How to Take a Manual Backup Before Making Major Site Changes

While Laughing Squid Cloud Hosting includes automated daily backups via JetBackup, there are times when you should take a manual, on-demand backup.

If you are about to make a major change to your active theme or hire a developer to edit your code, taking a fresh snapshot right before you begin is the safest way to prevent a disaster. If the update breaks your site, you won't have to wait for the next automated backup, and you won't lose any work you did earlier in the day.

Fortunately, you can create an instant snapshot directly inside your hosting panel using JetBackup 5.

How to Create an On-Demand Snapshot with JetBackup 5

JetBackup 5 allows you to create a manual snapshot of your entire account. This snapshot is stored temporarily and acts as your perfect restore point if your updates don't go as planned.

1. Log in to your DirectAdmin control panel.

2. Scroll down to the Extra Features section and click on the JetBackup 5 icon.

3. On the JetBackup dashboard, locate and click the Create Snapshot (or "Create Backup on Demand") button.

4. Confirm that you would like to proceed when prompted.

5. JetBackup will place your snapshot request in the queue. You can monitor its progress by clicking on the Queue tab in the JetBackup menu.

6. Once the status shows as "Completed," your manual snapshot is safely stored! You can now proceed with your website updates.

(Note: If you need to revert your site using this snapshot, simply navigate to Full Backups within JetBackup, locate the snapshot you just took, and click Restore).

⚠️ Important Reminder About Storage Limits

Our Cloud Hosting plans (CH1, CH2, and CH3) are highly optimized but have strict NVMe SSD storage limits to ensure peak performance.

Manual snapshots require disk space and will count against your total storage quota. While JetBackup automatically deletes these on-demand snapshots after a short period, taking multiple snapshots or leaving them on your server is the fastest way to run out of storage space.

Best Practice: Only generate a snapshot immediately before making major changes and delete it after download.