Moving site without full backup? What options do I have?

[korrs]

I'm so frustrated!
It seems that I'll have to move my site without a full backup file or any backup at all. And the transfer has to take place tonight. But how do I do that?!

My old host has just switched it off. I can't take any mysql backups let alone full backup. I'm trying to contact him, but I don't know how long it will take to finally reach him...

So, what options do I have? Can I still move and how do I do that? Or I have to keep begging my old host to switch backup option for me again? I have 12GB to move...

[jason]

Well, if your old host has already turned your site off I doubt there is much you can do to get at your files. All I can say is to get in touch with your old host and ask to have your site reinstated for a couple more days (even if it is with web access blocked so visitors can't access the site) so that you can do the transfer.

And in the future ALWAYS keep an up-to-date backup of your site. JPC is a very good host and they are good about keeping their backups up-to-date, but there is always a chance of problems (and occassionally they happen). Having your own backup protects you best.

There are tools available that will let your periodically scan your site for updated files and download only the changes. These will prevent you from having to download your 12Gb every time you make a backup. I'd highly recommend an approach like this.

--Jason

[Rebel007]

As Jason says, if the site is turned off then all you can do is ask your old host for their help, whether they are prepared to do that depends on the relationship you had with them.

[korrs]

Huhhhhhhhhhhh, it's back online, and I'm making a full backup. I'm so relieved!

I was wondering what options do I have to make backups without re-downloading 12 or more GB each time. I heard about something called rsync or something like that... Has anyone tried it? Is it easy to use?

[Gwaihir]

Has anyone tried it?

Yes and IMHO it's great.

Is it easy to use?

That depends on what you mean by that. It's not a point and click thing. You have to go through a couple of (command line oriented) steps to set it up. Once you've done that it's completely automated though.

I see we're on the VPS board, so I guess that shouldn't scare you off. Your home / work machine, to which you want to back-up, is that Windows?

If so, you should install cygwin. It comes with sort of a package manager. In that you should select rsync and openssh, as well as whatever that claims to depend on. It comes with manual pages (man rsync) on how to use rsync over ssh (recommended for security).

To automate it you'll need to log on to ssh with a certificate instead of a password. I found PuTTY (which I guess you already know) to come with nice tools and instructions for setting this up, but you can probably manage it from openssh as well. In addition you'll want to call rsync at pre-set times. You can use the windows task-manager for that.