How to Restore a Full Backup of SocialEngine

To restore a full backup of your SocialEngine website may be necessary if something went wrong and you want to get your website back to a working state. The actual process involves three steps and we will go through them for a better understanding.

Step 1 Restore the Files

The first step is to upload the backup files of your SocialEngine website. This can be done using your favourite FTP client or directly via the File Manager service within your cPanel account. The important thing to consider is the location, where you will upload your backup files. Usually, this would be the public_html/ directory of your account if you wish to access your restored website via the primary domain of your account. However, if you are using a subdomain or a subfolder, make sure that you review the correct location first.

Step 2 Restore the Database

The next step is to restore the database of your website. For that purpose, you need a clean new database set on your account and a user assigned to it with all privileges.

Once you have an empty database on your account, you will have to upload the backup of your SocialEngine database to the new one, just created above. To achieve that, once again access the home of your cPanel account. Locate the Databases section and then click on the phpMyAdmin service.

You will be presented with a list of all databases on your account. Choose the new one we have created and click on it.

The database will be empty, with no tables on it. Select the Import button at the top menu.

Select the dump backup file of your SocialEngine database from your local computer. Then click on the Go button to start the import.

Step 3 Link the Files and Database

Up until this moment, you will have a location on your account that contains the files of your SocialEngine backup. You will also have a new database, which has a backup of your SocialEngine database imported to it. Now, it is time to complete the whole restore process and link them together.

To complete that, you need to locate and edit the configuration file of your SocialEngine website. In it, you need to enter the values of the new database, the new user and the password it is using. Those details were created in the previous step so you make sure that you enter them correctly.

Once you complete that, simply access your website via your favourite web browser and it should load it normally.