Akeeba Backup can do more
just backup your Joomla web site
it can also backup
files and sites that exist above your web root.
There are 2 occasions where you may do this.
If you have a downloads folder
that you are protecting by keeping above the web root
you want to make sure you back that up as well.
You may also have installed
an additional web site
perhaps a subdomain
for a forum like this.
and you want to make sure
that in your Akeeba Backup
you include the forum
as well the Joomla site.
If we scroll down
we can see there are two options
for including data in the backup.
One for databases and one for directories.
To begin with let's look at the databases.
So select Multiple Databases Definition.
Here we can add the details of the
additional databases that we want to backup.
We do not need to give any
information for our Joomla web site database as this automatic.
Click on the small plus icon
And a popup opens
asking for the connection details for your database
you should have this from your web host.
First enter the database driver
the hostname
the username,
the password,
and finally the name of the database you wish to backup.
Click on Test Connection.
When you have a success message click Save.
You've now configured Akeeba Backup
to include this additional
database in your backup.
We now want to include the files.
So let's return to our Control Panel
and select the Off-site Directories Inclusion.
Again click on the small plus icon
and then click on the folder icon.
Here we can see that
we have in our hosting account
three folders.
Downloads, where I am storing the off-site downloads,
forum, for my phpBB forum,
and public_html
which is where my current joomla web site is installed.
If I want to include the downloads folder
simply select it
and then select Use
and click on the Save icon.
Let's repeat that for the forum
by clicking on the plus,
browse,
selecting the forum,
and selecting Use.
Finally Save.
Now we have added our external
database for the forum
and our two folders for the downloads
and the forum itself.
Let's go back to the Control Panel and perform our Backup.
Once the Backup is complete
go to Manage Backups
and download it to your computer.
We're now ready to look at
the restoration process
of this Akeeba Backup.
I'm going to use my ftp program
to connect to a new server where I am going to restore this backup.
I am using filezilla,
but you could use any ftp program,
to connect to the new server.
As you can see my new server
has a public_hmtl folder
where my web site would live
and if I navigate in you can see that its empty.
Let's take the backup file
and copy that across
to our new server.
Finally let's take our kickstart.php file
and copy that across as well.
Now let's return to our web browser
and complete the restoration.
Go to the special url
for the kickstart.php file
close this message
and begin.
We can see it has selected the archive file
and we can let the Akeeba Backup
kickstart program extract the files to our web server.
Once tht has completed
we can run the installer.
As with all Akeeba Backup restorations
the installer
checks that our server is suitable
and then we can click Next.
We are now ready to restore the site's
main database.
The one for your Joomla web site.
Click Next to Continue.
Here we have an additional screen.
We can see here that this screen
is to setup the extra database
the one for our phpbb forum.
So here make sure you enter the correct details
for the forum
not the joomla web site.
and click Next.
The installer is now ready
to restore your Downloads folder
to above the web root.
Click Next and the files will be copied
and do the same again for the forum folder.
Finally complete the rest of the site setup
for your Joomla web site as you would do normally.
The final step
is to remove the copy of the
external folders
from inside our public_html web space.
To do this return to filezilla.
Here we can see that the forum
and the downloads folders
were successfully copied
and if we go into the public_html
where our Joomla web site is
we can see a folder called external_files.
We no longer need this folder
so we can delete it.
So by using the multiple
database definitions
and the off-site directories inclusion feature.
We can use Akeeba Backup Professional
to not only backup our web site
but to backup all the other websites
within our hosting as well.