ipxcore takes nightly server-level backups of every cPanel account, retained for the previous 7 days. That covers most disaster scenarios — but for change-control, migration, and pre-update safety, you also want your own backups under your own control. This article covers cPanel's built-in backup tools and when to use which.
Full account backup vs partial backup
cPanel offers two backup types:
- Full account backup: a single tarball containing everything — home directory, all databases, email, mail filters, FTP accounts, DNS zones, SSL certificates, package selection. Used for migrations and disaster restore. Cannot be restored back to cPanel by users — only the hosting provider can restore a full backup.
- Partial backup: separate downloads for home directory, individual MySQL databases, email forwarders, and mail filters. Each piece can be restored back through cPanel by you, individually.
For most use cases, partial backups are what you want — you can restore them yourself without involving support.
Creating a partial backup
- Log in to cPanel and find Backup Wizard (under "Files"), or directly use Backup.
- Under Partial Backups, you'll see four download buttons:
- Home Directory: contains all your website files. This is usually the biggest piece.
- MySQL Databases: one file per database. Download each one you care about.
- Email Forwarders: the forwarder rules you've set up.
- Email Filters: server-side filtering rules.
- Click each button. The file downloads to your computer.
Creating a full account backup
- Open Backup in cPanel.
- Under Full Backup, click Download a Full Account Backup.
- Choose a destination:
- Home Directory: the backup is saved into your account; you can download it later via FTP or File Manager.
- Remote FTP Server: uploads to your own offsite FTP server.
- Secure Copy (SCP): uploads to a remote server via SSH.
- Optionally enter an email to be notified when the backup completes (these can take a while — a 10 GB account is a 30+ minute backup).
- Click Generate Backup.
The full backup tarball will be named something like backup-1.7.2026_02-15-43_username.tar.gz.
Restoring a partial backup yourself
This works for partial backups (home directory, MySQL, forwarders, filters):
- Open Backup Wizard in cPanel.
- Click Restore.
- Pick the backup type matching your file (Home Directory, MySQL, etc.).
- Upload the file. cPanel restores it.
Most home-directory restores are non-destructive: existing files are overwritten, but extra files are not deleted. If you need a clean restore, delete the contents of public_html first.
Restoring a full account backup
Full account backups must be restored by us. Open a ticket with:
- The path to the backup file (or attach it if under 25 MB)
- The cPanel account username to restore into
- Whether this should overwrite the existing account or restore alongside
Most full restores complete within an hour.
Backup automation
cPanel doesn't natively schedule recurring backups (it generates one when you click the button), so for automated off-site backups, the options are:
- WordPress site only: use UpdraftPlus, BackupBuddy, or BlogVault. They schedule backups, store them off-site (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3), and restore via the WordPress UI.
- cron + scp: for power users, set up a cron job that runs
cpanel-backup-config-toolnightly, thenscps the resulting tarball to a remote server. Documentation in cPanel's/usr/local/cpanel/scripts. - JetBackup add-on: we can enable JetBackup on your account for an additional fee — offers per-file granular restore, scheduled backups, and remote storage. Open a ticket for pricing.
How long do server backups stick around?
- Daily: last 7 days, every night
- Weekly: last 4 weeks, one snapshot per week
- Monthly: last 3 months, one snapshot per month
If you need a restore from any of these, open a ticket with the date you want and we'll pull it.
Best practices
- Take a partial backup before any major change: WordPress core update, theme switch, plugin install on a production site.
- Take a full backup before migrating to or from another host.
- Don't store backups inside
public_html— they're served publicly, including all your database contents and emails. Either download them off-server or store in/home/yourusername/backupsoutside the web root. - Test your restore process at least once. A backup you've never restored is a hope, not a backup.
