeba Backup for Joomla!

To update to the beta release 5.1.0.b1, please follow these instructions:

  1. Go to Extensions, then Manage, then Update from the administrator menu.
  2. Click on ‘Options’ in the top-right corner.
  3. Change the “Minimum Stability” to “Beta”
  4. Save and Close.
  5. Click on “Clear Cache”
  6. Click on “Find Updates”
  7. Select Akeeba Backup, and click “Update” in the top left.
  8. Use normally, and please report bugs as soon as possible!

Akeeba Backup for WordPress

Due to changes in the packaging format and / or issues in the updater, you cannot update automatically from Akeeba Backup for WordPress versions 1.0 through 1.8.2 (inclusive) to version 1.9.0.b1 and beyond. You will have to do that manually.

Heads up! You must NOT uninstall or deactivate the plugin before the update. Doing so may result in loss of your backup settings and / or your backup archives. Instead, here's what to do:

  • Download the ZIP file for Akeeba Backup for WordPress 1.9.0.b1 and extract it locally. You will see an extracted folder named akeebabackupwp.
  • Upload the files from the extracted akeebabackupwp folder into your site's wp-content/plugins/akeebabackupwp folder, overwriting your existing files, using FTP or SFTP. Please note that the name of the folder on your site may be different than akeebabackupwp, e.g. akeebabackupwpcore, akeebabackupwp (1) or something similar. It depends on how you installed the plugin.
  • Log in to WordPress' wp-admin and access Akeeba Backup for WordPress to automatically complete the update process. There is no message when the process completes. You just see the main page of Akeeba Backup for WordPress (this means the update succeeded).

You will only need to do this once, upgrading to version 1.9.0.b1 or later for the first time.

For future updates:

  1. Log in to your site's wp-admin
  2. Click on Akeeba Backup, then on the System Configuration button (all the way down the page) and click on the Update tab.
  3. Change minimum stability to “Beta”
  4. Click on Save and Close

Whenever a new beta or stable release is available you will be able to install it on your site through the integrated updater.

Akeeba Solo

You can tell the updater to look for beta and stable releases.

  1. Log in to Akeeba Solo
  2. Click on System Configuration, then on the Update tab
  3. Change Minimum Stability to “Beta”
  4. Click on Save & Close
  5. Click the Update button
  6. Click on the “Refresh Update Information” button to see the beta release.