MagePlace Cloud Backup Extension for Magento

MagePlace Cloud Backup Extension is a simple but useful solution to back up your Magento web shop to a separate server. Everybody knows how vitally important it is to make regular backups. The loss of critical programs and data can have a significantly adverse impact on your ability to do your work. Timely backup is a guarantee that you can restore your site fast and get back on wheels in case of emergency. But not everybody knows that it's not enough just to make a backup. Making conventional backups costs time and effort. Backup extension for Magento allows you to schedule your tasks so that they can run even in your absence. Backup files should be stored offsite, on a separate server with easy and prompt access, so you can get and use Magento offsite backup quickly in case of any emergency.

Keeping backups on the same server means you're secured against software error. This way you can restore site if it has been hacked or harmed after incorrect customization. But keeping backup files on different servers saves you from software and hardware troubles. Modern data centers are very secure but still various kinds of accidents occur – hardware failures, fires, power shortages, floods, cable disconnections with data center and so on.

With this Cloud Backup Extension for Magento it becomes a lot easier to create backup files and to store them on distant servers. You can back up Database and files of the whole site. With flexible settings you can define what parts exactly you want to backup – whole Magneto database, certain tables of DB, DB with certain folders or files etc. and check free space on the disk before starting the backup process. You can save a backup file to your server (and copy to local computer afterwards) or copy it directly to a distant cloud storage, for example Dropbox, AmazonS3 Storage Service, Box.com Storage or Google Drive.

The Magento Backup Extension from MagePlace works with Google Drive, Box.com, Dropbox and Amazon online storages to create offsite backups. Now users have the possibility to fill in the S3 Amazon storage settings and point out both the bucket and directory, where the archive files will be sending. Same with Google Drive - you can define separate folder for your backups and have direct access to them from any computer.

In order to work with Dropbox just indicate your Dropbox login details and the extension will send files directly from Magento, without additional fuss form your side. You can define what Dropbox folder to use like online storage for remote Magento site backup and to send files to. You can synchronize online storages with your local computer and have up-to-date backup files on all computers you want. You can also share folder on Dropbox or Box.com and provide access for developers to restore the system.

That's now possible to adjust the cron scheduler so that the program would automatically carry out the backup of the site or specified databases daily, weekly, monthly or once on the scheduled day and time. You can create as many tasks as you want and change the information saved in a backup task anytime you want. Besides, it`s possible to select cron settings for each individual profile. Moreover you can setup a cron task to send backup files to the cloud server too. The service is automatic and requires no further intervention by the user. Moreover extension can send an email notification about the successful completion of the cron backup. In short, cron is used to schedule definite tasks for our Magento backup extension.

Deleting of old backup files can be set up in two ways: a) deleting on the expiry of several days; b) deleting of the earlier backups if the total number of backups exceeds the determined number. Herewith user can chose either delete all the backup data completely, including the file on the server, log files and files on the cloud server; or delete only the backup record, but leave all the backup files.

MagePlace Cloud Backup Extension include:

• Easy backup of Magento DB and files
• One-click backup creation
• Scheduled backup using cron
• Flexible settings of backup sources
• Indicate folders on local backup server to save backup files to
• Indicate folders on Dropbox to save backup files to
• Automatic file splitting when copying backup to Dropbox*
• AmazonS3 and Box.com remote storage support
• Google Drive storage support
• Backup process logs maintenance
• Saving information both in a log file and in the database.

There are also some requirements to your server where Magento Shop is hosted (all these requirements are common for Magento but still we need to bring them up again):

• RAM memory over 512 MBytes
• Free space on the server not less than the size of the backup
• Zlib support in PHP. You will need to configure PHP with zlib, but don't worry - most Magento servers have this feature on.

If a folder size on the server is more than 500 Mb we insistently recommend you to allocate it to the separate backup profile, as on servers with the low website memory the backup process can be suddenly terminated.

Do not miss the Merge file addon to merge together all the pieces that were sent to Dropbox storage. You will need it if you decide to restore system from backup. Merge script can be found in your members area together with the Backup extension itself. This script can work with local files on your computer as well as files on server.

The Magento Cloud Backup Extension by MagePlace supports Magento Community editions 1.4.X, 1.5.X, 1.6.X, 1.7.X; Magento Enterprise editions 1.9.X, 1.10.X, 1.11.X, 1.12.X.

Please note that this extension is provided as is. It is recommended to always backup your installation prior to usage. We can't guarantee proper work of our extension with any 3-rd party extension installed on the eCommerce Platform.Should there be any questions about our extension or installation process, contact MagePlace support team.

