| title | excerpt | updated |
|---|---|---|
Restoring your Web Hosting plan’s storage space |
Find out how to restore a file or an entire storage space from your Web Hosting plan |
2023-12-04 |
With an OVHcloud Web Hosting plan, you get a storage space to host your websites on. A range of actions (e.g. deleting or editing a file) could make your website inaccessible. As a result, you may find that you need to restore all of the data stored on your storage space, or simply a file stored on it.
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Backups offered by OVHcloud for shared hosting are non-contractual. We offer them in addition to your services to help you in urgent situations. We recommend that you regularly perform your own security backups to avoid any data loss.
When you do a security backup for your site and you are using a database, also create a backup of your database. Please refer to our guide on retrieving the backup of a Web Hosting plan’s database.
Find out how to restore a file or an entire storage space from your Web Hosting plan.
- A Web Hosting plan{.external} (please note that this does not work with Cloud Web).
- Depending on which method you use, you must be able to manage the Web Hosting plan from the OVHcloud Control Panel{.external}, or have the FTP user password required to access your storage space.
Before you begin, ensure that you can use the restore dates offered to restore your Web Hosting plan’s storage space back to your chosen date:
- Same day, at 00:01 (UTC+1)
- One day ago, at 00:01 (UTC+1)
- Two days ago, at 00:01 (UTC+1)
- Last Sunday, at 01:00 (UTC+1)
- Sunday two weeks ago, at 01:00 (UTC+1)
If you want to retrieve a backup from an earlier period, OVHcloud will not be able to provide you with this. We advise taking personal backups of your website in advance, and using those if you would like an earlier backup.
You also need to decide which restore method you will use:
| Restore method | Description |
|---|---|
| Restoring via the OVHcloud Control Panel | Restores the entire content of your storage space. The current content will be fully replaced by the content of the backup you have selected. |
| Restoring via software or an interface | Gives you read-only access to a backup of the storage space. Although this method is more technical, you can use it to recover one or more files from a previous date, without having to overwrite the entire contents of the storage space. |
Warning
Regarding the restore from OVHcloud Control Panel method, check that at least half of the total FTP storage space included with your hosting plan is still available. For example, if you have a Performance hosting plan, 250 GB must still be available out of the 500 GB provided.
This is because our robots install the backup on your hosting before deleting the FTP content which will be replaced by the restoration.
To check the quota used on your web hosting, log in to your OVHcloud Control Panel. Go to the Web Cloud{.action} section and click on Hosting plans{.action}. Then choose the name of the hosting concerned.
The quota used appears on the page that appears:
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If the FTP storage space used is more than half of the total FTP storage space of your hosting package, retrieve locally some of the large items from your website (you can use Filezilla). Then remove them from your FTP storage. This will reduce the size of the FTP storage space you are using and you will then be able to launch your restoration from the OVHcloud Control Panel.
Once you are ready to do so, carry on reading the section of this guide that is relevant to the restore method you have chosen.
Warning
This restoration method is unavailable if your hosting plan has been placed in "maintenance" mode by our administrators, or if it does not have FTP access rights (chmod rights) following an action on your part.
This method only works if you have chmod root access for your hosting plan in 705.
[!primary] Website in maintenance mode
To determine whether your website has been placed in "maintenance" mode, please refer to our guide What do I do if I have a 403 forbidden page?.
In this case:
- Our teams send an email to the hosting administrator contact.
- The “maintenance” status will appear in your OVHcloud Control Panel{.external}. In the
Web Cloud{.action} section, click on your service in theHosting plans{.action} section, then on theGeneral information{.action} tab.- The hosted site(s) will display a "403 Forbidden" page.
Log in to the OVHcloud Control Panel{.external}, click Hosting plans{.action}, then select the plan concerned. Go to the FTP - SSH{.action} tab, and click Retrieve backup{.action}.
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In the popup window that appears, select the restore date you want in the dropdown menu, using the information below:
| Date shown | Technical backup date |
|---|---|
| D-1 | The same day, at 00:01 (UTC+1) |
| D-2 | One day ago, at 00:01 (UTC+1) |
| D-3 | Two days ago, at 00:01 (UTC+1) |
| 1 week | Last Sunday, at 01:00 (UTC+1) |
| 2 weeks | Sunday, 2 weeks ago, at 01:00 (UTC+1) |
Once you have selected a date, click Next{.action}.
