What to backup?

coldsummer · February 3, 2017, 3:43pm

Hi there,

I want to make a backup of my ojs application.
I would like to know what should i backup (folder, database ?), so that i can recover in case of incident or moving application to another server.

Thank you,

asmecher · February 3, 2017, 3:45pm

Hi @coldsummer,

See the OJS Quick Reference, available from the OJS Documentation page.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

Aragon · November 22, 2019, 8:46am

I found the instructions for backup for v2.3.1 at https://pkp.sfu.ca/ojs/docs/userguide/2.3.1/systemAdministrationBackupRestore.html. Are there new ones for OJS3?

asmecher · November 22, 2019, 9:21am

Hi @Aragon,

Those are still accurate for OJS3. Or you could try the backup plugin, which is available in the plugin gallery!

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

hussainyousaf · February 12, 2020, 11:48am

@asmecher how to install backup plugin?

asmecher · February 12, 2020, 5:58pm

Hi @hussainyousaf,

The backup plugin is in the Plugin Gallery. See https://docs.pkp.sfu.ca/learning-ojs/en/settings-website#plugins for details.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

hussainyousaf · February 13, 2020, 5:03am

@asmecher thanks for guidance. After download plugin, when i upload this message appear. I also not change the plugin original name

Please guide.

asmecher · February 13, 2020, 5:17am

Hi @hussainyousaf,

That’s the wrong file. If you install the plugin using the Plugin Gallery, it will take care of downloading the right file automatically.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

hussainyousaf · February 18, 2020, 7:51am

i exactly download zip file from this link https://github.com/asmecher/backup but same error generating.

asmecher · February 18, 2020, 7:43pm

Hi @hussainyousaf,

Yes, that’s the wrong file. Use the Plugin Gallery.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

hussainyousaf · February 19, 2020, 6:26am

@asmecher When i use plugin gallery this message show and when i click OK button this screen still there after an hour no installation perform.

asmecher · February 19, 2020, 7:32pm

Hi @hussainyousaf,

Check your PHP error log for details.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

hussainyousaf · February 20, 2020, 4:36am

@asmecher this error i find in error log and error log not showing after 24-Dec-2019

[24-Dec-2019 01:42:09 UTC] PHP Fatal error: require_once(): Failed opening required ‘plugins/generic/usageStats/GeoLocationTool.inc.php’ (include_path=’.:/opt/cpanel/ea-php70/root/usr/share/pear’) in /home/pjoorgpk/public_html/lib/pkp/classes/plugins/Plugin.inc.php on line 467

hussainyousaf · March 16, 2020, 6:40am

@mohd_arshad Can you help me regarding backup plugin that not installing our journal, How can i install and after installation, how can i backup my system? Thanks in advance.

mohd_arshad · March 16, 2020, 7:42am

sorry i cannot help you with the plug in not installing.

i dont use the backup plugin. if i need a copy of a database i just download from the server. usually there are three item you need to backup if you want to upgrade…

Database
Files Folder
Public Folder

i just do it manually…

Julien_L · June 29, 2020, 6:11pm

Hi,

I’m reviving this thread because I’m having a problem with the backup plugin.
I installed it and it works fine for the files and code.
It doesn’t work for the database however. First, OJS requested to add to config.ini.php:
[cli]
dump = “/usr/bin/mysqldump -h {$hostname} -u {$username} - p{$password} {$databasename}”
I did so and the warning disappeared, but when I click on the link to download the database, the browser for a second acts as if it’s about to load something, then nothing happens.

Any idea how to solve this? Thanks!

asmecher · July 7, 2020, 8:50pm

Hi @Julien_L,

I think there’s a typo in the line above – the space between - and p{$password} shouldn’t be there.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team

Julien_L · July 8, 2020, 4:29am

Thank you @asmecher for your response.
I had deleted the space earlier in fact. Not being sure whether the curly brackets and the $ sign should be kept, I tried different combinations, but no change seems to happen.
Any other suggestion?

asmecher · July 8, 2020, 2:17pm

Hi @Julien_L,

This configuration line will be very picky about small changes – the form that’s in the documentation should be correct for most users:

[cli]
dump = "/usr/bin/mysqldump -h {$hostname} -u {$username} -p{$password} {$databasename}"

If that doesn’t work, I have two suggestions:

Check your PHP error log around the time you attempted the database dump. It’s possible that it’ll contain something helpful.
Test the dump command yourself on the server e.g. using a secure shell connection. Try running the same command that you’ve configured:
```
/usr/bin/mysqldump -h {$hostname} -u {$username} -p{$password} {$databasename}
```
…replacing {$hostname} with the database hostname, {$username} with the database username, etc., each matching the value in your config.inc.php configuration file and being careful not to change anything else about that command.

Regards,
Alec Smecher
Public Knowledge Project Team