Akeeba Backup for Joomla!

Tuesday, 18 January 2011 08:43 CST

user21438

Greetings,

I was wondering what everyone's experience is with extracting an Akeeba backup over an existing installation? My work flow generally consists of doing development to existing sites on a local or private live server and then migrating those changes to the live server. It seems as though extracting an Akeeba backup of the core files of the development site over the live one might work well for migrating those changes. Any thoughts or concerns?

Best,

Matt

Tuesday, 18 January 2011 09:57 CST

nicholas

I do that all the time (whenever I tweet "short downtime due to site upgrade" that's what I am doing). There are some pitfalls:
- Take care of the files' ownership. Ideally, use the FTP mode in all cases - unless you're using a server running on suPHP or mod_itk.
- If you remove files from your dev site, e.g. delete a component, take a backup and try to restore it the files you deleted on the dev site will NOT be deleted on the live site. This is by design. The pitfall here is that you might end up with stale files which, if found vulnerable to a direct access attack, can -theoretically- compromise the security of your site.

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

Lead Developer and Director

🇬🇷Greek: native 🇬🇧English: excellent 🇫🇷French: basic • 🕐 My time zone is Europe / Athens
Please keep in mind my timezone and cultural differences when reading my replies. Thank you!

Tuesday, 18 January 2011 10:26 CST

user21438

Thanks for the response!

Those are good pitfalls to note. Typically, I'm either adding a bunch of content at once (usually with images, maybe adding files for download) and sometimes upgrading or adding components. I usually need to do this locally, or on a dev site, as the client needs to review and approve before gong live.

It seems like if one where to be removing components, and doing other upgrades/additions, it might be best to take the site offline, uninstall from the live site and then restore the backup (with the uninstall also done locally) over the live site.

In the case in which I'm thinking about doing this, I am not only adding a bunch of content that was developed off-line, but also upgrading a component that I also changed the database tables on.

Thanks again for confirming this method. I have to admit that Akeeba Backup continues to impress me.

Any chance that you'll do a stand alone version or even one for Workstation backups (i.e. Windows app)?

Best,

Matt

Tuesday, 18 January 2011 10:39 CST

nicholas

He he! Many of you are asking for that feature. In order to do a standalone version I'd have to port Akeeba Backup's interface to a framework which can run both inside Joomla! and standalone (Nooku?). Then, I'd have to find a good way to perform a very generalized restoration which is even more difficult. Then I'd have to support running Akeeba Backup against anything, including custom sites, which is near impossible. That's the biggest reason for not making a generic standalone version. Regarding workstation backups, that's even trickier, especially on Windows. Besides, on every major Operating System there are already rock-solid backup solutions written in native code. It's hard to compete with them with a PHP-based solution :)

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

Lead Developer and Director

🇬🇷Greek: native 🇬🇧English: excellent 🇫🇷French: basic • 🕐 My time zone is Europe / Athens
Please keep in mind my timezone and cultural differences when reading my replies. Thank you!

Wednesday, 19 January 2011 12:21 CST

user21438

I just wanted to report back that this technique worked beautifully! I had to upgrade an extension, manually drop and replace a couple of database tables, add a bunch of new content (articles, new menu items, media) as well as re-assign an existing menu item. Doing this on a live site would have meant that it would need to be down for some time (or do it on the fly and risk some complications) but being able to do this at one shot minimized down time. I keep being impressed by Akeeba Backup (and kicking myself for not using it sooner for this kind of stuff).

I understand about the standalone version, it's not a small request . Keep up the good work!

Best,

Matt

Wednesday, 19 January 2011 16:30 CST

nicholas

He he! Works every time, like clockwork! As I said, I've been using this technique ever since we decided to have a standalone site for JoomlaPack a few years back. With any luck, I will be doing a presentation about this technique (and other black belt stuff based on it) in JaB11, if people vote for my presentation :)

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

Lead Developer and Director

🇬🇷Greek: native 🇬🇧English: excellent 🇫🇷French: basic • 🕐 My time zone is Europe / Athens
Please keep in mind my timezone and cultural differences when reading my replies. Thank you!

Wednesday, 19 January 2011 19:13 CST

user21438

It is a beautiful thing. I was even thinking about doing another article focusing on this aspect of it.

That would be awesome to see that presentation. Where is voting taking place? I haven't purchased my ticket yet, but hope to see it.

Best,

Matt

Thursday, 20 January 2011 01:41 CST

nicholas

You can vote for the session here. The voting is not open yet (it will open in March) but you can still chip in your comment :)

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

Lead Developer and Director

🇬🇷Greek: native 🇬🇧English: excellent 🇫🇷French: basic • 🕐 My time zone is Europe / Athens
Please keep in mind my timezone and cultural differences when reading my replies. Thank you!

Thursday, 20 January 2011 11:05 CST

user21438

Great, will do. I've left one comment in favor and will vote in March.

Best,

Matt

Thursday, 20 January 2011 12:21 CST

nicholas

Thank you!

Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos

Lead Developer and Director

🇬🇷Greek: native 🇬🇧English: excellent 🇫🇷French: basic • 🕐 My time zone is Europe / Athens
Please keep in mind my timezone and cultural differences when reading my replies. Thank you!

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