BackupDotNetNuke

It is very important that you learn early on how to backup your installation of DotNetNuke. Just incase something goes wrong, or if you delete a file by mistake, or if you change hosting companies, having a tested fully functional backup will save you time over the life of your site.

I always backup my sites directly after installation, before any upgrades to the core framework, and before installation or updating of any module. DotNetNuke itself does not provide any methods to automate the backup procedure, you need to pick a backup procedure and test to make sure the backup is fully functional. The basic steps for manually backing up your site are as follows: 

• backup the files
  
  • if you only have FTP access, you will need to download the entire application file-by-file
  • if you have RDP access, you can easily just zip up the DNN installation
  • some hosting companies provide a control panel which might have a backup option you can run manually
• backup the database
  
  • RDP: open SQL Manager and right click on your database and select the backup option
  • T-SQL: look into the " BACKUP DATABASE" command
  • Hosting Control Panel: also sometimes contain an option to backup any databases that are configured on your account, contact your hosting company and ask them how you can backup your DB. 

Other methods exist for backing up your site as well, a few commercial modules can be found as well as a few free options as well. 

• LazyBackup by Oliver Hine: provides an automated offsite backup to Amazon S3
• DNN BackItUp by Derek Trauger
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