Auto WordPress Backup on Hosting: DirectAdmin + UpdraftPlus

Your WordPress website holds enormous amounts of valuable data — blog posts, customer records, product images, settings, and years of accumulated content. Without a reliable backup system, unforeseen events such as file corruption, hacking, or accidental deletion can wipe everything out in an instant. This guide walks you through setting up automated WordPress backup using both DirectAdmin (at the hosting level) and UpdraftPlus (at the plugin level) together, giving you the strongest possible safety net for your website data.

Why WordPress Backup on Hosting Matters

Many website owners overlook backups until disaster strikes — and by then it is often too late. Studies show that over 60% of websites that suffer a hack or data loss event had no usable backup in place. Consider these real-world data loss scenarios that can happen to any WordPress site:

• Plugin or theme update gone wrong — A plugin update can conflict with the PHP version on your hosting, causing a White Screen of Death with no warning whatsoever.
• Malware or ransomware attack — Hackers can inject malware through outdated plugins, encrypting or deleting all your files. A clean backup is the fastest path to recovery.
• Accidental file or database deletion — A wrong click in File Manager or a mistyped SQL command can permanently delete data in seconds.
• Hosting server failure — Even with 99% uptime, hardware incidents such as SSD failures or RAID array faults can occur, and your data may not be recoverable without an external backup.
• Moving to a new hosting provider — A complete backup makes migrating your entire WordPress site to another server straightforward and risk-free.
• Developer or script errors on production — Editing code directly on a live site without a backup is a serious risk. A single syntax error in the wrong file can break the entire site.
• Expired hosting account — If a hosting account lapses without renewal, some providers may automatically delete account data after a short grace period.

The golden rule of website management is: "Data that is not backed up does not exist." And a backup is only valuable if you have also verified that it can be restored successfully.

What Is DirectAdmin Backup and What Does It Cover?

DirectAdmin is the control panel that AsiaGB uses to manage hosting accounts. It includes a built-in backup system that covers every component of your hosting account — going well beyond what a WordPress plugin alone can protect. Unlike UpdraftPlus, which is WordPress-specific, DirectAdmin backup operates at the hosting account level.

What DirectAdmin Backup Covers

• All website files — HTML, PHP, CSS, JavaScript, images, and all media files inside public_html/
• All MySQL databases — Includes the WordPress database and any other databases on the same account
• Email accounts and messages — All email mailboxes created in DirectAdmin, including stored messages
• DNS zone configuration — A records, CNAME records, MX records, and all other DNS entries
• FTP account settings — Usernames and access permissions (passwords excluded for security reasons)
• Subdomains and addon domain settings — All domain configurations on the same hosting account
• Cron job schedules — All scheduled automated tasks you have configured

The advantage of DirectAdmin backup is comprehensive coverage of the entire account in one operation. However, backup files are stored on the same hosting server by default, meaning a catastrophic server failure could affect both your live site and its backup simultaneously. This is exactly why combining DirectAdmin with UpdraftPlus — which sends backups to an off-site cloud location — is the recommended approach.

How to Configure Automatic Backup in DirectAdmin

DirectAdmin includes a scheduled backup system that can be configured to run automatically daily, weekly, or monthly. Follow these steps to set it up:

Step 1: Log In to DirectAdmin

Open your browser and navigate to yourdomain.com:2222, or use the DirectAdmin URL provided in your AsiaGB welcome email. Log in using your hosting account username and password.

Step 2: Navigate to the Backup Section

On the DirectAdmin main dashboard, locate the Advanced Features or Account Manager section and click Create/Restore Backups or Site Backup.

Step 3: Select What to Back Up

The backup page displays checkboxes for each component. It is recommended to select all of the following: Domain Data (website files), MySQL Databases, Email Accounts, FTP Accounts, and Subdomain Settings.

Step 4: Set an Automatic Schedule

Choose a schedule — Daily or Weekly depending on how frequently your site changes. Set the backup time to between 02:00 and 04:00 AM, when traffic is typically at its lowest, to minimize any impact on site performance.

Step 5: Set the Number of Backups to Retain

DirectAdmin lets you specify how many backup sets to keep — for example, 7 sets for one week of history, or 30 sets for a month. Setting a retention limit prevents your SSD disk space from being consumed by accumulated backups. After configuring all settings, click Save or Submit.

Downloading and Storing DirectAdmin Backup Files

Keeping backup files on the same server as your website is not sufficient protection. You should always download backups to a local computer or separate cloud storage, creating a copy that is physically isolated from the hosting server.

