How To Change Plesk Backup Location Tutorial For Sys Admins

In this tutorial, I'll guide you through the steps to change the default backup location for Plesk on your Linux server. By default, backups are stored in /var/lib/psa/dumps. Let's change that to a new directory!

Prerequisites

• Access to your Plesk server via SSH.
• Basic knowledge of terminal commands.

Step 1: Connect to Your Plesk Server

First, connect to your server using SSH:

ssh username@$server-ip

Step 2: Create a New Directory for Backups

Now, let's create a new directory where you want to store the backups. In this example, we will use /plesk_backups:

mkdir /plesk_backups

Step 3: Set Ownership and Permissions

Next, set the necessary ownership and permissions for the new directory:

sudo chown psaadm:psaadm /plesk_backups

sudo chmod 755 /plesk_backups

Step 4: Modify the Plesk Configuration File

4.1. Open the Configuration File

Open the Plesk configuration file in a text editor. We'll use vim in this example:

sudo vim /etc/psa/psa.conf

4.2. Change the Backup Directory

Find the line that starts with DUMP_D and change its value to the new directory:

# Backups directory
DUMP_D /plesk_backups

4.3. Save and Close the File

After making the change, save your edits and exit the editor.

4.4. Verify the Change

To ensure the directory has been updated correctly, run:

sudo grep -v '#' /etc/psa/psa.conf | grep -w DUMP_D

You should see:

DUMP_D /plesk_backups

Step 5: Move Existing Backup Data

Next, move all existing backup data and the hidden .discovered directory to the new location:

sudo mv /var/lib/psa/dumps/* /plesk_backups/

sudo mv /var/lib/psa/dumps/.discovered/ /plesk_backups/

Step 6: Restart the Plesk Control Server

Finally, restart the sw-cp-server service to apply the changes:

sudo systemctl restart sw-cp-server

Conclusion

Now all backup files will be stored in the new directory /plesk_backups. You have successfully changed the backup location for Plesk!

Disclaimer

It's always recommended to test configuration changes in a development environment before applying them in production. For the latest documentation and guidelines, refer to the official Plesk resources. Unsure what to do? Reach out to our technical support team.