Table of Contents
JoomlaPack is a multi-purpose backup and cloning component for the awarded Open Source CMS Joomla!™ . In a simple and transparent operation it will grab a copy of your site's files and a snapshot of your site's database and package them in a compressed archive file with a restoration script. The restoration script follows the spirit of the familiar Joomla! installer, ensuring a trouble free restoration experience. It even comes with a wizard ( JoomlaPack Kickstart ) which makes unpacking the archive and restoring your site a piece of cake!
JoomlaPack is more than a backup tool; it is a site cloner. This means that the resulting backup can be restored on any server, not only on the one it was taken from. This lets you very easily grab a copy of your live site, running on a Linux™ host, and restore it on your local test server, running on Windows™ . Or even vice versa.
The possibilities for using this component are just too many. Some indicative uses might be:
Security backups . Taking a snapshot of your site should your server fail, or a hacker exploit some security hole to deface or compromise your site.
Template sites . Web professionals have used JoomlaPack in order to create "template sites". This means that you can build a site on a local server, install every component you usually do on most clients' sites and back it up. You now have a canned site that can serve as a great template for future clients. Using the same method you can have a snapshot of all the sites you have built for your clients, without the need to have them installed on your local server.
Build a site off-line, upload the finished site easily . Web professionals can build a complete site off-line on a local server and when done take a snapshot with JoomlaPack, then restore it on the production site.
Testing upgrades locally, without risking breaking the on-line site . Joomla!™ updates have the potential of breaking things, especially in complex or badly written components and modules. Web masters use JoomlaPack to get a site snapshot, restore it on a local test server, perform the upgrade there and test for any problems without the live site being at risk.
Debugging locally . Almost the same as above, web professionals have used JoomlaPack to take a snapshot of a client's Joomla!™ site in order to perform bug hunting. Using JoomlaPack again, they can upload the fixed site back on the live server.
Relocating a site to a new host . Web masters who want to take their site to a new host have found JoomlaPack to be their saviour. Just backup the original site and restore on the new host; presto, your site is relocated with virtually no effort at all.
JoomlaPack can save you hours of your time. This is what hundreds of our users tell us. Moreover, this invaluable tool comes to you at no cost. JoomlaPack is licensed under the GNU General Public License Version 2 or any later version.
JoomlaPack does not try to reinvent the wheel. There are other backup components for Joomla!, both free and commercial. There is also the possibility to write cron scripts yourself using standard utilities such as tar and mysqldump . We felt that these utilities did not do what we wanted, the way we wanted or were overpriced or took a lot of time to use. JoomlaPack is our personal view on usability and efficiency. It seems, though, that thousands of web masters agree with our perspective and this gives us the incentive to keep on coding.
As stated, JoomlaPack is designed to make your life easier. It does that by streamlining the workflow of backing up and restoring (or migrating) your site.
![[Note]](/images/stories/docimport58/note.png) | Note |
|---|---|
From JoomlaPack's perspective, restoring to the same host and location, copying your site in a subdirectory / subdomain of the same host or transfering your site to a completely new host is identical. That's right, JoomlaPack doesn't care if you are restoring, copying, cloning or migrating your site! The process is always the same, so you only have to learn it once. The learning curve is very smooth, too! |
The typical workflow involves using three utilities from the JoomlaPack suite: the JoomlaPack component itself, Kickstart and the JoomlaPack Installer (JPI). Here is the overview:
Install JoomlaPack and configure it to taste. Hit on the button and let your site back up. When it finishes up, click on the button. Select the only backup entry from the list and click on , saving the backup archive somewhere on your local PC.
Extract the kickstart-
VERSION.zip file you downloaded from our File Release System. The only contained file iskickstart.php. Upload it to the server on which you want to restore your site to.Upload the backup archive (do not extract it, just upload the whole archive!) to the server on which you want to restore your site to (called hereforth the target server ). Your server's directory should now contain the
kickstart.phpand the backup archive.Fire up your browser and visit the Kickstart URL on your target server, for example
http://www.example.com/kickstart.php.Change any option - if necessary - and hit the big green button. Sit back while Kickstart extracts the backup archive directly on the server! It's ultra-fast too (when compared to FTP uploading all those 4000+ files!).
In the next page, click on the first link labelled "here". A new window pops up, it's the JoomlaPack Installer. Do not close the Kickstart window yet!
Follow the prompts of the JoomlaPack Installer, filling in the details of the new server (ost importantly, the new database connection and FTP connection information).
When the JoomlaPack Installer is done, it prompts you to delete the installation directory. Ignore this prompt and simply close the JPI window.
Back to the Kickstart window, click the second link titled "here". Kicstart removes the installation directory, restores your .htaccess file (if you had one in the first place), removes the backup archive and itself.
Believe it or not, you have a working site! Honestly!
According to what fiathful users tell us, once you get the hang of this procedure, it only takes less than five minutes (plus download/upload time)! Yours truly has clocked himself restoring a site in under 3 minutes, while talking on the phone at the same time. It's that easy! No FTP uploading of thousands of files, no messing with phpMyAdmin, no editing of configuration files.
![[Warning]](/images/stories/docimport58/warning.png) | Warning |
|---|---|
We strongly advise new users to practice on the restoration procedure on a local server or a test host first, in order to get the hang of it. Just because this procedure is so easy, it doesn't mean it's absolutely safe! The restoration procedure - unlike backing up - replaces files on your server and overwrites database tables! You'd better be sure of what you're doing, or you might end up causing trouble to yourself. You don't want this to happen, neither do we. |
