In this video, we will install the modules necessary to use Backup and Migrate, configure the private file system, and then make our first quick backup!

Install

Enable

  • Backup and Migrate
  • Token
    In the "Other" section of your modules page, enable Backup and Migrate and Token.

Making our first backup

  • Go to "Configuration => System => Backup and Migrate" (admin/config/system/backup_migrate)

Configure private file system

At the top of the screen, you'll see a notice that tells us to specify a private file system. Let's take care of that now.

  • Go to "Configuration => Media => File system" (admin/config/media/file-system)
  • Private file system path: sites/default/files/private

Drupal is configured to automatically deny access to this folder if it exists, so it is a safe location. You can however choose a directory outside of your Drupal installation, if you would prefer to do that.

Okay, let's go back to "Configuration => System => Backup and Migrate" (admin/config/system/backup_migrate)
Here we have the option to make our first "Quick Backup" by simply clicking "Backup Now". We don't have a lot of options right now, we can only backup the Default Database to a download or the manual backup directory using the Default Settings. I'm going to go ahead and click "Backup now" to show you what happens.

  • Click "Backup now"

Congratulations! If you're following along, you just made your first database backup!

When we clicked the "Backup now" button a file was downloaded to our local machine with the file name: "BackupandMigrate-2013-01-21T09-21-57.mysql.gz". If you're not familiar with timestamps, this might look a little funny, but it's actually pretty simple when you understand the parts of the name. The default naming structure is: The site name (BackupandMigrate) followed by a timestamp (the long string of numbers), it's a mysql file (hence the .mysql) with GZip compression (which adds the .gz at the end). Now, if this still doesn't make sense to you, don't worry. We'll discuss this more in the "Advanced Backup" sub-tab.