Backups

QCP Backups

Backups allow you to take a point in time snapshot backup of your filesystem, which is then scp transferred off the host server onto one of our backup servers. This backup is a normal tar.gz, taken with the arguments "--numeric-owner czspf".

On OpenVZ servers, you do not need to halt your VPS to take a backup. However OpenVZ uses a two pass rsync algorithm to the local host prior to tar and gzipping, and your VPS will be put into a suspend state temporarily while any files modified in the first pass are rsynced.
Xen servers are LVM backed, so you may simply take a backup while your vm is running with no suspend time.

Restoring a backup will create a new disk space for your VPS, and will erase all contents of your VPS filesystem before the backup is restored.

Each VPS comes with one backup as part of its plan. Additional backups can be purchased,
please contact support to do so.

Taking a new Backup:

To take a new backup simply give the backup a name that will show up in the Current Backups dropdown then click Take Backup. When the backup job is finished you will see this name show up in the Current Backups dropdown. To overwrite and replace this backup, simply select the backup you want to overwrite in the dropdown, then click Take Backup. The timestamp for the overwritten backup will be updated.

Restoring a Backup:

You must HALT your server prior to restoring a backup. Select the backup you wish to restore from the Current Backups dropdown, and click Restore Backup. When the restore backup job is finished, you may START your VPS and boot up in to the restored backup.

Cloning a Backup:

Chose an existing backup from a VPS and clone it to another VPS on the same QCP login.
The recipient VPS will have its oldest backup (if it has one) overwritten, otherwise it will get a new backup.
Backups cloned from an OpenVZ to an Xen VPS or vice versa may need additional configuration of the network to properly boot. Please open a help ticket if your VPS does not boot from cloned backup.

Automating weekly Backups:

To schedule an automatic weekly backup, select the backup you would like to automate from the Current Backups dropdown. You must manually run a backup at least once to have one to select in the dropdown. Once a backup is selected, click Enabled in the Automated Weekly Backups dialog, and select an available day of the week/hour and click Update Schedule.

Making a backup available via FTP:

To make a backup available via FTP, select the backup in the drop down.
Click the "Make Available via FTP" button. In a few moments, you will see
login credentials appear when the page is refreshed. Use these credentials to login
to backup.quantact.com. You may connect securely with LFTP/SSL. Your uncompressed backup will be available on this login for 3 hours, at which time it will be automatically cleaned and the login removed. However, the backup still remains in its original form, and may be made available again. Only one backup may be accessed at any time, and you may clear the backup to make another available by clicking on the "Remove from Ftp" button. The FTP directory contents includes the uncompressed backup, and a copy of the original in its .tgz format. Transfer of data from the backup servers to a non Quantact IP address will result in normal bandwidth transfer accrual, which is counted against your virtual private servers monthly quota.