How can [PERSON_NAME] restore a backup of your web files?

Procédure

Before restoring your web files, [PERSON_NAME] Backup policy for your shared web hosting to understand which backups are available according to your plan and how long they are retained.

Objective

This documentation explains how to retrieve a backup of your web files or restore a previous version of your website from the LWS Panel.

Use this procedure if files from your site [ADDRESS] deleted, modified by mistake, or if you want to revert your hosting to a previous state.

Services concerned

This documentation is intended for customers with a :

• LWS Linux shared hosting (Excluding domain-only plans).

Management is done from the LWS Panel.

Before you begin

Requirements

Before performing a backup or a restoration, make sure you:

• have access to your LWS customer account
• understand that a restoration replaces existing files

Things to know before choosing an action

It is important to distinguish between the two available actions:

Download a backup

This action lets you retrieve a copy of your web files.
It does not modify your hosting.

Restore a backup

This action lets you reinject the backed-up files onto your hosting.
Existing files will be replaced.

When should you use this documentation?

You can follow this procedure if:

• your site no longer displays correctly after a mistake
• one or more files have been deleted
• you want to recover an older version of your web space
• you want to download a backup to keep it locally
• you want to restore only a file, a folder, [ADDRESS] homepage, or a domain added to your hosting

Step 1: Check that your plan allows [ADDRESS] restoration

The LWS Panel offers a backup and restoration feature for web services.
Depending on the plan subscribed to, [PERSON_NAME] backups can vary from 30 or 90 days.

Before going further, make sure that:

• your plan includes [PERSON_NAME] web backups
• the desired backup period is still available

If you do not know the backup level included in your offer, consult the LWS documentation dedicated to the backup level of your hosting.

Step 2: Access the backup service in the LWS Panel

1. Log in to your LWS account

2. Open the relevant hosting

3. [ADDRESS] Files, click the button: Backups / Restorations

4. Then click on the tab: Web Backups

You will then access the list of backups available for your hosting.

Option A - Download a backup of your web files

When should you use this option?

Choose this action if you want to:

• keep a copy of your site
• retrieve your files without modifying the hosting
• analyze the files before deciding on a restoration

[PERSON_NAME] detailed

1. In the Web Backups tab, locate the backup date you want to retrieve.

2. On the row corresponding to the chosen backup, click the action button on the right. (3 vertical dots)

3. Choose the option: Download link

4. A window opens. Click on Generate link

5. Then open the History tab

There you can check [PERSON_NAME] progress. This operation may take several minutes, depending on the amount of data involved.

Refresh the page [PERSON_NAME] has changed.

7. Once the link is ready, a download button "Cliquez pour télécharger" appears. [PERSON_NAME] backup.

Another recovery method

The generated backup can also be found in the root folder of your hosting. You can then download it:

• from an FTP client
• or from the file manager

If you use this method, check [PERSON_NAME] backup.

Limitations to know

Important limitations:

• only backups of less than 20 GB can be restored using this method
• for a larger backup, you must use a Business support option or a managed services offer
• files larger than 500 MB placed on the FTP space may be deleted automatically if you leave them there too long

These points must be taken into account before generating or keeping a backup on the hosting.

Option B - Restore a backup of your web files

Before restoring

Before starting a restoration, take a moment to identify what you actually need to put back in place.

You can restore:

• the entire hosting
• only the index.php file
• a specific file or folder
• a complementary domain or a subdomain

Choose the right option

Restore everything : Use this if the entire site has been damaged, deleted, or replaced.

Restore index.php : Use this if only [PERSON_NAME] page is affected.

Restore a file or a folder : Use this if you know [PERSON_NAME] needs to be recovered.

Restore a multi-domain : Use this if the problem concerns an additional domain or a subdomain hosted on the same plan.

Common procedure to access restoration options

1. From the LWS Panel, access the list of available backups.

2. Choose the date that corresponds to the state of your site you want to recover.

3. Click the button to the right of the chosen backup (1).

4. Select the restoration option that matches your needs. (2)

1. Restore the entire hosting

When should you use this option?

Choose this option if you want to restore all web files on your hosting.

What this restoration does

All files on the hosting are deleted, [PERSON_NAME] backups are restored to the web space. This is therefore the most radical option.

Steps

1. Click the Restore everything action.
2. A confirmation window opens.
   
3. Make sure you have [PERSON_NAME] backup date.
4. Confirm the action by clicking the "Restore" button

2. Restore only the index.php file

What is index.php?

The index.php file is generally the main home page file of the site, located in the root of the hosting.

When should you use this option?

Use this restoration if:

• the page [PERSON_NAME] has been deleted
• it has been modified by mistake
• you do not want [PERSON_NAME] site files

Steps

1. Click the Restore index.php action.
2. A confirmation window opens.
   
3. Make sure you have selected [PERSON_NAME] backup.
4. Confirm the action by clicking the "Restore" button

3. Restore a specific file or folder

When should you use this option?

