If you have created backups of your site, you should test them by restoring them at least once.

After all, a backup that doesn’t restore the previous state of your site properly isn’t really useful.

RunCloud makes it incredibly easy to automate your backups, as well as restore them.

Before proceeding with the backup restoration, make sure you properly Configure DNS. You need to point the DNS records of your domain to your new server before restoring your site. Failing to do this can result in broken links or inaccessible resources post-restoration.

To get started, head to your RunCloud dashboard and go to the Backups tab. This screen will display all the available backups (even those applications that have been deleted).

You can quickly restore any available backup with only a few clicks. Just click on the ‘…‘ option next to the backup and click “Restore“.

On the next screen you can see all of the available snapshots of the selected backup. Consider carefully before picking the snapshot – if you pick a very old version, you will lose all the changes made to your site after that date.

On the other hand, if you are trying to fix a broken site and pick a very recent backup, the problematic setting might still persist. Carefully weigh your options before picking the snapshot that you want to use.

Next, you can specify where you want to restore this backup file. There are three options available:

  1. Current Web App & Database: You should pick this if you are trying to revert your site to a previous working version. 
  2. Other Web App & Database: This option allows you to overwrite an existing web application & database deployed on your web server.
  3. New Web App & Database: You can pick this option to create a fresh application with all the data and settings from the backed-up application.

After you have made the selection, check the box at the bottom to acknowledge that this action is irreversible. Now you can click on “Restore” to begin the restoration process. The whole process should only take a couple of minutes.

Post-Restoration Checklist

1. Verify DNS Settings

After restoring your site, you should verify that your DNS records are correctly pointing to the restored server. When you visit your domain in your browser, it should show you the website that you just restored.

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to manage your DNS records, you should consider using RunCloud’s DNS manager.

2. Database Integrity

If there are numerous entries in your database, then the search-replace process may get interrupted before completion. After restoring your website, you should verify that all URLs and paths have been correctly updated.

You can run the search-replace process manually by using the built-in functionality of WordPress CLI by executing the following command:

wp search-replace 'http://oldsite.com' 'http://newsite.com' --dry-run

The above command will show you a list of all the URLs which will be updated.

Execute the command once again after removing the --dry-run flag to apply the changes.

3. Check SSL Configuration

If your original site had SSL enabled, deploy the SSL certificate on the restored site before attempting to access it. This prevents mixed-content warnings and ensures secure connections.

To check for mixed content warnings, open your browser’s console (F12) and look for any warnings. If you do get any errors, you can use RunCloud’s built-in SSL manager to automatically install and renew SSL certificates.

4. Test Critical Plugins

Some plugins might not work after restoring your site from backup, and so you might need to re-install or update a few plugins to the latest version for them to work correctly.

If you’re not sure which plugins are causing the error, you can consider temporarily disabling them to test the site.

5. Verify Website Functionality

After you have finished the restoration process, you need to check both the frontend and backend (admin panel) of your website to ensure all features are working as expected.

Test forms, search functionality, and any interactive elements on your site to ensure they work correctly. It is also advisable to check server and application error logs for any warnings or errors that need addressing.

6. Perform Browser Testing

It’s a good idea to verify that your website renders correctly across different browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge).

We also recommend you check the mobile version of your website to ensure it displays and functions correctly on various devices.

Lastly, you can also consider doing some performance tests on your site to see how your server performs under load.

7. Final Verification