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Restore an account from a backup file on the server

Jason Brown
  • Updated

Introduction

This article aims to provide the steps to restore a backup that is stored on the server already.

 Using the WHM's interface called "Transfer or Restore a cPanel Account" you have a few options to restore an account.

  • You can upload your own file. 
    • This option allows you to upload a cpmove file to the server from which you can then restore the account from.
  • Alternatively, If you already have the file uploaded to the server, you can restore from a cpmove file or a tarball file.

If you transfer or restore an account from an archive file, the file must meet certain criteria. The archive filename must use one of the following formats:

  • cpmove-{USER}
  • cpmove-{USER}.tar
  • cpmove-{USER}.tar.gz
  • {USER}.tar
  • {USER}.tar.gz
  • backup-{MM.DD.YYYY}{HH-MM-SS}{USER}.tar
  • backup-{MM.DD.YYYY}{HH-MM-SS}{USER}.tar.gz
  • backup-{MM.DD.YYYY}_{HH-MM-SS}_{USER}.tar
  • backup-{MM.DD.YYYY}_{HH-MM-SS}_{USER}.tar.gz

The file must also reside in one of the following directories:

  • /home
  • /home2
  • /home3
  • /root
  • /usr
  • /usr/home
  • /web

 

Procedure

Navigate to WHM > Transfers > Transfer or Restore a cPanel Account 

The "Restore from a local cpmove file" option lets you restore an account with an existing cpmove file on the server.

To restore a cPanel account from a local cpmove file, select the Restore from a local cpmove file option and perform the following steps:

1. Choose "Select a File," then enter the name of or select the cpmove file on the server to use for the restoration.

    • Check the Overwrite if the cPanel user already exists setting to overwrite any cPanel accounts with the same username. This is optional.

2. In the "A records" section, select one of the following settings:

  • Replace All Matching A Records — The system will replace all instances of the source server’s IP address with the destination server’s IP address. For example, a custom A record. This is the default setting.
  • cPanel-provided A Records — Only replace the basic cPanel-provided A records in the cPanel account’s zone files.

3. Click "Restore." The Account Restore interface will appear. The system begins the account restoration process. You can use this interface to monitor the restoration progress.

Alternatively, the restorepkg script can be used on the command-line as the root user.

/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/restorepkg [options] [input] [filename]

Note: The server should have free space equal to double the uncompressed size of the account plus 1 GB.

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