Take a look at the MagePlace Backup Extension for Magento at our Demo site and try all the features yourself:

See the settings page on the Magento Administrator page

Use the following access to login:
demouser / demouser1

Learn how easily you can set up profiles to perform Backup of your Magento site from this video:

• Q: What is the difference from the native Magento backup?

  A: Unlike the native Magento backup tool you may use MagePlace Cloud Backup extension stores your Backup files on a separate server with easy and prompt access, it protects your backups both from software and hardware failures. Our Magento extension allows you to save your time by scheduling tasks so that they can run in your absence, while conventional backups usually cannot be done this way.

  Choosing our Cloud Backup extension instead of native Magento backup you store your Backup files on a separate server with easy and prompt access, which protects your backups not only from software but also from hardware failures. Unlike the conventional backups, our Magento extension allows you to save your time by scheduling tasks so that they can run in your absence.

• Q: Where can I store my backups?

  A: With our Cloud Backup extension you can:

  • save a backup file to your local server;
  • send the archived copy to a distant could storage.

  Currently the extension works with Google Drive, Box.com,Dropbox and Amazon online storages.

• Q: Can I do backups automatically?

  A: Our Cloud Backup extension includes the cron scheduler which allows carrying out the backup of the site or required databases automatically according to the specified schedule.

• Q: How does the cron works?

  A: Cron is used to schedule definite tasks for our Magento backup extension. Cron works using the predefined settings. You can do the following:

  • create unlimited quantity of tasks;
  • change the information saved in a backup task at any time;
  • select cron settings for each individual profile;
  • setup a cron task to send backup files to local or cloud server;

  The service is automatic and requires no further intervention by the user.

• Q: How to setup cron correctly?

  A: While indicating cron parameters take into account that the value in the "Generate Schedules Every" field must be smaller or equal to the value in the "Schedule Ahead for" field; value in the "Missed if Not Run Within" field - bigger or equal to the value in the "Generate Schedules Every" field. And with all of these cron settings on server should be set so that Magento cron would run once N minutes, where N should be smaller or equal to the value in the "Generate Schedules Every" field.

• Q: Are there any special requirements?

  A: The requirements for this extension are the same as for Magento in general, namely:

  • Recommended RAM memory - over 512 Mbytes, otherwise it may be necessary to break up backup process to smaller parts (portions) with backup profiles (see below);
  • Free space on the server not less than the size of the backup;
  • Zlib support in PHP.

  If you'd like to use 3rd party online storages, please, note the restrictions which these resources have:

  • limited file size;
  • space limit (additional storage space may be purchased);
  • 5,000 API calls per day for each key.

  If a folder size on the server is more than 500 Mb we insistently recommend you to allocate it to the separate backup profile, as on servers with the low website memory the backup process can be suddenly terminated.

• Q: Which Magento versions support this extension?

  A: The Magento Cloud Backup Extension by MagePlace supports Magento Community versions 1.4.X, 1.5.X, 1.6.X, 1.7.X

• Q: Why "Backup progress" doesn't get refreshed / Loading Mask doesn't hide?

  A: This happens because the server has limited time to run scripts. To avoid this issue use backup profiles in our extension to break the DB backup process into several smaller parts.

• Q: [ERROR] Extension doesn't have permissions to change memory limit.

  A: Your server doesn`t meet the appropriate Magento requirements. As the extension tries to increase the memory limit for archiving or back up fragmentation, the error appears. To fix this, follow the steps:

  1. Increase the server memory to a minimum of 512 Mb;
  2. Split backup profile into multiple parts to limit the eventual archive for each separate profile.

• Q: [ERROR] MySQL server has gone away

  A: This error doesn't stop the backup process. The notification is displayed because of MySQL server settings, as they do not completely satisfy Magento requirements. We'll recommend you to optimize MySQL configuration for Magento: ask the hosting provider to change in the MySQL configuration files on the server /etc/my.cnf max_allowed_packet = 1M to 16M or try to upgrade MySQL to the latest version because some things it's handled differently in the latest versions. If you can't change MySQL settings and don't want to see the note, you can split backup profile into several smaller parts.

• Q: I have less than 512 and going to next level host plan is too expensive. What can I do?

  A: You can break down the backup into several backup profiles, so each profile would backup small part of the site (preferably less than 100 Mbytes). If some files or tables are over 100 Mbytes - make separate profile to back them up.

• Q: My backup is divided into small parts on dropbox. How do I merge them together to restore?

