Solid Backups - NextGen 101 – Solid Help Center

Introduction to Solid Backups - NextGen

Solid Backups - NextGen is a cloud-based system for backing up WordPress sites, managing and storing backups, and — when you need it — restoring to a previous state of your choosing. Because Solid Backups - NextGen relies upon SolidWP server infrastructure instead of taxing the resources of your hosting environment, it provides fast, reliable, secure backups without slowing your website down.

This document will guide you through getting started with Solid Backups - NextGen, how to navigate the essentials, and will answer some of the most important questions you may have about using the system. Following this guide will get you up and running quickly, and you’ll have the opportunity to follow links to other docs (coming soon!) that go into greater detail about specific items along the way.

By the end of this document you will understand the following:

How to connect a WordPress Site to Solid Backups - NextGen
How to ensure that a site is being backed up.
How to download a site backup.
How to restore from a backup.

Need further help? The SolidWP Support team is staffed with WordPress and web experts, and they are ready to answer your questions. Reach out via the support channels.

How to configure Solid Backups - NextGen

Step 1: Connect your site to SolidWP

In order to configure Solid Backups - NextGen you will need to first set up your site with Solid Central. You can find information on how to set up Solid Central here.

If you are not already a Solid Central user, don’t worry: it’s where Solid Backups - NextGen “lives,” but you don’t have to be familiar with that system to get started backing up your site. Follow the instructions to connect, and then return to the site you're connecting to Solid Backups - NextGen and it should look like this:

Step 2: Enroll your site in Backups - NextGen

Solid Central connects to your WordPress Website as a WordPress plugin. That's what you've done in previous steps, but you're still not fully connected to Solid Backups - NextGen.

In order to effectively back up your site, Solid Backups - NextGen connects on a “deeper” level using SSH or SFTP credentials, which is a process that is slightly different depending on your web host, but this document covers many popular hosts and how to connect. It’s a one-time thing to get connected, and the SolidWP support team is here to help if you run into any issues.

Before you enter the connection details from the host, the onboarding process has one required setting and some other optional advanced settings that require a bit of background understanding in order to make the most informed choice. No matter what, you can't make a truly wrong choice here.

How Long Should Backups Be Stored? (Required)

When setting up your backups in Solid Backups - NextGen, you have the flexibility to choose how long you would like your backups to be stored. The amount of time backups are stored is up to you. You can select that they are retained for up to a year.

The length of time that backups are stored on Solid Backups - NextGen does have an effect on total storage used, but not as exponential as you might think. If you set a site to retain backups for 7 days or a month, the difference in size has more to do with what changed on the website in the month than anything else, since Solid Backups - NextGen is optimized to reduce the amount of storage related to items that have not changed on the site. The best way to save total storage space is the "exclude files" option found in the advanced settings.

Advanced Settings (Optional)

Exclude Files

A file that is never included in a backup reduces the total storage size, so before you connect for the first time (which triggers an automatic backup) be sure to indicate which files you do not want to back up. Examples of files to not back up are ones that are redundantly stored elsewhere or files that you don't need.

Enter each file path on a new line.

File paths should be based on the root of your WordPress installation. For example, to exclude the default WordPress debug log, enter /wp-content/debug.log. If you want to exclude entire directories, make sure the file path ends with a slash (/).

Transfer Speed

One thing you'll note once you get going with Solid Backups - NextGen is that, especially on more robust hosts, it is very fast. That's because (in part) Solid Backups - NextGen uses parallel workers to maximize performance. When the server can handle it, Solid Backups - NextGen backs your site up so fast you're certain it couldn't have finished already.

Some hosts limit the number of concurrent connections, which can cause Solid Backups - NextGen to fail. If you're having trouble connecting, or backups fail, it's worth coming back here and adjusting this setting.

Once you've configured things, it's time to actually connect!

Step 3: Connecting to Your WordPress Host

This section of the doc covers generically what each setting means and how to connect. No matter which host you select from the list. If you mistakenly selected the wrong host from the list, the Change host link at the bottom allows you to go and select differently.

Server Address

The Server Address is usually found in the host's control panel. Note that this might differ from your WordPress site’s URL and could be an IP address or a unique hostname.

