Background

When you create a package for backup or migration, you need to set backup options. There are currently four backup options. Let’s discuss how you can use each of these to the fullest.

Database backup only

Manual backup support: YES
Scheduled backups support: YES

Description:

This package contains only the database for your site or subsite. It does not include your site’s plugins, themes, or media files.

When to use this:

Use this option if you only want a snapshot of your site database. This package type can be created much faster than the other options because it does not require archiving media files, plugins, or themes.

Select this option if you are certain that your plugins, themes, and media files remain unchanged, and only the content, data, and users are frequently updated (which you need to back up). This is where you want to select the database backup only package.

This is typically useful if you have a large site with numerous plugins and a substantial uploads directory. A periodic backup that includes all this will consume much of your hard drive space. Selecting a database backup package for your periodic backup solution using Prime Mover PRO would be simpler.

Then your host should take care of the rest of your file backups, including your plugins, themes, and media files, except for your database and your large site. At this site size, you should rely on additional redundant file backups, such as those provided by your host.

Database + Media files backup only

Manual backup support: YES
Scheduled backups support: YES

Description:

This package contains your site/subsite database and all files in your site’s uploads directory, except those intentionally excluded. This does not include your site plugins or themes.

When to use this:

Use this if you need a backup that includes your site database and media files. This is particularly useful if your site content and media files are frequently updated. Then, your site’s plugins and themes remain unchanged or are not crucial to back up (because you can easily restore them in other ways, such as re-downloading from the WordPress plugin repository and your third-party plugin vendors).

This type of package can be completed much faster than a complete package, but slower than the database-only package.

Complete full backup (Database + Plugins/Themes + Media files)

Manual backup support: YES
Scheduled backups support: YES

Description:

As the name implies, this package includes the following:

When to use this:

If you want a comprehensive snapshot, you need to choose this option. This will enable you to restore the site to its exact state when the snapshot was created. This means restoring the site to its original plugin/theme versions, including all media files and database content at that time. This package is also most suitable for migration to another site, as it includes everything the site needs to restore.

However, please note that this package type is the slowest to create and one of the most resource-intensive. It will consume the highest amount of disk space among all backup options, so it is recommended to save this type of backup to external locations (such as Google Drive or Dropbox) and then regularly delete backups on your server to conserve space. Then, schedule the backup every month or less frequently.

Debugging Package

Manual backup support: YES
Scheduled backups support: NO

Description:

Prime Mover debugging package. This feature is only supported when creating a package manually, but it is not supported as a backup option for scheduled backups.

When to use this:

This is best used when you want to create a package from a super large site and transfer it to your development environment for debugging purposes. This should not be used for a regular site migration because it does not include media files in the package or perform any search and replace during migration.

The URLs of the media files are still referenced externally to the source site.

Last updated: May 10, 2025

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