JetBackup – What is it and how do I use it?

JetBackup is the software that we use to back up our servers to our disaster recovery server located in a remote facility. JetBackup does not give you the ability to download a copy of your site as it is right now and only grants you access to the backups we’ve already taken. Generally there is one restoration point per night and we keep up to 3 at any one time.

Here is what JetBackup looks like within cPanel:

If you want to generate and/or download a full backup of your account or even partial backups of your account as your data is right now you will want to do that via cPanel -> Files -> Backup. If you need help with this we do have another article on generating cPanel Backups.

While we do give you access to JetBackup it is worth noting that this system does not generate backups on-the-fly nor does it give you a copy of your data as it is right now on the server.

There are several options with JetBackup.

Please note that only “Regular” unencrypted backups will be generated. We encourage you to apply your backup settings as soon as your account is setup with hostworld. Unfortunately it is not possible for us to force encrypted backups as these require a key that you must retain.

Please follow our guide here to setup your backups: https://portal.hostworld.uk/index.php/knowledgebase/12/Configuring-your-backups.html

Full Account Backups

With the JetBackup feature you can download a full backup of your account in the JetBackup format which varies slightly from the standard cPanel backup you can generate yourself. The full backup provided by JetBackup may require some modification to restore using the standard cPanel package restoration tool. If you simply want a full copy of your account we suggest following the directions provided for generating a cPanel Backup.
If you’d like us to restore a full account backup, please submit a support ticket to us and we’ll action that as soon as possible for you. We don’t allow you to  restore your own backups due to problems this can cause with permissions and other server-side conflicts.

File Backups

The File Backups section of JetBackup will allow you to restore any files and folders you wish from our disaster recovery server to your hosting server as it was on the date and time the backup was taken. You would access this feature and then choose the backup snapshot you wish to restore from after which point you’ll be taken to a file manager interface where you can pick and choose what you wish to restore. If you do wish to restore your account back to a prior time you will want to restore your files and then your databases.

Please note, this feature to restore specific files within JetBackup is not available when Encrypted Backups are selected. A full account restoration would be required.

Database Backups

The Database Backups section of JetBackup will allow you to restore any databases within your account back to their state when our backups were taken. You will see a list of your databases as well as the time that the database backup was taken. This would be the second half of the process if you wished to restore your account back to a prior state after performing a file backup restoration.

The JetBackup System is our disaster recovery platform and, while we give you access to it, we do not guarantee that the system will meet your needs or that it will be available at all times and under all situations. We make JetBackup available on a best-effort basis and there will be times where maintenance or other issues result in the system being unavailable for end-user access.

cPanel backups are always available and if you have any questions about any of this please reach out to support. In the event that you do need a restoration or data from JetBackup and end-user access is disabled please reach out to support.

Please note, this feature to restore specific databases within JetBackup is not available when Encrypted Backups are selected. A full account restoration would be required.

How the backups stored on our remote server

All of our backups are transferred to our remote server using secure FTP encryption.

In addition to this you must decide how (and if) the backups are stored on our remote backup server. There are three backup options that you must choose within the JetBackup section within cPanel. They are as follows:

• Regular backups
  • If you select this option this means that all of your backups will still be transferred over the internet using secure FTP however they’ll be stored in an unencryped manner on the remote backup server.
• Encrypted Backups – GDPR Best Practice – This is our recommended backup type.
  • If you select this option this means that all of your backups will be transferred over the internet using secure FTP and they’ll encrypted before being sent using either your encryption key or a key stored locally on our servers.
  • Please note, if you choose the “Remote Encryption Key” option you must retain your encryption key to be able to restore any of your backup files. We will not have access to this key and it cannot be retrieved by us or yourself if you lose it.
  • If the “Local Encryption Key” is selected this means that the encryption key used to generate your backup files will be retained within our JetBackup system and will allow us to restore your backups without you needing to retain your own encryption key.
• No Backups – not recommended.
  • If you do not wish us to retain any backups of your files then select this option. Please note in this case we will not be able to recover your data due to hard drive or hardware failure on our servers.
• The Right To Be Forgotten (*GDPR Best Practice) – Recommended
  • If this option is enabled when your account is closed/terminated all data (including backups) related to your account will be permanently deleted within the number of days specified.

Want to learn more about how to use JetBackup?

Shared cPanel users: https://docs.jetbackup.com/manual/cpanel/index.html – please note that some features may not be available with hostworld.

The JetBackup System is our disaster recovery platform and, while we give you access to it, we do not guarantee that the system will meet your needs or that it will be available at all times and under all situations.  We make JetBackup available on a best-effort basis and there will be times where maintenance or other issues result in the system being unavailable for end-user access. As per our terms of service we do not guarantee the availability of backups and you should retain your own backups.