I've noticed a peculiar problem in cPanel's backup system that started after the last major upgrade, and was wondering if anyone reading this could help...
Starting in July I noticed a problem in my compressed backups for my accounts. The issue is that when I unzip a tar.gz for certain accounts, some of the files/folders are being split apart from the main backup folder. In other words, when you usually unzip a cPanel backup the first thing you see is a single folder named with the account name. That folder then breaks down into the many account folders, the home directory, etc. But starting last month I noticed that when upzipping a backup there were now two folders, the account folder, and another folder called "home."
Upon looking in this extra folder I discovered that inside it were what appeared to be random folders and files taken from the home directory folder in the backup. It seems that when backing up an account, the backup system is splitting certain folders and files off from the main backup, and is putting them in this extra home folder. At first I thought these folders may have been duplicates of what was in the main backup folder. So I checked and did a comparison. What I discovered was that many of the folders were simply empty, and their counterparts in the main backup folder were indeed there and contained files. But, I found other cases where there were files that were actually split from the main backup folder, and were not in both places.
I started thinking about what may have caused this. One of the big changes made in the cPanel backup system was that it no longer compresses the home directory folder on its own. In the past the home directory was separately compressed, and was embedded in the main tar.gz. You used to have to unzip it separately. The latest revisions to the backup system stopped doing this, and now the home directory is included as a normal folder, and is not zipped.
I think this change is related to the problem I found, because I noticed the folders and files that were being split apart had longer file paths. In other words, they had more folders within folders, or long file names. It's possible that by not compressing the home directory some sort of limit is being reached related to file path length. Perhaps this is why these files and folders are being split off in this way.
Most content managed websites (like WordPress sites) have deeply complex folder/file structures. It can be disastrous if the backups are not true mirrors of what's in the public_html folder. I actually discovered this problem when attempted to restore a WordPress site from a backup. It was very problematic because some of the files/folders were being separated in this way. I had to determine where they came from and reintegrate them with the rest of the files.
Please let me stress that this is a new problem that did not occur prior to the last upgrade to the backup system. I like to think the common denominator is the cause here. Since the home directory is no longer compressed, this is probably related to the cause. I admit its convenient not having it compressed, but by compressing it separately ensures that everything is contained within it.
If anyone can shed some light on this issue, please let me know. I appreciate any help regarding this!
~ Michael
Starting in July I noticed a problem in my compressed backups for my accounts. The issue is that when I unzip a tar.gz for certain accounts, some of the files/folders are being split apart from the main backup folder. In other words, when you usually unzip a cPanel backup the first thing you see is a single folder named with the account name. That folder then breaks down into the many account folders, the home directory, etc. But starting last month I noticed that when upzipping a backup there were now two folders, the account folder, and another folder called "home."
Upon looking in this extra folder I discovered that inside it were what appeared to be random folders and files taken from the home directory folder in the backup. It seems that when backing up an account, the backup system is splitting certain folders and files off from the main backup, and is putting them in this extra home folder. At first I thought these folders may have been duplicates of what was in the main backup folder. So I checked and did a comparison. What I discovered was that many of the folders were simply empty, and their counterparts in the main backup folder were indeed there and contained files. But, I found other cases where there were files that were actually split from the main backup folder, and were not in both places.
I started thinking about what may have caused this. One of the big changes made in the cPanel backup system was that it no longer compresses the home directory folder on its own. In the past the home directory was separately compressed, and was embedded in the main tar.gz. You used to have to unzip it separately. The latest revisions to the backup system stopped doing this, and now the home directory is included as a normal folder, and is not zipped.
I think this change is related to the problem I found, because I noticed the folders and files that were being split apart had longer file paths. In other words, they had more folders within folders, or long file names. It's possible that by not compressing the home directory some sort of limit is being reached related to file path length. Perhaps this is why these files and folders are being split off in this way.
Most content managed websites (like WordPress sites) have deeply complex folder/file structures. It can be disastrous if the backups are not true mirrors of what's in the public_html folder. I actually discovered this problem when attempted to restore a WordPress site from a backup. It was very problematic because some of the files/folders were being separated in this way. I had to determine where they came from and reintegrate them with the rest of the files.
Please let me stress that this is a new problem that did not occur prior to the last upgrade to the backup system. I like to think the common denominator is the cause here. Since the home directory is no longer compressed, this is probably related to the cause. I admit its convenient not having it compressed, but by compressing it separately ensures that everything is contained within it.
If anyone can shed some light on this issue, please let me know. I appreciate any help regarding this!
~ Michael
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