Plesk Backup and Restoration Basics

Backup is a process of making a copy of your current data and storing it in another place. If the original data is lost or damaged, the backed up data can be restored, i.e., copied back. Backing up is useful when you need to make system-wide changes that can affect your data or server performance (for instance, upgrade the OS that Plesk is running on). Backing up is also done for safety purposes, i.e., to avoid losing data in case of unforeseen circumstances (e.g., server HDD malfunction).

Plesk backup/restore utilities offer you the following data backup and restoration options:

• Plesk data backup is carried out by Plesk Backup utility, which has both GUI and command line interface.
• Plesk data restore is performed by Plesk Restore utility, which is entirely GUI-based.
• Individual domains are backed up and restored by domain_bu.exe utility, which is accessed through command line interface. You can also backup and restore individual domains using Backup feature available through Plesk control panel GUI.

For more information about these utilities, refer to How To Back Up And Restore Your Plesk Data section.

To find out what specific data is backed up/restored using these options, refer to the What Plesk Data Is Backed Up And Restored section.