Manually back up webspace and databases (create backups)

Valid for Web Hosting.

In this article, you will learn how to create your own backups of your website files and databases, in addition to the automatic IONOS system backups.

This is necessary if you:

Want or need to store data for longer than 14 days (archiving).
Want to backup a local copy on your computer before major updates.

Note

IONOS creates daily backups, but these are only available for a maximum of 14 days. You are therefore responsible for long-term data backups.

If you need to restore data from the last 14 days, please read the articles Restoring deleted files from automatic backup or Restoring database from automatic backup.

Back up MySQL/MariaDB databases

Databases (e.g. for WordPress or Joomla) are saved separately from the files. To save these, you must create an "export" or "dump".

Choose the method that suits you best:

Export via phpMyAdmin (browser): Ideal for smaller databases and beginners.
For instructions: Backing up databases with phpMyAdmin
Export via shell (SSH): The fastest method for large databases.
For instructions: Backing up via shell (SSH)
Export via PHP script: This is useful if you do not want to use SSH access.
For instructions: Backup via PHP script

Back up webspace (files)

You can either download your files (images, HTML, scripts) or archive them directly on the server.

Download via SFTP (recommended for beginners)

Connect to your webspace using an FTP program (e.g. FileZilla) and download the desired folders to your local hard drive.

Instructions: Transferring files via SFTP with FileZilla

Archiving via the shell / SSH (for professionals)

You can create archives directly on the server via the command line (SSH). This saves time and bandwidth.

a) Manual backup via command

The following command creates a compressed archive (.tar) of the directories "folder1" and "folder2". The file name contains the current date.

tar -cvf Backup-$(date "+%d-%b-%y").tar ./folder1 ./folder2

b) Automation via cronjob (optional)

You can set up this command as a cronjob to create regular backups. The file path differs depending on the order date of your contract.

For contracts ordered up to and including September 14, 2025 (existing contracts):

Replace /homepages/12/d12345678/htdocs with your absolute path. Further information can be found in the article Determining the absolute path (document root) of your webspace.
# Example: Perform a backup every Sunday at 03:00
0 3 * * 7 tar -cf /homepages/12/d12345678/htdocs/Backup-$(date "+%d-%b-%y").tar /homepages/12/d12345678/htdocs/folder1 /homepages/12/d12345678/htdocs/folder2

For contracts ordered from September 15, 2025:

The standardised path /home/www/ is used here.
# Example: Perform a backup every Sunday at 03:00
0 3 * * 7 tar -cf /home/www/Backup-$(date "+%d-%b-%y").tar /home/www/folder1 /home/www/folder2