Whatever precautions you take, be prepared for catastrophes. Always have a backup ready to restore your site to its most current healthy state.
There are a few great Joomla extensions that automate the backup process. A very popular one is Akeeba Backup . It will back up all necessary files (all Joomla files and the database contents) to recover your site. Akeeba will allow you to restore the backup file to any location (not just to its original location).
This is how you install Akeeba and create a backup:
Go to https://www.akeebabackup.com to download the Akeeba Backup Core extension file.
Navigate to Extensions | Extension Manager to install the extension.
Navigate to Components | Akeeba Backup. In the Post-installation configuration screen, click Apply these preferences to confirm the default settings. The Akeeba Configuration Wizard will now run a series of test to optimize the server configuration. This may take several minutes, but it's something that needs to be done only once. Finally, the Finished Benchmarking screen is displayed.
Click on Backup Now to make a backup using the default settings. In the next screen, Start a new backup, again click on the Backup now! button. The backup starts immediately and the Backup Progress screen is displayed:
Backing up your site may take a while (depending on the size of the website and the speed of the web server). Although a progress bar is displayed, you may not see anything happen on the screen for several seconds. Don't close the browser screen before you see a completion message.
When the backup is complete, you'll see a message: Backup Completed Succesfully.
To save the backup file on your computer, click on Administer Backup Files. Select the backup file and click on the Part 00 button in the Manage & Download column. A file with a JPA extension will be downloaded to your computer. A JoomlaPack Archive (JPA) file is a compressed file in the special archive format used by Akeeba Backup.
If you have any problems downloading the backup file in your browser, you can also use your FTP program. This is a more reliable method to transfer large files to your computer. Navigate using your FTP program to the root folder of the website. You'll find the backup file in the administrator/components/com_akeeba/backup folder.
This is how you restore a backup file:
To decompress the backup file on the web server, you need a special Akeeba utility called Akeeba Kickstart. Download it from https://www.akeebabackup.com. Extract the ZIP file containing
kickstart.phpand several other files in a folder on your computer.Using an FTP program, upload the following files to the original location:
The JPA file (the backup created by Akeeba)
The decompressed files of Akeeba Kickstart.
Upload these to the web server directory where you want to restore Joomla. If you want to restore the site to another location, upload the files there.
When all files have finished uploading, point your browser to the URL of the original site (or the new location), followed by
kickstart.php. For example,www.yoursitename.com/kickstart.php.Akeeba Kickstart will start with a warning screen. Close this pop-up screen.
Click Start to run Kickstart and begin decompressing the backup file. This may take some time.
As soon as this is done, click Run the installer. The Akeeba Backup Installer screen will appear. Follow the instructions of the installer.
When you're installing to a different location than the one you backed up from, Akeeba will display a warning and allow you to enter the new database details. When done, click Next to see the database restoration progress.
Click OK to proceed to the next step. In the Site Setup screen, check if the site details (such as the Site Name) are okay. Click Next. In the Finish screen, click the remove the installation directory link. You'll see a notice confirming the deletion. Click OK. This will take you to the restored site.
You're done! To enter the administrative interface, as usual add /administrator to the site URL.
Tip
There are other ways to restore websites using Akeeba Backup; whether these are useful in your situation, depends on the web server configuration. Not all web servers support Akeeba's more advanced features. To find out more, have a look at the step-by-step tutorial and extensive documentation on at https://www.akeebabackup.com/documentation.html.