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Media Backups

Media files associated with a WordPress environment can be viewed and downloaded in the application view of the VIP Dashboard.

Generated media file backups:

  • are stored in Amazon S3 and retained for 7 days.
  • are compressed into a single ZIP file with the file extension *.zip.

Prerequisites

  • To view the Media Backups panel, a user must have at minimum an Org member role or an App write role for that application.
  • To download a Media Backups file, a user must have at minimum an Org admin role or an App admin role for that application.

Limitations

  • Only one media backup can be prepared at a time.
  • Media backups for larger numbers of files will take a longer time to prepare.
  • Media backups that are larger than 3 TB cannot be generated.
  • Media backups for environments that have more than 2.5 million files associated with them cannot be generated.
  • Up to 3 previously requested and available media backups are listed under “Available Backups”. Each previously requested backup will expire after 7 days and be removed from the list.
  • Media backups are requested per environment. Each backup will include only the media files that were uploaded through WordPress, or imported via VIP-CLI to that specific environment.
  • A production environment’s media files are made available for reference to non-production environments after a data sync. A media backup of a non-production environment will not include the media that is referenced from production.
  • Media backups will not be available for a WordPress multisite environment if a site on the network is under maintenance mode, has a domain misconfiguration, or is inaccessible due to other configuration issues.
  • Media backups for an individual network site of a WordPress multisite environment will not be accessible in the Media Backups panel if cron is not operational, or if the network site is inaccessible due to other configuration issues.

Download a media backup for WordPress single site

  1. Navigate to the VIP Dashboard for an application.
  2. Select an environment from the environment dropdown located at the upper left of the VIP Dashboard.
  3. Select “Media” from the sidebar navigation at the left of the screen.
  4. Select “Media Backups” from the submenu.
  5. Select the “Generate Backup” button to request a backup.
    A displayed progress bar and a numerical percentage indicator will track the status of completion for the creation of the backup file.
  6. The message “Media backup generated” will display when the backup file is ready for download.
    The newly created media backup file will appear at the top of the list under “Available Backups”.
  7. Select the “Download” button to download the file to the user’s local machine.
    The “Download” button will expire after 15 minutes. Downloads that are already in progress will continue after the button expires.

Download a media backup for WordPress multisite

  1. Navigate to the VIP Dashboard for an application.
  2. Select an environment from the environment dropdown located at the upper left of the VIP Dashboard.
  3. Select “Media” from the sidebar navigation at the left of the screen.
  4. Select “Media Backups” from the submenu.
  5. Select the dropdown bar below “Select a network site to back up” to display the first ten network sites from the multisite.
  6. Select a site from the dropdown list.
    • A site can also be found by typing the site’s network site ID or home_url into the search field as a search term.
    • To request a backup for all sites on the network, select the “All network sites ([ ])” option from the dropdown.
  7. Select the “Generate Backup” button to request a backup.
    A displayed progress bar and a numerical percentage will indicate the status of completion for the creation of the backup file.
  8. The message “Media backup generated” will display when the backup file is ready for download.
    The newly created media backup file will appear at the top of the list under “Available Backups”.
  9. Select the “Download” button to download the file to the user’s local machine.
    The “Download” button will expire after 15 minutes. Downloads that are already in progress will continue after the button expires.

Copy a link to a prepared media backup

Media backups that are available for download are displayed in the lower area of the panel under the title “Available Backup(s)“.

A shareable link to a prepared media backup can be copied by selecting the “Copy Link” button to the right of the listed file. The link has a 15 minute expiration.

Last updated: December 26, 2023

Relevant to

  • WordPress