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ConstellaWP Docs

How backups work

ConstellaWP does not store backup files. You connect a bucket you already own; the control plane only orchestrates the job, tracks metadata, and applies retention. Archives never transit through ConstellaWP servers.

That model is BYOS — Bring Your Own Storage.

Supported providers

Section titled “Supported providers”

ConstellaWP speaks S3-compatible APIs:

Other S3-compatible products are not listed in the UI. Use the provider that matches the form fields.

What a backup contains

Section titled “What a backup contains”

The agent:

  1. Collects system info and writes a manifest (WordPress/PHP versions, plugins, themes, size)
  2. Dumps the database
  3. Archives WordPress files (full zip for current agents)

Object key pattern:

{path prefix}/{site id}/backup-{YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS}.zip

The default path prefix is backups. Changing the prefix later only affects new backups.

Job flow

Section titled “Job flow”
  1. You click backup, a policy fires on schedule, or an update runs with backup first.
  2. ConstellaWP creates a backup job and presigns a PUT URL on your destination (valid for 2 hours).
  3. The worker tells the agent to start. The agent builds the archive on the WordPress server.
  4. The agent uploads directly to your bucket using that URL.
  5. The agent reports completion. ConstellaWP stores path, size, manifest, and expires_at from the policy’s retention.

Upload URLs are short-lived on purpose. Download URLs used in the UI expire in 15 minutes; restore uses a longer window so the agent can finish a safety backup first.

Execution on the server

Section titled “Execution on the server”

Priority:

  1. WP-CLI when available (wp db export, then archive)
  2. Fallback PHP (shell_exec / WP_Filesystem)

Large sites may need enough disk for a temporary archive. The agent reports free disk in capabilities.

Manual vs scheduled

Section titled “Manual vs scheduled”
  • Manual: site Backups page (owners and admins). Requires at least one destination on the organization.
  • Scheduled: a backup policy (daily / weekly / monthly at 02:00 server time).

If the site has no policy, a manual backup uses the organization’s first destination.

Test the destination

Section titled “Test the destination”

On Storage, Test connection writes then deletes a small probe object ({prefix}/constellawp-connection-test-….txt). That checks write and delete, not only listing. Fix IAM/key permissions if the test fails — backups will fail the same way.

What ConstellaWP does not do

Section titled “What ConstellaWP does not do”
  • It does not keep a second copy of the zip
  • Deleting a destination in ConstellaWP does not delete objects already in the bucket
  • Hosting-provider backups (cPanel lists, Cloudways snapshots) are separate; see Hosting