  A: You can use the Merge script, which can be found in your members area.

• Q: ERROR displayed: Invalid URI supplied when trying to send files to Dropbox. What should I Do?

  A: The path indicated in the backup profile settings in the Directory field on the cloud server (e.g., Dropbox Directory) cannot contain spaces:
  Dropbox Directory: MageplaceBackup – CORRECT
  Dropbox Directory: Mageplace Backup – INCORRECT

• Q: How to restore the website from a backup file?

  A: To restore the site into another server you need to load backup on server (unpack on server or local and then upload to the server), import the backup DB and change the data for DB access in the file /app/etc/local.xml. See step by step instruction.

Version 1.7.8.6 [April 23, 2013]

• Added the option to determine memory limit allocated for website operation in reality.
• Fixed the bug occurring while saving the list of excluded from backup files in the profile.
• Minor bugs fixed.

Version 1.7.8.1 [March 14, 2013]

• Applied changes due to Google Drive API update.
• Minor bugs fixed.

Version 1.7.8 [February 21, 2013]

• Added Magento Enterprise Edition support.
• Improved Cron schedule system.
• Minor bugs fixed.

Version 1.7.6 [December 04, 2012]

• Added option to check free space on the disk before starting the backup process.
• Changed the display errors system that occurred during backup.
• Major bugs fixed.

Version 1.7.5 [November 22, 2012]

• Major bugs fixed.

Version 1.7.0 [October 31, 2012]

• Added the possibility to send backup files via FTP and SFTP.
• In the profile for "Storage Application" added the fields to set the parts size, on which the backup file will be divided before sending it to the cloud server.
• For "Storage Application" added the field, in which you can indicate the connection timeout with the server (helps in cases, when during the loading on the target server of the backup file occurs the server connection timeout error).
• Fixed the issues leading to errors 'SQLSTATE[40001]: Serialization failure: 1213 Deadlock found when trying to get lock; try restarting transaction' and 'SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 1205 Lock wait timeout exceeded; try restarting transaction'.
• Divided the procedure of backup deleting – now it is possible a) delete all the backup data completely, including the file on the server, log files and files on the cloud server; b) delete only the backup record, but leave all the backup files.
• Fixed the bug with the Box cloud application, disabling the backup files uploading on the Box server.
• Fixed the bug leading to the 'Profile ID# not founded' error during the cron job.
• Fixed the bug connected with the log in process during performing the backup using the cron job.
• Added the possibility to send an email notification about the successful completion of the cron backup, showing the logs, which will be displayed in the letter.
• Implemented the deleting of the old backup files two ways to choose: a) deleting on the expiry of several days; b) deleting of the earlier backups if the total number of backups exceeds the determined number.

Version 1.6.5 [October 12, 2012]

• Minor bugs fixed.
• Added Magento 1.4.1.1 support (now the whole 1.4 Magento line is supported without separate files provision).
• For Dropbox and Amazon added the option permitting to set up the connection timeout.
• Fixed the bug appearing on some servers leading to the error when using Google Drive.

Version 1.6.0 [September 24, 2012]

• Added the possibility to choose the backup type in profile: files and DB, Db only, files only.
• Changed backup files naming principle.
• Changed naming principle of backup files parts uploaded to Dropbox or Amazon.
• Added the cache update when changing cron settings in profile.
• Added the 100 Mbytes file size restriction for Amazon S3 storage.

Version 1.5.1 [July 25, 2012]

• Major bugs fixed.

Version 1.5.0 [June 14, 2012]

• Added the possibility to upload archived files to Box.com storage.

Version 1.4.0 [June 07, 2012]

• Added the possibility to upload archived files to Google Drive storage.
• Added the possibility to calculate the disk space required for file, folder or Data Base table.
• Fixed minor bugs.

Version 1.3.1 [April 24, 2012]

• Added Magento version 1.7.0 support

Version 1.3.0 [March 14, 2012]

• Updated the backup process logging system

Version 1.2.0 [March 6, 2012]

• Changed session usage for backup process
• Fixed error with Magento session storage
• Added Magento version 1.6.2 support
• Minor bugs fixed

Version 1.1.0 [February 8, 2012]

• Added the AmazonS3 remote storage support
• Added the possibility to create the local backup (without sending the backup files to cloud services)
• Added the cron for backup execution with the possibility to select cron settings for each individual profile
• Changed the Dropbox authorization process
• Changed the backup process logs maintaining system
• Expanded an execution speed of backup process

Version 1.0.0 [December 20, 2011]

• Stable candidate released