How to Set Up Automatic Daily Website Backups in cPanel

Every web developer who has been doing this long enough has a horror story: the database that got corrupted, the plugin update that broke everything, the hacking attack that replaced their homepage with spam. The people who recover quickly are the ones who have recent backups. The people who lose weeks of work are the ones who didn't.

Setting up automatic backups takes about 10 minutes. This guide covers every backup option available in cPanel on your SNBD HOST cPanel hosting plan.

Understanding What You Need to Back Up

A complete website backup consists of two things:

• Website files: Everything in your public_html folder — HTML files, PHP files, WordPress themes, plugins, uploaded images, etc.
• MySQL databases: All the content stored in your database — blog posts, pages, user accounts, WooCommerce products and orders, settings, etc.

If you only back up files without the database (or vice versa), you can't fully restore your site. You need both.

Method 1: cPanel Backup Wizard (Manual Full Backup)

The Backup Wizard is the easiest way to create a complete backup manually. This is good for before you make major changes (like updating WordPress or installing a new theme).

1. Log into cPanel and scroll to the Files section
2. Click Backup Wizard
3. Click Back Up
4. Choose Full Backup to back up everything at once
5. Under "Backup Destination," choose Home Directory (this saves the backup file to your server)
6. Enter your email address — cPanel will email you when the backup is complete
7. Click Generate Backup

The backup process runs in the background. Depending on the size of your site, it could take a few minutes to an hour. When it's done, you'll get an email. The backup file will be in your home directory (one level above public_html) with a name like backup-7.12.2026_yourdomain.tar.gz.

Important: A backup stored on the same server as your website doesn't protect you if the server itself has a problem. Download the backup file to your computer using File Manager for a true off-site backup.

Method 2: JetBackup (Automated Daily Backups — Recommended)

Many cPanel hosting providers, including SNBD HOST, offer JetBackup or similar automated backup tools. This creates scheduled backups automatically without you having to do anything after the initial setup.

1. In cPanel, look for a section called JetBackup or Backup
2. If JetBackup is available, you'll see options for your current backups
3. Click Schedule or Create Schedule
4. Set the backup frequency to Daily
5. Set the retention period — how many days of backups to keep (7 days is a good minimum)
6. Choose what to back up: Files, Databases, Email, etc. Select all for a complete backup
7. Save the schedule

JetBackup will now automatically create backups every day. You can browse these backups at any time and restore individual files, databases, or entire account snapshots from specific dates.

Contact SNBD HOST support to confirm whether JetBackup is included in your plan and how to access it.

Method 3: WordPress-Level Backups with UpdraftPlus

If your site runs on WordPress, UpdraftPlus is the gold standard free backup plugin. It handles both files and databases, can run on a schedule, and can automatically send backups to external storage like Google Drive, Dropbox, or Amazon S3.

1. Log into WordPress admin (yourdomain.com/wp-admin)
2. Go to Plugins → Add New and search for "UpdraftPlus"
3. Install and activate the plugin
4. Go to Settings → UpdraftPlus Backups
5. Click the Settings tab

Configure automatic scheduling:

1. Under "Files backup schedule," set the interval to Daily and keep the last 7 backups
2. Under "Database backup schedule," also set to Daily and keep 7

Configure remote storage (Google Drive):

1. Under "Choose your remote storage," click the Google Drive icon
2. Follow the steps to connect your Google Drive account
3. UpdraftPlus will now send every backup to Google Drive automatically

This means even if your entire hosting server had a catastrophic failure, your backups are safe in Google Drive. This is the best protection for WordPress sites.

Method 4: Database-Specific Backups via cPanel

If you want to back up only the database (useful for frequent content changes):

1. In cPanel, go to Databases → Backup
2. Under "Download a MySQL Database Backup," you'll see a list of your databases
3. Click the database name to download a .gz file of that database
4. Save it to your computer

For files-only backup:

1. In the same Backup section, under "Download a Home Directory Backup," click the Home Directory link
2. This downloads all your files as a compressed archive

How to Schedule Automatic Backups Using Cron Jobs

For advanced users who want total control, you can set up a cron job to automatically run a backup script on a schedule. This requires some comfort with command-line syntax, but cPanel makes it less scary.

1. In cPanel, go to Advanced → Cron Jobs
2. Under "Add New Cron Job," set the timing. For a daily backup at 2 AM: set Minute to 0, Hour to 2, and leave Day, Month, Week as *
3. In the Command field, enter a backup command. A simple example that backs up the database: mysqldump -u yourusername -pyourpassword yourdatabasename > /home/youraccount/backup_$(date +%Y%m%d).sql
4. Click Add New Cron Job

Cron jobs are powerful but require you to know the exact commands. For most users, JetBackup or UpdraftPlus is a better choice.

Best Practices for Website Backups

• Follow the 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies of your data, on 2 different types of storage, with 1 off-site. For example: your hosting server, your computer, and Google Drive.
• Test your backups: A backup you've never restored is just a file. Once a month, try restoring your database to a test environment to make sure the backup actually works.
• Back up before major changes: Always create a manual backup before updating WordPress core, changing themes, or installing new plugins.
• Keep at least 7 days of backups: If you discover a problem that started 3 days ago, you need a backup from before that date.
• Don't rely only on your host's backups: Your host may keep backups, but they're not guaranteed to be recent or easy to restore. Maintain your own.

Once your backups are set up, check in on them once a week to make sure they're running. Look at UpdraftPlus or JetBackup to confirm new backups were created recently. A backup system that silently fails isn't protecting you.

All SNBD HOST BDIX hosting plans come with access to cPanel's backup tools. Contact support if you need help confirming your backup configuration or restoring from a backup.