Backup / Restore
Put the database and your images, themes, and plugins into one zip, back up automatically on a schedule, send copies to external S3-compatible storage, and restore to that point if something breaks
Save the whole site so you can always go back
"Sorabun > Backup / Migration > Backup / Restore" takes backups of your site and restores from them (Pro, administrators only). It does the same job as BackWPup or UpdraftPlus.
A backup contains two things.
- The database: posts, pages, settings, users, and comments (every table of this site)
- wp-content: images and other uploads, themes, plugins, and the rest
WordPress core and wp-config.php aren't included (a restore uses the WordPress already on that server). Caches, other backup plugins' folders, server-specific add-ons (object-cache.php, advanced-cache.php, db.php), and Sorabun itself aren't included either.
No AI is used, so there are no AI costs.
Back up now
Choose "Database and files (everything)" or "Database only (posts and settings, fast)" and press "Back up now". Progress appears on the screen. When it's done, the backup is added to the list and you can download it.
Hosting servers usually cut off a single request after about 30 seconds, so the work proceeds a little at a time. It keeps going in the background even if you close the screen (Sorabun picks it up again with a request to itself and with WordPress's scheduler). Even if the server cuts a step off midway, the next step continues from the last clean point.
The zip is an ordinary zip that Windows Explorer can open. The database is stored as SQL files such as database/0001.sql, which phpMyAdmin can import as-is (so you can restore even if Sorabun stops working).
Automatic backups
"Automatic backups" backs up automatically every day, every week, or every month (on the 1st) at a set time.
| Setting | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Back up automatically | Off | Daily, weekly (with weekday), or monthly (1st), plus the time |
| Contents | Everything | Database and files, or database only |
| Copies to keep on this server | 3 | Counts scheduled backups only and deletes the oldest first. Manual backups are never deleted. With 0, backups that reached external storage aren't kept on this server |
| Copies to keep externally | 10 | How many to keep in external storage (scheduled backups only) |
| Notify on success too | Off | Failures are always notified |
| Don't include | Empty | One location per line, relative to wp-content (such as uploads/videos; * works) |
WordPress's scheduler runs at the first visit after the set time. Failures are sent to the email, Slack, or Chatwork set up in Notifications, or to the administrator's email if none is set up.
External storage (S3-compatible)
When a server breaks, only the backups stored elsewhere survive. With external storage set up, each finished backup is sent there automatically.
You can send backups to AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, Sakura Cloud, or any storage that works like S3. Create a bucket and an access key with your own account, then enter the following.
| Setting | Example |
|---|---|
| Endpoint | https://s3.ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com (AWS Tokyo) / https://<account-id>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com (R2) |
| Region | ap-northeast-1 / auto for R2. Left empty, it's inferred from the endpoint |
| Bucket | The name of the bucket you created |
| Access key and secret key | A key that can only write, list, and delete (no permission to delete buckets is needed) |
| Folder | When several sites share a bucket, give each site its own folder |
"Save and test the connection" puts a small file and deletes it to confirm that writing works. The secret key is stored encrypted with this site's key and is never shown on screen.
Large zips are sent in 16 MB pieces. "Send to external storage" in the list sends one later. "Show what's in external storage" lists the stored backups, and "Bring to this server" downloads one to this server (after moving servers, or after deleting this server's copy).
Restore
Press "Restore" in the list to open the confirmation screen. Choose what to restore (database, images and uploads, themes, plugins, the rest), check "I understand", and press "Restore".
- The current state is backed up automatically first (it appears in the list as "Automatic before restore", and the newest 2 are kept). If you want to undo the restore, restore that one
- The database is loaded into tables with different names first and swapped in all at once only after everything has loaded. If something fails midway, the site stays as it was
- After restoring the database, you need to log in again
- Files are only overwritten; files added after the backup aren't deleted
- External storage settings and your Sorabun license keep their current values
- When a MySQL 8 collation (utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci) is restored onto MariaDB, it's replaced with one MariaDB supports
On servers with DISALLOW_FILE_MODS in wp-config.php, only images and uploads are restored from the files.
Where backups are kept
Backups are kept in wp-content/sorabun-backups/. File names include a random string that can't be guessed, and the folder can't be listed from outside. Still, anything stored on the server is lost along with the server. Use external storage, or download backups from time to time.
Deleting Sorabun doesn't delete the backup files (backups are exactly what you need after deleting things). If you don't need them, delete them with "Delete" in the list or over FTP.
Multisite isn't supported.