Support

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Please attach a ZIP file containing your Akeeba Backup log file in order for us to help you with any backup or restoration issue. If the file is over 2Mb, please upload it on your server and post a link to it.

Description of my issue:

When I did a test restore of my site to a different location (with Kickstart), I just dragged from my Dropbox folder and dropped to the file upload utility on cPanel, rather than use SFTP in binary mode (or FTP, etc.).

I gather from the documentation this is not recommend, but exactly how bad an idea is it to restore that way? Is it generally OK? It seemed to work fine.

The file transfers via http work 99.9% of the time. And since you are uploading prior to restore, if you get an extraction error you can just back up and upload via FTP (in binary mode - "binary" is important).

One thing you should do, and have probably already done, is to check the "Archive integrity check" box in the Advanced Configuration section of the Configuration screen. This does a test extraction of your archive at the end of the backup process. It does add some time to your backup, but it ensures that the archive is good before it starts its journey around the web.

Thanks for confirming this is, generally, an OK way to go, and for the tip about the "Archive integrity check." I had not done that, actually, but I will now. Will I get a message if there is any issue?

That reminds me of another, somewhat related question I had ... Does the generic (i.e., the default) email sent when you check "Email on backup completion" tell you if the backup failed? The emails I've been getting from that feature are empty, and I've wondered if that's a good thing, or not something I should draw any conclusion from. Put another way, must I check "Enabled failed backups check from the front-end" to get information about any failure of remote backups (I am using CLI and chron, the recommended akeeba-backup.php script)?

Thanks again.

I think the email you are referring to is set up in the Options screen on the Front-end backup tab. The text of the email can be set there as well as the address. That email will not trigger unless the backup is successful.

The Failed backups check is slightly misleading. It checks the Manage Backups screen for a status of "in process" that has not been updated in x seconds, where x is set in the Options screen. If the backup has failed, you can see that from Manage Backups, you can't see from that screen if it is stuck.

Thank you again! Marking this ticket closed...

You're welcome!