Akeeba Backup
is a program
to help you to easily backup
restore and transfer
your web sites.
Go to the download menu
and scroll down to Akeeba Solo
and click to download it to your computer.
If you have subscribed for the pro version
make sure that you are logged in first
to enable the download.
The Akeeba Solo program comes as
a zip file and we need to extract that.
We can see we now have
a new folder with all the files in.
We now need to transfer these files
to our webserver
and to do that we will use an FTP program.
I am going to use FileZilla
but you can use any FTP prgogram
you like. To begin with
connect to your server.
Once connected make sure you are
in the public_html or the web root of your site.
Now create a new folder
in which to install Akeeba Solo.
I am going to use solo3272
to slightly randomise the name
when that has been done we now need
to upload the files from our computer.
Once all the files have been uploaded
we can go to our website/foldername
which in my case is
akeebademo.com/solo3272
We are now at the Akeeba Solo installer
The installer is a very simple process.
This first begins with the required
server settings.
As you can see they are all set to yes.
If any are set to no you wont be able
to proceed and you probably need to
speak to your web hosts
to rectify the errors.
Now click Next to continue
Here we setup the database
for Akeeba Solo
Enter the database server host name
this is usually localhost
followed by the username and password
for your database
Finally the database name
We will need to have created
the database before
you run this installer.
The installer cannot create the database.
You can select a database table name
prefix or leave it alone
the default of solo_ and click Submit.
We are now ready to configure
the application
Here we can set our timezone
the URL to solo itself
the session timeout
and which Filesystem driver to use.
Finally Akeeba Solo
is protected by a login so we
need to create a username and password
and enter an email address.
Finally enter my fullname
that will be displayed on the screen
and click Submit
Akeeba Solo has now been setup
we now need to tell Akeeba Solo
which web site it is that
we want to actually backup.
Akeeba Solo has detected that
there is a web site in existance
at the root of this installation
If that is the site you wish to backup
leave it as it is
It has also detected the ste root
If I now click on Auto-detect
Akeeba Solo will attempt to work out
what type of script it is
and make the settings below accordingly.
And we can see
that it has mysql driver,
the server hostname, username
password and database name
and prefix all from
the Drupal web site at this address.
If it has detected any of these
incorrectly you can always edit them.
Finally it is asking what type of
script it is and it has determined
this is Drupal 7.
If it wasn't we could change
it to one of these options
Finally which type of
Embedded restoration script
or ANGIE that will be included
in the backup.
Again it has detected
the one for Drupal 7
but it could have detected any of these
or even no installer at all.
Click Submit.
Akeeba Solo is now testing your server
calculating the best settings for your backup
It is important that you remain on
the screen until the wizard has completed
Once the wizard has completed
you're ready to complete your first backup.
Let us go ahead and do that right now.
You can see a warning message here
that we are using the default
directory for backups.
This is perfectly normal
and unless you change the directory
in the configuration
this message will appear.
As we can see Akeeba Solo
will store some information
each time we make a backup.
By default it creates a
description of the backup stating
the time and date that it was taken.
You can also add a password
and we strongly recommend that you do that.
And finally you can optionally include
an additional comment perhaps
stating that you are doing this backup
before updating your website.
We can now click on backup now.
The backup process has started.
It is important that you do not
browse to any other page
until the backup has completed.
Once the backup has completed
you should click here on Manage Backups
Here we can see the
the backup has taken place.
With its description
a status of OK
the size of the backup
and a link to the actual backup file itself.
Depending on your configuration
this may be multiple parts.
A backup kept on your web site
is as useful as a set of spare keys
stored inside your house.
So it is important you download
the backup from your website
to your own computer.
You can do this simply by
clicking the link and confirming.
Once you have downloaded the backup
You can if you want delete the
backup file from your website
perhaps you are short of space
on your hosting account.
You can do this by selecting
the backup here
and then clicking delete files.
You will see there is another
option called delete.
This will delete the complete record
that a backup took place
I prefer to keep that record
and just delete the files.
We can see now that the record
is still here
but the backup file itself has gone.
You can now return to the home page of Akeeba Solo.
If you are using the free version
you are all done.
If you are using Akeeba Solo Professional
there is one more step to go.
Right at the top we have a message
about entering our download ID.
this is required for updates
to the program so lets go
ahead and fix that.
Return to the akeebabackup.com web site
make sure you are logged in and
select My Subscriptions from the menu.
If you now scroll down you
will see your download id
simply select and copy it.
Return to your web site
and paste it in. Click on
Apply Download ID.
We can see that the message has now
disappeared and we have successfully
installed Akeeba Solo Professional.