wiki/backup-mcp/Restore-Guide.-.md

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Restore Guide

Step-by-step procedures for restoring from each backup type supported by backup-mcp.

Restore from Database Backup (MySQL)

Database backups are stored as gzip-compressed SQL dumps ({name}-db-{timestamp}.sql.gz).

Step 1: Identify the backup to restore

backup_list(target: "mysite-db")

Select the backup file by date.

Step 2: Upload the backup to the server

scp ~/backups/mysite/mysite-db-2026-05-09T12-00-00.sql.gz user@server:/tmp/

Step 3: Stop the application (recommended)

ssh user@server "sudo systemctl stop apache2"

Step 4: Restore the database

ssh user@server "gunzip < /tmp/mysite-db-2026-05-09T12-00-00.sql.gz | mysql -u dbuser -p'password' database_name"

For a clean restore (drop and recreate):

ssh user@server << 'EOF'
mysql -u dbuser -p'password' -e "DROP DATABASE database_name; CREATE DATABASE database_name;"
gunzip < /tmp/mysite-db-2026-05-09T12-00-00.sql.gz | mysql -u dbuser -p'password' database_name
EOF

Step 5: Restart the application

ssh user@server "sudo systemctl start apache2"

Step 6: Verify

ssh user@server "mysql -u dbuser -p'password' database_name -e 'SHOW TABLES;'"

Restore from Database Backup (PostgreSQL)

PostgreSQL backups are also gzip-compressed ({name}-db-{timestamp}.sql.gz).

Steps

# Upload
scp ~/backups/mydb/mydb-db-2026-05-09T12-00-00.sql.gz user@server:/tmp/

# Restore
ssh user@server "gunzip < /tmp/mydb-db-2026-05-09T12-00-00.sql.gz | PGPASSWORD='password' psql -U dbuser database_name"

For a clean restore:

ssh user@server << 'EOF'
PGPASSWORD='password' dropdb -U dbuser database_name
PGPASSWORD='password' createdb -U dbuser database_name
gunzip < /tmp/mydb-db-2026-05-09T12-00-00.sql.gz | PGPASSWORD='password' psql -U dbuser database_name
EOF

Restore from File Backup

File backups are tar.gz archives of remote directories ({name}-files-{timestamp}.tar.gz).

Step 1: Identify the backup

backup_list(target: "mysite-files")

Step 2: Upload the archive to the server

scp ~/backups/mysite/mysite-files-2026-05-09T12-00-00.tar.gz user@server:/tmp/

Step 3: Extract to the original location

ssh user@server "cd / && tar xzf /tmp/mysite-files-2026-05-09T12-00-00.tar.gz"

The tar archive preserves the full path structure from remotePaths. Extracting from / restores files to their original locations.

Step 4: Fix permissions

ssh user@server << 'EOF'
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/images
chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/media
find /var/www/html/images -type f -exec chmod 644 {} +
find /var/www/html/images -type d -exec chmod 755 {} +
EOF

Step 5: Verify

ssh user@server "ls -la /var/www/html/images/"

Restore from Akeeba Backup

Akeeba backups are JPA archives that contain both the database and all site files.

Step 1: List available Akeeba backups

akeeba_list(target: "mysite-akeeba")

Step 2: Download the backup locally

akeeba_download(target: "mysite-akeeba", backup_id: "42")

The file is saved to localBackupDir as {name}-akeeba-{id}-{timestamp}.jpa.

Step 3: Upload to the server

scp ~/backups/mysite-akeeba/mysite-akeeba-42-2026-05-09T12-00-00.jpa user@server:/tmp/

Step 4: Extract using Akeeba Kickstart

1. Download Akeeba Kickstart and upload kickstart.php to the web root:

scp kickstart.php user@server:/var/www/html/

2. Open https://example.com/kickstart.php in a browser.

3. Select the JPA file from /tmp/ and follow the wizard:

   • Archive file: /tmp/mysite-akeeba-42-2026-05-09T12-00-00.jpa
   • Extract to: /var/www/html
   • Click Start to extract

4. After extraction, the Akeeba Installer (ANGIE) will launch automatically:

   • Verify database connection settings
   • Update site URL if restoring to a different domain
   • Complete the restoration

Step 5: Clean up

ssh user@server "rm /var/www/html/kickstart.php /tmp/*.jpa"

Step 6: Verify

Visit the site in a browser and check:

• Frontend loads correctly
• Administrator login works
• Media files are accessible

Restore Checklist

Step	Database	Files	Akeeba
Identify backup	backup_list	backup_list	akeeba_list
Download/locate	Already local	Already local	akeeba_download
Stop application	Recommended	Optional	Required
Upload to server	SCP	SCP	SCP
Restore	mysql / psql	tar xzf	Kickstart + ANGIE
Fix permissions	N/A	chown + chmod	Handled by ANGIE
Restart application	Yes	Optional	Yes
Verify	Query tables	List files	Browse site

Important Notes

• Always create a fresh backup before restoring, in case the restore needs to be reverted.
• For Joomla sites, clear the cache after any restore: System > Clear Cache in the administrator.
• Database restores overwrite all data in the target database. Ensure you are restoring to the correct database.
• File restores overwrite existing files at the same paths. Files not in the backup are left untouched.
• Akeeba restores are the most complete option for Joomla sites, as they include both database and files.

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Repo: backup-mcp · MokoStandards

Revision	Date	Author	Description
1.0	2026-05-09	Moko Consulting	Initial version