Easily back up or restore system databases in Plesk for Linux and Windows. Take a minute and discover what our Plesk Support Team has to say.

Backup or Restore a System Database in Plesk

Backup and restoration processes play a key role in ensuring data integrity, safeguarding against accidental loss, and facilitating disaster recovery. In fact, Plesk provides multiple methods to back up and restore databases, ranging from exporting SQL dumps to recovering entire subscriptions.

Database Backup Methods

Databases can be backed up in the following ways:

1. Exporting a Database Dump (SQL Format)

   A database dump in SQL format enables the creation and download of the database as a single file. This dump can be restored into the same or another database. This method is useful for creating portable backups or migrating data.

2. Backing Up an Entire Subscription

   An entire subscription backup allows storing the data on the Plesk server or a remote FTP server. During restoration, an individual database can be selected for recovery.

3. Cloud Backup Solutions

   Plesk integrates with several cloud services for off-site storage. For example, you can backup to Cloud Pro in Plesk to store your backups securely offsite.

For AWS users, you can also configure Plesk S3 backups to send your database backups directly to Amazon S3, ensuring data redundancy and accessibility.

Database Restoration Methods

Databases can be restored from either a subscription backup archive or an SQL dump file:

1. Importing a Database Dump

   This method restores data from an SQL file into any database of the same type (e.g., MySQL or MariaDB).

2. Restoring from a Subscription Backup

   When restoring from a subscription backup, the specific database to be recovered can be selected.

Backup & Restore Commands in Plesk for Linux

• Creating a Database Dump

  plesk db dump database_name > /path/to/dump_name.sql

  Example:

  Creates a dump of the `psa` database in `/root` with today’s date:

  
  plesk db dump psa > /root/psa_dump.sql
  ls /root/psa_dump.sql
  

• Restoring a Database from a Dump

  plesk db < /path/to/dump_name.sql

  Example:

  Restores the `psa` database from `/root/psa_dump.sql`:

  plesk db < /root/psa_dump.sql

Backup & Restore Commands in Plesk for Windows Server

• Creating a Database Dump

  plesk db dump database_name > C:\path\to\dump_name.sql

  Example:

  Creates a dump of the `psa` database:

  plesk db dump psa > C:\psa_dump.sql

• Restoring a Database from a Dump

  plesk db < C:\path\to\dump_name.sql

  Example:

  Restores `psa` from `C:\psa_dump.sql`:

  plesk db < C:\psa_dump.sql

Restoring System Databases from Plesk Daily or Pre-Upgrade Dumps

On Linux

1. From Daily Dumps:

   Go to daily dump storage:

   
   cd /var/lib/psa/dumps
   ls -l mysql.daily*
   

   Also, to restore a single system database:

   zcat mysql.daily.dump.0.gz | sed -n '/-- Current Database: `psa`/,/-- Current Database:*/p' | plesk db

   We can restore a single table with this command:

   zcat mysql.daily.dump.0.gz | sed -n '/-- Table structure for table `log_actions`/,/-- Table*/p' | plesk db

   To restore all system databases:

   zcat mysql.daily.dump.0.gz | plesk db

2. From Pre-Upgrade Dumps:

   cd /var/lib/psa/dumps
   ls -l mysql.preupgrade*
   zcat mysql.preupgrade..dump.gz | MYSQL_PWD=`cat /etc/psa/.psa.shadow` mysql -uadmin
   

On Windows Server

From Daily Dumps:

Go to backup directory:

cd %plesk_dir%MysqlBackup
dir /O:-D

Also, to restore the latest dump:

plesk db < psa-YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.sql

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Conclusion

Regular database backups are essential for operational stability and business continuity. With Plesk’s built-in tools, backups are stored securely and restoration is streamlined in case of data corruption, accidental deletion, or system failure.

In brief, our Support Experts demonstrated how to back up or restore system databases in Plesk for Linux and Windows.