Table of Contents
psadump -f <dumpfile> [-z] [--no-internal-zip] [--clients-logins=<client-logins-file> | --clients-ids=<client-ids-file> | --domains-names=<domain-names-file> | --domains-ids=<domain-ids-file>] [--nostop] [--force] [--tar-ignore-failed-read]
psadump [--version]
psadump [-h]
The -f argument serves for specifying the file, the output of the psadump utility will be directed to. The name of this file is specified by the <dumpfile> parameter.
Important: The -f argument is a required argument.
There are four options available:
<dumpfile> = /fullpath/filename - you can specify the exact name of the file, the output will be directed to. In other words, you specify the full name of the future dump-file
For example, execute psadump -f /root/psa_backup/my_psa_backup_file to back up the information and store it in the /root/psa_backup/my_psa_backup_file file.
<dumpfile> = /fullpath/ - you can specify only the name of the directory, at which the dump-file will be created. In this case, the default name will be used for the dump-file, which will be located in the specified directory
For example, execute psadump -f /root/psa_backup/ to back up the information and store it in the /root/psa_backup/ directory under the default name.
Note: The default dump-file name is generated automatically at the moment of executing psadump.
<dumpfile> = - - you can direct the output to stdout. This can be very useful if you are executing the distributed backup/restore (backing up Plesk at one machine and restoring it at another machine) or if you wish to split the dump-file into chunks (piping the output to split), which can be used as a workaround for a 2-GB limit on certain file systems.
For example, execute psadump -f - | split -b1000m - dump. to have the backed up information stored in the files named dump.aa, dump.ab, dump.ac, etc., each 1000MB in size, except maybe for the last one, which will be less than or equal in size to the limit value.
For examples and instructions on distributed backup/restore, see Distributed backup and restore chapter.
To create a backup file on the FTP server, use the ./psadump -f ftp://<login>:<password>@<server>/<dump_file_path> command.
You can choose to back up only the data associated with certain clients, or certain domains. The psadump utility allows you to supply the list of clients or domains for executing the selective backup of data.
There are two ways of specifying the clients, whose account data you wish to have backed up. You may either specify the client logins or the identifiers assigned to the clients.
To specify the client accounts by their login, use the --clients-logins argument. The corresponding file of client logins must contain the logins of the clients, whose account data you wish to back up, one login per line, no other separators.
For example, execute the psadump -f /root/psa_backup/my_psa_backup_file --clients-logins=/root/psa_backup/my_client_logins_file command to perform backing up of the data belonging to the clients listed by their logins in the /root/psa_backup/my_client_logins_file file. See the Client Logins File section of the Configuration File Examples chapter for an example of the client logins file.
To specify the client accounts by the client identifiers use the --clients-ids argument. The corresponding file of client identifiers must contain the identifiers of the client accounts, the data of which you wish to back up, one identifier per line, no other separators.
Note: The client identifiers are the Plesk-related unique identifiers assigned to all clients. They can be found in the Plesk server database, table clients column id.For example, execute the psadump -f /root/psa_backup/my_psa_backup_file --clients-ids=/root/psa_backup/my_client_ids_file command to perform backing up of the data belonging to the clients listed by their identifiers in the file /root/psa_backup/my_client_ids_file. See the Client ID File section of the Configuration File Examples chapter for an example of the client identifiers file.
There are two ways of specifying the domains, the content of which you wish to have backed up. You may either specify the domain names or the identifiers assigned to the domains.
To specify the domains by their name, use the --domains-names argument. The corresponding file of domain names must contain the names of the domains, the content of which you wish to back up, one domain name per line, no other separators.
For example, execute the psadump -f /root/psa_backup/my_psa_backup_file --domains-names=/root/psa_backup/my_domain_names_file command to perform backing up of the content of the domains listed by their names in the /root/psa_backup/my_domain_names_file file . See the Domain Names File section of the Configuration File Examples chapter for an example of the domain names file.
To specify the domains by the domain identifiers, use the --domains-ids argument. The corresponding file of domain identifiers must contain the identifiers of the domains, the content of which you wish to back up, one identifier per line, no other separators.
Note: The domain identifiers are the Plesk-related unique identifiers assigned to all domains. They can be found in the Plesk server database, table domains column id.For example, execute the psadump -f /root/psa_backup/my_psa_backup_file --domains-ids=/root/psa_backup/my_domain_ids_file command to perform backing up of the content of the domains listed by their identifiers in the /root/psa_backup/my_domain_ids_file file. See the Domain ID File section of the Configuration File Examples chapter for an example of the domain identifiers file.
Use the --force argument to overwrite the existing dump-file without prompting for confirmation.
Use the --tar-ignore-failed-read argument to make tar not exit with a non-zero status on unreadable files (see the --ignore-failed-read argument for tar).
If you do not want to stop all of the Plesk services when executing backup, include the --nostop argument.
Important: If during the process of backing up with this option some changes are made through the Plesk control panel, the resulting dump may be generated incorrectly or the process itself may fail.You are strongly advised to stop the admin Apache, so as to prevent the clients changing data through the control panel in the process of executing a backup.
For the RPM version execute: service psa stop1
For the standard version execute: /usr/local/psa/rc.d/psa stop1
In order to prevent certain user data from being changed during the backup process when executing psadump with the --nostop option, each domain is deactivated before backing up its data, and then reactivated again. If you wish to back up data without deactivating domains, use the --nostop-domain option along with the --nostop option. Just note that in this case there is a possibility that some data can be modified through the control panel in the course of backup.
The --do-not-dump-logs option allows to not back up the virtual host log files.
To view the version of the Backup/Restore Utilities, execute psadump with the --version argument.
Executing psadump -h will display a brief help to remind you of the available options.