Downloading via Browser

1. In DirectAdmin, go to Create/Restore Backups.
2. Click the name of the backup file you want to download. File names follow the format backup-username-YYYY-MM-DD.tar.gz.
3. Your browser will begin downloading the file automatically.
4. Verify that the downloaded file size matches what is shown in DirectAdmin. A significant discrepancy indicates an incomplete download.

Downloading via FTP

For large backup files, using an FTP client such as FileZilla is faster and more reliable than browser download. Backup files are typically stored in the /backups/ folder within your account's home directory. Connect using your hosting FTP credentials and drag the backup file to your local machine.

Recommended Download Frequency by Site Type

Installing and Configuring UpdraftPlus for WordPress

UpdraftPlus is the most widely used WordPress backup plugin in the world, active on over 3 million websites. The free version is fully capable for most use cases, including automated backups to Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive — all without any additional cost.

Installation Steps

1. Log in to WordPress Admin at yourdomain.com/wp-admin.
2. Go to Plugins → Add New Plugin.
3. Search for "UpdraftPlus".
4. Click Install Now on the plugin titled "UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin" by UpdraftPlus.Com.
5. After installation completes, click Activate.
6. A setup prompt will appear at the top of the admin screen. Click Settings to begin configuration.

PHP Version Check

UpdraftPlus requires PHP 5.6 or higher, but PHP 7.4 or 8.1+ is strongly recommended for best performance and security. Check your current PHP version in DirectAdmin under PHP Version Manager or Select PHP Version.

What UpdraftPlus Can Back Up

• WordPress Database — All posts, pages, users, comments, settings, and custom tables
• Plugins — All plugin files in wp-content/plugins/, including deactivated plugins
• Themes — Active theme, child themes, and all installed themes in wp-content/themes/
• Uploads — All images and media files in wp-content/uploads/ — typically the largest component
• Others — Any additional files outside the above categories, such as custom fonts or third-party scripts

Configuring UpdraftPlus to Automatically Back Up to Google Drive

Sending backups to Google Drive is the simplest and most cost-effective way to achieve off-site backup storage. Your backup files live in your Google Account, completely separate from the hosting server — even if the server is compromised, your Google Drive backups remain safe.

Step-by-Step Google Drive Configuration

1. In WordPress Admin, go to Settings → UpdraftPlus Backups.
2. Click the Settings tab at the top of the page.
3. Configure the backup schedules:
   • Files backup schedule: Daily for frequently updated sites, Weekly for typical blogs.
   • Database backup schedule: Always set to Daily — the database changes every time someone comments, orders, or logs in.
   • Retain this many scheduled backups: Set to 7 to keep the last 7 backup sets.
4. Under Choose your remote storage, click the Google Drive icon.
5. Click Save Changes first. A link reading "Click here to authenticate with Google" will then appear.
6. Click that link. Your browser will redirect to Google's login page — select the Google Account you want to use for storing backups.
7. Grant UpdraftPlus access to Google Drive by clicking Allow.
8. Google will redirect you back to WordPress with a "Successfully authenticated with Google Drive" confirmation message.
9. Click Save Changes again to finalize the configuration.

Run a Test Backup Immediately

Do not leave the system untested. After completing setup, click the Backup / Restore tab and press Backup Now. Depending on your site size, this may take 2–10 minutes. A successful backup will appear both in the Existing Backups list within WordPress and in the UpdraftPlus folder in your Google Drive.

Testing WordPress Restore from Backup — Step by Step

A backup that has never been restore-tested has unknown value. IT professionals universally agree: test your restore process at least once per month to confirm that backup files are intact and that the restore procedure works correctly when you need it most.

Restoring from UpdraftPlus

1. In WordPress Admin, go to Settings → UpdraftPlus Backups.
2. Click the Backup / Restore tab.
3. Scroll down to see the list of existing backups, both local and stored on Google Drive.
4. Click Restore next to the backup version you want to use.
5. Select the components to restore: Database, Plugins, Themes, Uploads, or Others. Select all for a full restore.
6. Click Restore to confirm and begin the process.
7. UpdraftPlus will download the backup files from Google Drive (if using remote storage), extract them, and restore all selected components.
8. When complete, a "Restore successful!" message appears along with a link back to the admin dashboard.

Restoring from DirectAdmin Backup

1. In DirectAdmin, go to Create/Restore Backups.
2. In the Restore section, select the backup file from the list (if still on the server) or upload a backup file from your local computer first.
3. Choose what to restore: Domain Data, Databases, Email, or all components.
4. Click Restore Backups and wait for the process to complete. This may take several minutes depending on file size.
5. Verify the website after restoration to confirm all pages are functioning correctly.

