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Sites in uploads folder missing in Snapshot backup

Snapshot seems to be backing up most of the multisite files. However I don't see the sites directory in the uploads folder. How can I add that to be backed up as well.

I see:
wp-content
--plugins
----all plugins are included
--themes
----all themes are included
--uploads
----2013
------monthly folders are listed
----2014
------monthly folders are listed
sites and all site folders are missing

Shouldn't they be included?

Thanks,

Sandra

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  • msqinc

    Hi Ash,

    Thank you for replying. Yes I am logged in as the network admin into the network dashboard. And I am creating the backup as the network admin.

    And yes the plugin is network activated.

    But the sites folder is not included. I've been using snapshot for quite a while now and very fortunately have not needed it. I just today noticed that the sites were not included and never have been. I've gone through snapshot archives going back a year.

  • Paul

    @msqinc,

    The uploads.sites folder is not included. Snapshot does not create an archive for your entire Multisite system into a single archive. When you go to create a new archive you will see a button (see image) where you can select the site to backup.

    By default the site shown is the main site. For this site you are allowed to include plugins, themes, etc. When you select a sub-site you will only be allowed to include the media (uploads).

    And yes, you need to setup a snapshot for each of your sub-sites. We do have plans to make this more inclusive but considering we have many members running sites with over 100k sub-sites really can't see how Snapshot would be able to archive everything into a single archive.

  • msqinc

    Ok. Thanks Paul.

    Then my next question can this be automated? I'm using the Blog Templates plugin so that all the created sites have the same starting setup, users, theme, plugins, custom fields etc. Can the snapshot be setup in the Blog Templates master template to transfer with it to the new site? Regardless of what the sites will later be named.

    I want to to avoid having to go setup the snapshots manually for each site generated.

    And if a whole network was lost, how would some of these larger sites go about a full restore. Would they have to restore the Snapshots manually for each of the 100k plus sites.

    What is a good option for doing a backup of the entire network that can be restored should the worst case happen?

    I've been looking but haven't found one that really can restore an entire network in full.

    Thanks,

    Sandra

  • Paul

    Then my next question can this be automated? I'm using the Blog Templates plugin so that all the created sites have the same starting setup, users, theme, plugins, custom fields etc. Can the snapshot be setup in the Blog Templates master template to transfer with it to the new site? Regardless of what the sites will later be named.

    At the moment no. It is planned to have a 'template' setup where you select the DB options, Files options for the sub-sites. Then each sub-site would just inherit that. But nothing for that at the moment.

    And if a whole network was lost, how would some of these larger sites go about a full restore. Would they have to restore the Snapshots manually for each of the 100k plus sites.

    Well, most members I've spoken with who run very large Multisite system don't rely on a WordPress plugin to backup the system. They rely on backend tools provided form the hosting. Doing this within WordPress or even PHP is trouble as you have to deal with timeouts and conflicts and such. Best to use a cpanel option to just dump the entire database.

    What is a good option for doing a backup of the entire network that can be restored should the worst case happen?

    Well have you ever lost the entire network? Generally in my experience the issue is one sub-site. You would not want to perform a full Multisite restore just to bring back a single sub-site. Plus there are other backup plugins like BackupBuddy which only does the entire Multisite. Are far as I'm aware Snapshot is the only one focuses on the individual sites. Plus this makes migration (if needed) super easy.

    I've been looking but haven't found one that really can restore an entire network in full.

    I'm not sure you are going to find one. I know Snapshot needs to handle this better. I've been focused on some other plugins I support. Maybe I'll get some time in a few months. I had plans some time ago to have snapshot just output individual archives. So instead of doing one large archive for all sites. Just have one setting to do full system backup and build the individual archives. Then same on the restore. You would have a record of what sites are included for the backups. Sort of a manifest for the master archive. Just be able to restore each site individually but all at once.

  • msqinc

    Thank for the clarification Paul,

    My site is never going to be in the 100K range. 30-40 sites will be added a year. If you got around to the Snapshot updates you described you'd have at least one user :slight_smile:

    I saw that backupbuddy can be used on a multisite but I was under the impression that it was "beta" and at your own risk and didn't work all that well for this purpose.

    Regards,

    Sandra

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