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Avaloi

Backups

See every snapshot of an environment, take one before a change, restore it, download it, delete it, and set the backup schedule.

Parts of this feature are still being built. The Not yet section lists them.

A snapshot holds an environment's database, its uploads, and a manifest of the platform settings: the PHP version, the code mode, the branch, and the live release. Open your site, then Backups, to see them.

Open it

  1. Open a site and pick the environment in the top bar.
  2. Choose Backups.

The page is called Environment backups, and the card shows which environment you are looking at. The list shows every snapshot of that environment, newest first, with its type, note, size, status, and the date it expires. There are three kinds, each with its own tab above the list:

  • Daily snapshots that Avaloi takes on a schedule (weekly ones show here too).
  • Manual snapshots that you take.
  • System-generated snapshots that Avaloi takes before a risky change.

Use the search box to find a note, the status menu to show only ready, in progress, or failed snapshots, and the refresh button to reload the list. The list also refreshes on its own while a snapshot is being taken or restored. The Schedule and retention card at the bottom sets the schedule and sums up how long each kind is kept.

Take a snapshot

Choose Back up now before you change something. Add a note if you like, so you can find it later. The snapshot runs as a job, and the dashboard shows its progress.

You can keep up to 5 manual snapshots per environment, kept at least 14 days.

What Avaloi takes on its own

Avaloi takes a system snapshot before a risky change: a PHP change, a search and replace, a clone, a restore, or a deploy. System snapshots are kept 48 hours.

Avaloi keeps the newest 10 system snapshots of each environment and deletes older ones, even before their 48 hours are up.

Schedule and retention

Every environment is backed up once a day at 03:00 UTC, and the last 14 scheduled backups are kept, until you change it. In the Schedule and retention card:

  1. Choose Daily, Weekly, or Off under Scheduled backups.
  2. For weekly backups, choose the day.
  3. Choose the time (UTC) and how many scheduled backups to keep, from 1 to 30.
  4. Choose Save schedule.

When a new scheduled backup pushes the count past what you keep, Avaloi deletes the oldest. Turning scheduled backups off does not stop manual or system snapshots.

Restore

  1. Open the snapshot's menu (the three dots at the end of its row) and choose Restore.
  2. Pick the environment to restore into: the snapshot's own environment or another environment of the same site. For example, restore yesterday's live into staging.
  3. Pick the database, the files, or both.
  4. Type the target environment's name to confirm.

Avaloi takes a snapshot of the target first, so a bad restore is one click to undo. The restore runs as a job.

Restoring to live through an API key needs the backups:restore_live scope. See API keys and scopes.

Download a backup

  1. Open the snapshot's menu and choose Download.
  2. Avaloi packs the database and the uploads into one .tar.gz file. A large site can take a few minutes.
  3. When it is ready, a banner shows Download backup. The link works for a short time; prepare it again if it expires.

The file holds database.sql.gz (import it with mysql or phpMyAdmin) and wp-content/uploads/. It holds your whole database, including WordPress user emails and password hashes, so only people with database access see Download. Code is not in the file: it lives in Git.

Delete a backup

Open the snapshot's menu and choose Delete, then confirm. Avaloi removes it from the server, and it cannot be restored afterwards. A snapshot that is being taken or restored cannot be deleted until it finishes. The kept copy of a deleted environment goes on its own when it expires.

Deleted environments

Deleting a staging or branch environment keeps its snapshot for 30 days, so you can bring the environment back from where you left off. See Staging and branch environments.

Limits

  • 5 manual snapshots per environment, kept at least 14 days.
  • System snapshots are kept 48 hours.
  • System snapshots: the newest 10 per environment.
  • Scheduled snapshots: daily or weekly, 1 to 30 kept (14 daily by default).
  • Snapshots of deleted environments are kept 30 days.

Quick answers

Does a snapshot include my code? A snapshot holds the database, the uploads, and a manifest that notes the branch and the live release. Code lives in Git, and the manifest records which release was live.

I made a mistake restoring. What now? Restore the pre-snapshot Avaloi took right before your restore. It is at the top of the list.

Can I restore live into staging? Yes. Pick staging as the target when you restore a live snapshot.

Why can I not take a sixth manual snapshot? Each environment keeps up to 5 manual snapshots at a time.

API

  • GET /v1/environments/{id}/backups
  • POST /v1/environments/{id}/backups
  • POST /v1/backups/{id}/restore
  • POST /v1/backups/{id}/download (the finished job's result has the link)
  • DELETE /v1/backups/{id}?confirm=true
  • GET and PUT /v1/environments/{id}/backup-schedule

The MCP server offers the same as list_backups, create_backup, download_backup, delete_backup, get_backup_schedule, and set_backup_schedule.

Not yet

These pieces are not built today:

  • Off-site copies of snapshots.
  • Hourly backups.

Until they arrive, use manual snapshots before a change and export data you need to keep through SFTP and Database access.

Still stuck?

Email [email protected] with your site name and what you tried, or send us a message.