Important Precautions When Restoring to a Live Site

• Restoring will overwrite all current data. Always create a fresh backup immediately before performing any restore operation.
• Schedule restores on a live site during off-peak hours — ideally between 2:00 and 4:00 AM.
• Restore to a staging environment first to verify data integrity before touching the production site.

The 3-2-1 Backup Strategy: 3 Copies, 2 Media Types, 1 Off-Site

The 3-2-1 backup strategy is an industry standard that has been endorsed by security organizations including NIST and the FBI for decades. It provides a structured framework for ensuring data survives any single point of failure. The three components are:

• 3 — Maintain 3 copies of your data: the live site, plus 2 separate backup copies.
• 2 — Store those copies on at least 2 different types of media or storage systems (e.g., server disk + cloud storage).
• 1 — Keep at least 1 copy off-site, in a location physically separate from your primary hosting server.

Applying 3-2-1 to WordPress Hosting

With a 3-2-1 system in place, even if your hosting server is completely compromised, your Google Drive backup is accidentally deleted, and your local hard drive fails simultaneously, you still have at least one surviving backup copy from which to restore your site.

Critical Warning: A Backup Is Only Valuable If You Test the Restore

The most common mistake WordPress site owners make is creating backups and never verifying that they can actually be restored. There are four primary reasons why a backup may fail when you need it most:

• Corrupted backup file — If the backup process is interrupted mid-run (such as by a server timeout or unexpected shutdown), the resulting file may be incomplete. File size can appear normal without revealing the corruption until a restore is attempted.
• SSD disk full during backup — If the hosting server's SSD storage is nearly full, the backup process may terminate halfway through, producing an unusable partial backup.
• Google Drive storage full — Once Google Drive's 15 GB limit is reached, UpdraftPlus cannot upload new backups. Notification of this condition may not be immediate or clearly visible.
• Expired authentication token — Google Drive access tokens granted to UpdraftPlus can expire over time, causing backups to fail silently without a clear error notification.

Monthly Backup Health Checklist

1. Confirm a new backup file exists in Google Drive within the past 24–48 hours.
2. Verify backup file sizes are reasonable — anything under 1 MB for a standard WordPress site warrants investigation.
3. Perform a database-only restore on a staging site or local environment to confirm data integrity.
4. Check UpdraftPlus notification emails for any backup failure messages.
5. Verify that Google Drive still has sufficient free space for at least 2–3 more months of backups.
6. Confirm DirectAdmin scheduled backup is still active by checking the timestamp of the most recent backup file.

Set a calendar reminder for the first day of every month to run this backup audit. It takes under 30 minutes and gives you confidence that your disaster recovery system will work when it matters most.

FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress Backup on Hosting

How often should I back up my WordPress site?

For a site that publishes new content daily, back up the database daily and back up files weekly. For an e-commerce site with continuous orders, database backups every 6–12 hours are recommended to minimize data loss in a worst-case scenario.

What is the difference between UpdraftPlus Free and Premium?

UpdraftPlus Free supports the major cloud storage providers — Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, OneDrive, and FTP — which covers most needs. Premium adds features including Automatic Restore, WordPress Multisite support, Incremental Backup (backing up only changed data), and Priority Support. Pricing starts at approximately $70/year.

My WordPress admin is inaccessible. Can I still restore from backup?

Yes. DirectAdmin operates completely independently from WordPress. Navigate to yourdomain.com:2222 and restore directly from DirectAdmin without requiring any access to the WordPress admin interface. For restoring from UpdraftPlus backups without admin access, upload the updraftplus-restore.php file via FTP and access it directly through your browser.

Do I need both DirectAdmin Backup and UpdraftPlus, or is one enough?

Using both is strongly recommended because they protect different aspects of your hosting environment. DirectAdmin covers the entire hosting account including email accounts, while UpdraftPlus provides WordPress-specific backups delivered automatically to an off-site cloud location. Together they implement the 3-2-1 strategy effectively.

What backup file size is considered normal?

This depends on your site's size. For a typical WordPress site with moderate media, backup files generally range from 50 MB to 500 MB. A backup smaller than 1 MB warrants investigation for incompleteness. Anything over 2 GB suggests it may be worth auditing wp-content/uploads/ for oversized or unnecessary files.

What backup services does AsiaGB provide?

AsiaGB uses DirectAdmin control panel, which enables users to configure their own scheduled backups stored on the server's SSD storage. Combining DirectAdmin backup with UpdraftPlus sending backups to Google Drive gives you a complete 3-2-1 backup system with both on-site and off-site coverage.