Most of the time it will look like either example.com or 123.45.67

The section below covers how to find this information for some specific hosts.

Port Number

The Port Number is used to ensure that hosts can restrict traffic to certain ports, and controlled by them. Usually for SSH traffic, port 22 is used, but it could be different depending on your host.

WordPress Installation Path

The WordPress Installation path is necessary to point Solid Backups - NextGen to the exact spot where it can find the configuration files to be able to back up the site effectively.

There's a handy feature of WordPress to determine your installation path, found at Tools > Site Health > Info > Directories and Sizes.

That is essentially WordPress self- identifying where it thinks it's installed, which is usually correct.

Auto-Detect Feature: You can select "Auto-Detect" to have Solid Central try to find the path for you. If the automatic detection doesn't work, you need to enter the path manually. It's critical that SolidWP be able to locate the installation path.

Choose Your Authentication Method

Public Key authentication is the recommended method for security reasons. You'll need to copy the public key (after selecting to reveal it) from the SolidWP side and paste it into your hosting control panel.

Using a Public key is a way for SolidWP to be authenticated in a way that can't be compromised even if a malicious actor guesses a password. It is a bit of extra work up front, and requires knowing how to add those keys to your web host's panel, but is worth the extra effort.

Alternatively, you can choose to use a password. Your password will be securely encrypted during the connection.

Server Username

Enter the username associated with your server account. Note that this is NOT the WordPress username, but the user that your host used to install WordPress on the server itself. In most cases, it's displayed prominently in the hosting control panel.

Testing the Connection

Once all the required fields are filled out, select "Test Server Connection" to verify the connection between Solid Backups - NextGen and your host.

Note: no matter what, testing the connection will save your credentials, so you don't have to worry about retrieving them again.

If all goes as planned, you'll be connected and all set to learn how to access your backed-up files and restore them.

For specific instructions based on your host, see this section.

What Happens After You Connect Your Site?

Once you've successfully connected your site and filled out the required connection information, Solid Backups - NextGen immediately starts a backup. You can view that backup in progress (if you get there fast enough!) on the Timeline screen or by selecting to "View your first backup" on the screen.

Monitoring Your Backup

For larger sites, you can confirm that they are being backed up by checking the Timeline screen. You do not have to remain on that screen, as the backup will continue without checking on it!

Downloading Your Backup files

Once the backup is complete, the timeline screen is what you will need to access the backup.

The only reason you'd need to download an archive is for redundantly storing it, so if you're looking to restore the site from a backup, skip to the Restoring a Backup section

Before it can be downloaded, the ZIP file itself needs to be built. This is because Solid Backups - NextGen is designed to reduce redunundancy, and there's not a stockpile of ZIPs just waiting to be downloaded.

On the timeline screen, each Site Backup card has a button to create an archive. Select that, and once it's done (the process you're kicking off there will take a varying amount of time depending on the site size) you'll be able to download the archive file.

Restoring a Backup

To restore a site from backup (sometimes you'll hear it called "rolling back to a backup") you can use the same Site Backup card on the Timeline screen and select the "Restore site" option.

After confirming that you want to roll the site back to the state it was in at the time indicated, the process happens automatically in the background.

You can monitor the process of the Site Restore back on the main timeline screen.

Using Solid Backups - NextGen with Your Hosting Provider

Nexcess

Go to the Plans area in the user interface

There You can see all your active plans and select the plan that has your site in it.

Select on the vertical ellipsis that can be found on our right-hand side to see your WordPress plan options and navigate to the Plan Dashboard

Similarly, find the website you want to create SSH (Secure Shell) credentials for. Open site options by clicking the vertical ellipsis and navigating to Site Dashboard.

In the Site Dashboard, you’ll find Secure Shell (SSH/SFTP) credentials near the top of the page. You can also change the password by clicking the Generate New Password button location in the bottom right portion of the Secure Shell (SSH/SFTP) box.