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Take a few minutes to check that none of your files will be lost after the restoration, e.g. any files saved on your storage space after the restore date you have selected. As a reminder, the restoration will effectively overwrite all of your current data, and replace it with the backup data.
Once you are ready to start restoring the backup, click Confirm{.action}.
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Automatic restoration can take from a few minutes to a few hours. If it takes more than 24 hours, contact OVHcloud support.
There are several stages to this procedure. Ensure that you have your FTP user password, which provides you with access to yout storage space.
Warning
This solution requires knowledge of the software or interface you would like to use. We have provided general information below on how to proceed. We recommend contacting a specialist provider and/or getting in touch with the publisher of the interface or software if you encounter any difficulties. We will not be able to assist you ourselves.
First of all, decide which software or interface you would like to use in order to connect to your storage space backup. If you have already decided on one, you can move straight to step 2. Otherwise, we recommend using one of the following three solutions:
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Using FileZilla software. You will need to download the software in advance, from the publisher’s website. You can learn how to use it by reading our guide on Using FileZilla{.external}. Please note that our guides cannot be used as a substitute for the publisher’s official documentation.
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Using Cyberduck software. You will need to download the software in advance, from the publisher’s website. You can learn how to use it by reading our guide on Using Cyberduck{.external}. Please note that our guides cannot be used as a substitute for the publisher’s official documentation.
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Using the FTP Explorer interface. To use this method, you will need to log in to the OVHcloud Control Panel{.external}. Once you have logged in, click
Hosting plans{.action}, then choose the Web Hosting plan concerned. Go to theFTP - SSH{.action} tab, and clickFTP Explorer{.action}.
Once you are ready to start making changes, continue to the next step.
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To access the backup data you would like to restore, you will need to log in to your storage space via the interface or software you have selected. To do this, you will need to have the FTP username, its password and your FTP server’s host name.
You can find this information in the FTP - SSH{.action} tab of your Web Hosting plan. If you no longer have the FTP user password, please refer to our guide on instructions set out in our documentation on Modifying a FTP user password{.external}.
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You will need to enter your primary username (or FTP login) with a suffix determining the backup you want to connect to. Please use the information below to find out how to access the backup you want:
| Backup date | Suffix to add | Example of filled-in username |
|---|---|---|
| The same day, at 00:01 (UTC+1) | -snap0 | ftpuser**-snap0** |
| One day ago, at 00:01 (UTC+1) | -snap1 | ftpuser**-snap1** |
| Two days ago, at 00:01 (UTC+1) | -snap2 | ftpuser**-snap2** |
| Last Sunday, at 01:00 (UTC+1) | -snap3 | ftpuser**-snap3** |
| Sunday, 2 weeks ago, at 01:00 (UTC+1) | -snap4 | ftpuser**-snap4** |
Please ensure that you replace ‘ftpuser’ with your own primary FTP username in the above examples. Keep the suffix defining the backup date you would like to access.
The method for connecting to your storage space will differ depending on the interface or software you are using. Below, we have included an image showing how to connect via the FTP Explorer interface.
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Once you have connected, gather the files you want to restore. To do this, explore the content until you find them, then retrieve them. The method you need to use will differ depending on the software or interface you are using.
Before you move on to the next step, ensure that you have gathered all the files you would like to restore, then disconnect from your storage space.
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If you are using the FTP Explorer interface, please refer to the help page{.external} to recover your files correctly. You can also access this page via the
Help{.action} button at the bottom of the interface for connecting to the FTP Explorer.If you use another program to log in to your FTP storage space, we recommend that you consult the official documentation for your program to make the changes correctly.
Once you have got the files you need to restore, connect to your storage space again. This time, however, do not add the suffix to connect but write only the FTP username. By not entering this suffix, you will connect to the current content on your storage space, and not a backup from an earlier date.
Once you have connected, you can now restore the files you want. To do this, explore the content of your storage space until you find them, then download them, overwriting the old files.
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If you are using the FTP Explorer interface, please refer to the help page{.external} to restore your files correctly. You can also access this page via the
Help{.action} button at the bottom of the interface for connecting to the FTP Explorer.If you use another program to log in to your FTP storage space, we recommend that you consult the official documentation for your program to make the changes correctly.
Using FileZilla software with your Web Hosting plan
Retrieving the backup of a Web Hosting plan’s database
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