Title: Download a full database backup
Author: WordPress VIP Documentation
Published: August 31, 2023
Last modified: December 4, 2025

---

 1. [Databases](https://docs.wpvip.com/databases/)
 2. [Database Backups](https://docs.wpvip.com/databases/backups/)
 3. Download a full database backup

#  Download a full database backup

Download a backup copy of the entire database of a WordPress single site or a WordPress
multisite environment.

 * VIP Dashboard
 * VIP-CLI

In [the application view of the VIP Dashboard](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-dashboard/application-view/):

 1. Select an environment from the environment dropdown located at the upper left of
    the VIP Dashboard.
 2. Select “**Database**” from the sidebar navigation at the left of the screen.
 3. Select **“Database Backups”** from the submenu.
 4. Select the date of the backup for download. Database backups are grouped by date,
    and dates can be selected from buttons in a carousel labeled “**Select a date**“.
    The buttons also display the number of backups available for download for each 
    date.
 5. Select the “**Configure Download**” button to the right of a database backup.
 6. In the “Configure your backup copy” modal, select “**Entire database**“.
 7. Select the “**Generate Backup Copy**” button to the right of a database backup.
    
    The button label will display the text “Preparing Backup” while the database backup
    file is being prepared for download. Backup files for larger databases will take
    a longer time to prepare.
 8. The button label will display the text “**Download**” when the database backup 
    file is ready for download. Select “**Download**” to download the file to the user’s
    local machine.

VIP-CLI command: `[vip export sql](https://docs.wpvip.com/vip-cli/commands/export/sql/)`

In this command example, the export of a database backup is initiated for the develop
environment of the “example-app” application. Updates on the progress of the export
are output in the command line terminal.

    ```lang-shell
    $ vip @example-app.develop export sql
    Fetching the latest backup for example-app
    ✓ Latest backup found with timestamp 2023-05-31T06:03:07.000Z
    Creating a new export for the backup with timestamp 2023-05-31T06:03:07.000Z
    ✓ Preparing 
    ⠦ Creating backup copy 
    ○ Requesting download link 
    ○ Downloading file
    ```

## Specify the location of a download

The database file can be exported to a specific location of the user’s machine with
a custom file name by passing a local path value to the `--output` option. For example:

    ```lang-shell
    vip @example-app.develop export sql --output=/Desktop/custom-name.sql.gz
    ```

Last updated: December 04, 2025