Amazon / AWS

Coming soon

GoDaddy Managed

Go to Hosting > Actions > Settings
Open SSH/SFTP login section to create SSH/SFTP credentials

GoDaddy Shared

Go to Hosting > Actions > Settings
Open Settings > Server > SSH access to enable SSH and get credentials

Siteground

Go to Home > Website > Manage
Click "Site Tools"
Go to Dev > SSH Keys Manager and Import Solid Backups NextGen's Public key
Once saved, click the saved key's more info and choose "SSH Credentials"
Paste the credentials into your Solid Backups NextGen credentials form

HostGator

Coming Soon

BlueHost

Log into your Bluehost Account Manager.
Click the Hosting tab in the left-side navigation menu.
Under Quick Links, click the CPANEL button.
Scroll down and locate the Security section, then click SSH Access.
Click Manage SSH Keys.
You can:

Import Key - You can now import your backup SSH key Blue Generate a New Key and Import Key buttons

IONOS

How to find the WP installation path

Go to Websites & Stores > Settings > Advanced settings > Webspace Explorer
Select the "wordpress" folder and the "Path" link at the top of the screen.
Copy the absolute path starting from (and including) /homepages/..

How To Find Credentials

Go to Websites & Stores > Settings > Advanced settings > SFTP & SSH
In the FTP account row, select More > Show connection data
Copy those details into the username/password (as well as the port) into the SolidWP settings.

Hosts that Use cPanel

To connect Backups - NextGen to hosts that use cPanel (including a self-managed VPS running WHM and cPanel), there are a few configuration requirements:

SSH access must be enabled
WP-CLI must be installed & available in the cPanel account(s) hosting the site(s) you plan to back up.
If ConfigServer Security & Firewall (or other server-based firewall or abuse detection system) is running in WHM, the Backups - NextGen IP addresses must be added to the allowlist

Enable SSH Access

By default, SSH access is disabled in cPanel.

If you have access to WHM

Navigate to Account Functions → Manage Shell Access
Set "Normal Shell" for each cPanel account that hosts a site you plan to back up

For more details see https://docs.cpanel.net/whm/account-functions/manage-shell-access/
Recommended: Disable Password Authentication at Security Center → SSH Password Authorization Tweak.

Warning: this will block all password-based SSH access for WHM and all cPanel accounts. SSH keys must be configured for WHM and each cPanel account you wish to access via SSH. For more information, see https://docs.cpanel.net/whm/security-center/ssh-password-authorization-tweak/)
Add SSH keys for root access to WHM and as needed for each cPanel account you wish to access via SSH (see below).

If you do not have access to WHM

Some notes related to specific hosts are below. You may need to check with your hosting provider to determine how to enable SSH for your cPanel account.

Namecheap: Go to Manage Shell and then click Enable SSH access
Mochahost: the Mochahost technical support team can enable SSH support for you. \

How to Add and Authorize SSH Keys in cPanel

Search for SSH from the cPanel home page. You should see a screen similar to this:
Click the Import Key button to add the public key that Backups - NextGen provides to you. (Note that Backups - NextGen will provide a unique public key for each site that you enroll.)
Enter a descriptive name for the key
Leave the "Private Key" box empty
Paste the public key provided by Backups - NextGen into the "Public Key" box.
Save the key
From the "Manage SSH Keys" screen, locate the new key in the list and click "Manage" as shown here:
Click "Authorize Key"

Install WP-CLI

WP-CLI must be installed on your hosting server for Solid Backups - NextGen to function. Follow the instructions in this article to install it in WHM (at the root level) for all cPanel accounts OR to install it in an individual cPanel account.

Add the Backups - NextGen IP addresses to the server's allowlist

If ConfigServer Security & Firewall is running in WHM:

Navigate to Plugins → ConfigServer Security & Firewall
Scroll to the "csf - Quick Actions" section.
Enter this IP into the "Allow IP address" box next to "Quick Allow": 207.246.255.233
(optionally) add a comment for future reference
Click the "Quick Allow" button to add the rule.
Repeat Steps 3-5 using this IP: 207.246.255.133

If firewall rules are managed in a different way on the server:

Add these IP to your server's allowlist:

207.246.255.233
207.246.255.133

Other Hosts

Solid Backups - NextGen 101