How to Restore Your Customer Backups as WebHostingM Plesk Reseller

In cases of data corruption or accidental deletion, restoring a backup in Plesk allows you to recover crucial website data, including databases, configurations, and individual files. This guide explains how to restore either all data or selected items from a backup file, including helpful tips to avoid overwriting existing data unintentionally.

Note: If the Backup Manager feature is not available on the server you are logged in, please contact our support team for help in determining the reason

Note: Backups created in Plesk Onyx 17.0 or later are supported. When restoring items from a backup, any existing items with the same name will be overwritten without warning, and any changes made since the backup will be lost.

Restoring All Data from a Backup

1. Go to Websites & Domains > Backup Manager to access all backups stored locally or in remote storage.
2. Click on the backup you want to restore.
3. Under What do you want to restore?, select the All objects (entire system) radio button.
4. In Components to restore, uncheck any object categories you do not wish to restore. For example, if “Databases” is selected, all databases will be restored. Deselect this checkbox to skip restoring databases.
5. If the backup is password-protected:
   • Select Get password from settings of Remote storage to fetch the password automatically.
   • If the password cannot be fetched automatically (e.g., the backup is from another server), choose Input password manually and enter the password.
   • If you do not have the password, uncheck Provide password. Plesk will generate new passwords for restored items, but data integrity may be affected.
6. Before proceeding, consider these optional settings:
   • Suspend domains until the restoration is completed: This ensures data consistency by making the site unavailable until the restoration is complete. Visitors will see a 503 error during this period.
   • Send a notification email upon completion: Select this option to receive an email notification once the restoration finishes. Verify the email address displayed is correct.
7. Click Restore to begin the restoration process.

The restoration progress will be visible in the Websites & Domains > Backup Manager screen. Restoration time depends on the backup size, and a notification will appear once the restoration is completed.

Restoring Selected Objects from a Backup

Instead of restoring all data, you can choose specific items to restore, such as a domain, mail account, or individual files.

1. Navigate to Websites & Domains > Backup Manager and select the backup you want to use.
2. Under What do you want to restore?, select Selected objects.
3. In Type of object to restore, select the type of objects you want to recover:
   • Mail account: Restore individual mail accounts.
   • Database: Restore individual databases.
   • Sites: Restore specific websites along with their associated data.
   • DNS Zone: Restore DNS zone settings for individual domains.
   • Files of domains: Restore specific files within a domain.
4. Select the objects to restore by moving them from the Available column to the Selected column. If restoring files, click Add files and select the specific files you need.
5. Under Restore, specify whether to restore only the configuration or both configuration and content. This option is useful for databases if you only want to restore the database structure but not the data.
6. Before restoring, consider these optional settings:
   • Suspend domains until the restoration is completed: This temporarily makes the site unavailable until the restoration finishes, with a 503 error shown to visitors.
   • Send a notification email upon completion: Select this to receive an email notification once the process is complete. Ensure the email address is correct.
   • If the backup is password-protected:
     • Select Get password from settings of Remote storage to auto-fetch the password from remote storage.
     • If needed, select Input password manually and enter the password. If you don’t know the password, deselect Provide password. Random passwords will be generated, but some data may not be restored correctly.
7. Click Restore to start the restoration.

The progress will be visible in Websites & Domains > Backup Manager. Restoration time depends on content size, and you’ll receive a notification once it is completed.

Important Tips and Best Practices

• Test in a Non-Production Environment: To avoid risks, test the restore process in a staging environment before using it on a live server.
• Double-Check Storage Space: Ensure there is enough space for restoration, especially when dealing with large backups.
• Monitor the Restoration Process: Keep an eye on progress to identify any potential issues early.

Disclaimer: Always test restore processes in a test or staging environment before applying them to a live system. Be sure to consult the latest Plesk documentation, as software updates may change restoration processes.