Configuring File Storage for Classic for backup with cPanel

You can use these instructions to configure your backups to be stored in IBM Cloud® File Storage for Classic by cPanel. The assumption is that root or sudo SSH and full WebHost Manager (WHM) access are available.

While you can store a backup directly to a remote filesystem, cPanel & WHM does not support this configuration. For more information, see the cPanel documentation for backup.

1. Connect to the host through SSH.

2. Ensure that a mount point target exists.

   By default, the cPanel system saves backup files locally, to the /backup directory. In this document, the assumption is that the /backup folder exists and contains backups, and /backup2 can be used as the new mount point.

3. Configure your File Storage for Classic as described in one of the following topics:

   • Accessing File Storage for Classic on Red Hat Enterprise Linux®,
   • Mounting File Storage for Classic in CentOS,
   • Mounting File Storage for Classic in Ubuntu.

4. Mount the volume to /backup2 and configure it in file system table (/etc/fstab) to enable mounting on start.

   By default, NFS downgrades any files that were created with the root permissions to the nobody user. To allow root clients to retain the root permissions on the NFS share, no_root_squash needs to be added to /etc/exports.

5. Optional. Copy existing backups to the new storage. You can use rsync for example.

   rsync -azv /backup/* /backup2/
   

   This command compresses and transmits your data, and preserves as much as possible, except for hard links. It also provides information about what files are being transferred, plus a brief summary at the end.

6. Log in to WebHost Manager, and go to the backup configuration through Home > Backup > Backup Configuration.

7. Edit the configuration to save the backups in the new mount point.

   • Change the default backup directory by entering the absolute path to the new location in place of the /backup/ directory.

   • Select Enable to mount a backup drive. This setting causes the configuration process to check the /etc/fstab file for a backup mount (/backup2).

     If a mount exists with the same name as the staging directory, the backup configuration process mounts the drive and backs up the information there. After the backup process finishes, it dismounts the drive.

8. Apply the changes by clicking Save Configuration.

9. Optional. As dictated by your particular use case and business needs, remove the old storage from the server and cancel from the account.