Restore a WordPress Backup

Any saved backup in the Backup tab can be restored. You can put it back on the same site or load it into a new one. This article explains both, what happens during a restore, and what is not restored. To make backups first, see Back Up WordPress to Google Drive.

Only the workspace owner and Admins can restore.

Restore onto this site

1. In the Backups list, press Restore on the backup you want.
2. Stay on On this site and choose what to bring back:
   • Everything: the database and all files in wp-content, exactly as they were at that moment.
   • Database only: posts, pages, comments, users and settings go back. Your current themes, plugins and uploads stay.
   • Files only: themes, plugins and uploads go back. Your current posts, pages and settings stay.
3. Press Restore.

Anything you changed after the backup was made is replaced, so use Database only or Files only when you want to keep one of the two.

What happens during a restore

1. Checks. FlyNode makes sure the site is running, the backup holds what you chose, Google Drive is healthy, and nothing else is running on the site.
2. Download. The backup is downloaded from your Drive and each file is checked against its recorded size and checksum. A file that does not match is never used.
3. Safety copy. A copy of whatever is about to be replaced is made on the server.
4. Replace. Visitors see a maintenance page for a minute or two while the database and/or the files are replaced. Caches are cleared and your saved security settings are applied again.
5. Check. FlyNode loads your home page and login page and looks for errors.
6. If the check fails, the safety copy is put back automatically and the result says The restore was undone, with the reason. Your site is left the way it was.

If our server restarts in the middle of a restore, FlyNode puts the safety copy back by itself once it is up again. A card at the top of the tab shows the progress and the result, and stays for a day.

Restore as a new site

Use this to clone a site, try a big change safely, or move a site to another address.

1. Press Restore on a backup and choose As a new site.
2. Give the new site a name and press Create the new site.
3. FlyNode creates a separate WordPress site in your workspace, loads the backup into it, points it at its own address (ending in .flynode.io) and checks it. This takes a few minutes.
4. When the card says Your new site is ready, press Open the new site.

Your current site is not touched. The new site has the same posts, pages, users, themes, plugins and uploads as the backup, so you sign in with the same accounts. It counts toward your plan's app limit, and if your plan has no room you are told before anything is made. To use your own domain on it, add the domain from the new site's page. If anything goes wrong, the new site is removed again so nothing is left over.

What a restore does not change

• wp-config.php and WordPress core are never replaced.
• When you restore an older database onto a site, the site keeps its current web address.
• Cache folders are not part of a backup; WordPress rebuilds them.

If a restore cannot start or fails

• A backup or another restore is running. Wait for it to finish. Only one backup or restore runs at a time on the server.
• The backup is no longer in your Drive. If you deleted its files in Google Drive, FlyNode says so and changes nothing. Choose another backup.
• Not enough free space on the server. Try again later or contact support.
• Google Drive needs reconnecting. Press Reconnect in the Google Drive card, then try again.

A restore replaces live content. If a site matters, make a fresh backup first and look at your pages after restoring. The automatic put-back protects you from a site that no longer starts; it cannot know that a page looks different from what you expect.