Using Joomla

Site Backup/Migration: Perform Backups and Migrate Your Site Using JoomlaPack

• Extension: JoomlaPack

• Website: http://www.joomlapack.net

• Cost: Free

• License: GNU/GPL

• Minimum requirements: Joomla 1.5, PHP 4.3.9+ (PHP 5 recommended), MySQL 4.1+ (MySQL 5 recommended). JoomlaPack Remote requires Windows XP or Vista.

We can honestly say that JoomlaPack is one of our favorite extensions. Although we mainly use it for creating backups of websites, it can also be used to move your website from one host to another.

JoomlaPack is the brainchild of Nicholas K. Dionysopoulos. It started out as a stand-alone PHP script to backup Joomla websites and later became an extension. Since then, a few people started contributing to the project and together the international JoomlaPack team of volunteers has created a suite of backup tools like none other found in the Joomla community.

We’ll start by showing you how to use JoomlaPack to backup your website. Then we’ll take it a step further and show you how to restore your website. Moving your website from one host to another is nothing more than backing it up on one server, and then restoring it on another server.

JoomlaPack has two different editions: Core (the minimal version) and Plus (the full-featured version). Both are free but we always use the Plus edition even though we rarely use the extra features. Their interfaces are very similar, so you’re free to make up your own mind as to which one you prefer to use.

Getting to Know the Interface

Figure 18-60 ...