This is the most suitable option if you want to recover only part of the site, for example:

• a deleted page
• a file modified by mistake
• an image folder
• a directory containing a plugin, a [PERSON_NAME] specific files

Steps

1. Click the Restore a file or directory action.
2. A confirmation window opens.
   
3. Enter the path of the file or folder to restore.
4. Carefully check the indicated location.
5. Confirm the action by clicking the "Restore" button

Examples of paths to enter

• text.html
  restores the text.html file located at the root of the backup

• /mondossier/text.html
  restores the text.html file located in the mondossier folder

• /mondossier/
  restores the contents of the mondossier folder

• /mondossier/monsousdossier/
  restores the contents of the monsousdossier subfolder located in mondossier

What this option does

This restoration:

• restores the files present in the backup if they no longer exist on the hosting
• replaces existing files with those from the backup when they have the same name
• does not delete extra files that are present on your hosting but absent from the backup

4. Restore a multi-domain or a subdomain

What is a multi-domain?

A multi-domain is an additional domain added to your hosting.
A subdomain corresponds for example to an address such as blog.yourdomain.ext.

When should you use this option?

Choose this restoration if the issue concerns only:

• an additional domain hosted on your plan
• a specific subdomain

Steps

1. Click the Restore a multi-domain action.
2. A confirmation window opens.
   
3. Select the domain or subdomain concerned.
4. Confirm the action by clicking the "Restore" button

What this restoration does

As with folder restoration:

• files present in the backup are restored
• files with the same name are replaced
• additional files already present on the hosting are not [PERSON_NAME] automatically

Track the progress of a restoration

How do you know if the restoration is finished?

After starting a restoration:

1. open the History tab

2. check the status of the operation
   

3. refresh the page if necessary; the restoration is finished when the status "Finished" appears.
   

Verification after restoration

Once the restoration is complete, check the following points:

1. The status shown in the History tab must indicate that the operation is finished.
2. If you restored a specific file or folder, verify that it is present again on your hosting.
3. Open your website in a web browser and check that it works properly.
4. If the site appears unchanged, clear your browser cache or refresh the page several times.
5. If your site works with a database, also remember to restore it to a consistent date with the web backup. Otherwise, the site may remain partially inconsistent.

What should you do if the desired backup does not appear?

If the backup you are looking for is not displayed, there may be several reasons.

The date [ADDRESS] most likely the retention included in your plan: some offers give access to 30 days of backups, others to 90 days. If the requested [PERSON_NAME] is too old, it may no longer be available.

If you need a backup older than your plan allows (+ than 30 days without a business support option within the limit of 90 days) or a specific intervention, it is possible to subscribe to:

• a Business support option

• or a managed service “Backup search”

These solutions involve additional handling by LWS services.

Common issues and solutions

The download link does not appear immediately

Generating the link may take several minutes (several hours in some cases), especially if the backup is large.

What to do?

• open the History tab
• refresh the page after a few moments
• check that the action is in progress or finished

The backup you are looking for is not listed

The requested date may be outside the retention period available for your plan.

What to do?

• check the backup duration included in your plan
• verify the exact date you need
• if necessary, see whether an additional option is available

The site does not seem changed after restoration

This is often an issue of display or consistency between the files and the database.

What to do?

• clear the browser cache
• reload the page
• check that the restoration is finished in the History tab
• also restore the database if your site uses one

I [PERSON_NAME] restoration

If you launched a partial restoration when a full restoration was necessary, or vice versa, the result may be incomplete.

What to do?

• identify precisely what is still missing
• then choose the correct restoration method
• if you need to recover exactly a folder or a domain, remember to first delete the elements that are no longer needed before a new partial restoration

An error appears during restoration

If an error occurs during restoration, you must contact LWS technical support for analysis and handling if the action remains possible.

Before contacting support

Prepare the following information:

• the name of the hosting concerned
• the chosen backup date
• the type of restoration launched
• the error message displayed
• the approximate time of the operation

This will make it easier to process your request.

My backup is very large

Some operations are [PERSON_NAME] backup exceeds 20 GB, and files larger than 500 MB uploaded to the FTP space may be deleted automatically.

What to do?

• download it quickly [ADDRESS] [PERSON_NAME] is available
• avoid leaving it stored too long on the hosting
• if necessary, use the business support option

Conclusion

You now know how to access the web backup service in the LWS Panel, download a [PERSON_NAME] and restore your files according to several scenarios: full restoration, restoration of the home page, of a file, of a folder, of a multi-domain or of a subdomain.

If your site also uses a database, remember to restore it to a consistent date as well to regain normal operation.