How to backup, generate or restore a backup of an MS SQL database

Winhost > Databases
You can generate a backup of your database that will be placed into your account and made available for download via FTP. The file created will have a .bak extension, and can be used for maintaining safety copies of your database or for use in your local development environment. Note however that the backup files are intended for restoration to our servers, and we cannot provide support for using the database backup on your local system.
 

To create a database backup
  1. Go to the MS SQL section in Control Panel
  2. Click the "Manage" link for the database you wish to back up
  3. Click the "Backup" link
  • The backup file is created in the following format: [DatabaseName]_backup.bak
  • Backup will be placed in the /App_data directory (if /App_data does not exist, it will automatically be created)
  • The backup process will fail if a backup file with the same name already exists in the /App_data directory. You must rename or download any existing backups before creating a new backup.

 
To restore a backup file to a Winhost database
  • Make sure the backup file is in the /App_data directory
  • and the name is in the following format: [DatabaseName]_backup.bak (restoration will fail if you attempt to restore a database that does not conform to this naming convention)
  1. Go to the MS SQL section in Control Panel
  2. Click the "Manage" link for the database you wish to back up
  3. Click the "Restore" link. The existing database will be overwritten and all existing data will be replaced!
The database restoration tool is intended to be used with backups generated in Control Panel only. If you create a backup on your local system and attempt to restore it to the live database the restoration may fail.

 
Attach Database Feature

The Attach Database feature is available if your account is on the Ultimate and Power plan. To use the Attach Database feature please refer to this Knowledge Base article.
In addition to backing up your site files, our SiteBackup service can also back up your databases. Now you can control backup retention and schedule. Automate your backups with SiteBackup.
Article ID: 1045, , Modified: 6/26/2019 at 12:16 PM

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