Assistance needed! This marks the second day of my quest for an answer to this vexing problem... :(
I employ FileZilla to gain ftp access. I have a MODX hosted site for which I need a clone on my local server. I intended to grab every file via FileZilla and transfer them over to a directory on my Open Server. However, FileZilla keeps returning a myriad of errors with numerous files failing to be transferred; the admittedly high number exceeds 70%. The notion of manually downloading contents from each directory appears absurd to me. There has to be a more efficient and streamlined method out there. If anyone is familiar with a workaround, I beg you to let me in on it! It is of utmost importance! Also, is it possible that there is a feature to backup the entire website folio via the MODX admin dashboard?
Here are some steps to help solve your problem:
Check for errors: First, inspect the error messages you are getting in FileZilla. They can give you crucial hints about what's going wrong and aid you in investigating the problems causing this issue.
Increase timeout settings: Connection time out errors are common when transferring large amounts of data with FTP. You might want to consider increasing your FTP client's timeout settings. In FileZilla, this can be found in Edit > Settings > Connection > Timeout.
Try a different FTP client: If FileZilla remains unreliable, you may want to try another FTP client such as WinSCP or Cyberduck to see if it yields better results.
Resolve permissions issues: If you're facing permission-related errors, you may need to adjust the file/folder permissions on the server side. If so, you will need root access or assistance from your hosting provider.
Moving on to your question about MODX, unfortunately, as of my last learning update in September 2021, MODX does not inherently support a full site backup (including both files and database) from within the dashboard. However, you can backup the site's database from within the MODX manager by going to System > Database > Backup.
For the file system, you can use the aforementioned FTP method or you could also employ a MODX extra like BackupMODX which allows for a quick backup of your MODX site directly from within the manager dashboard. Please verify that this is still pertinent information as it was correct as of my last learning data update in September 2021.
Lastly, for local development, you can setup a MODX site on your local server by following these steps:
Download and transfer all MODX files to your local server using an FTP client.
Export your live site's MODX database and import on your local server's database.
Adjust the configuration file located at core/config/config.inc.php and replace the live site database credentials with your local server database credentials.
Ensure that you set the correct base URL and other paths for your local setup.
Be sure to keep backups of all original files and databases before you start this operation. Also, be careful when updating configuration files as incorrect settings could cause issues on your live site.
Suggestions that might help:
Using SSH instead of FTP: If you have SSH access to your hosting provider, you could use it to zip/compress your website files and database into a single file, then download it to your local server. This process tends to be faster and more reliable than FTP for large amounts of data. To do so, navigate to your website's root directory and run a command to compress it, such as tar -cvzf backup.tar.gz /path/to/your/website/. You can then download the .tar.gz file.
Using Cloud Storage: Another option is to use some sort of cloud storage to move the files. In this method, you would compress your files into a zip or tar.gz file as described above, then upload that file to a cloud storage drive. Afterward, you would download it to your local machine for extraction and use.
Using a WordPress Clone Plugin: Even though your site isn't WordPress-based, you might consider using a solution that works for WordPress sites, such as WP-pipe, WP Clone, or Duplicator. However, you may need to perform additional customization to make this solution work for MODX.
Site Transfer by Hosting Provider: Some hosting providers offer an option to move a site from one location to another. You will have to contact your hosting provider's customer support for that.
Regarding your inquiry about MODX, while MODX does not offer a built-in one-click solution to download all website content, you do have options available:
Using the MODX Backup Plugin: If you try the BackupMODX plugin I previously mentioned, you may be able to back up both your database and your website's core files directly from your MODX dashboard.
Using a Site crawler: There are services and tools that will crawl your website to create an HTML-based copy. Httrack is an example. But, bear in mind that functionality relying on a server-side language like PHP will not work in this static copy of your site.
Here are a few additional considerations:
Check your hosting package: It's possible that your hosting package doesn't allow you to download large amounts of data at once or within a specific timeframe. Contact your hosting provider's customer service for detailed information about this.
Review your Internet connection: Depending on the size of your website, the transfer could take a significant amount of time and may also be affected by the stability and speed of your Internet connection. If possible, you may want to try to perform the transfer from a different network.
Regarding backups in the MODX dashboard:
MODX itself doesn't have the built-in capability to make full website backups. However, it does have various extras (plugins) that can help with this process, such as BackupMODX and mySQLDumper for data backups, like I mentioned before.
File System backups are more challenging directly from MODX, but some extras can assist with this process. One such extra is Teleport, a neat MODX tool that allows you to create snapshots of your MODX installations, capturing both the database and filesystem, to migrate or backup the installation.
While performing these operations, a good rule of thumb is to always have recent file and database backups before starting. Definitely reach out for professional help if you're unsure of the process. Additionally, consider adopting a regular backup routine to minimize potential future data loss. You can use your cPanel or other server management tool to schedule regular backups, or you can use cloud-based solutions that provide scheduled backups as a feature.
Without CMS and shell access, here's what you can do:
Dispatch Adminer (a single PHP file), pull off a database dump.
Adminer is a lightweight yet powerful database management tool packed into one PHP file. It can handle databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MS SQL, Oracle, and others.
Search for 'PHP backup tools' on Google - identify a fitting PHP-scripted tool that will bundle everything into an archive for your convenience.
You have to just pick up the finalized archive. This tool offers a helpful workaround to snapshot your site's state and retrieve the data when needed. Backing up is vital in case of inadvertent data loss, or for migration purposes.
From my perspective, it seems that to effect changes and re-upload, we need to create a duplicate. Therefore, integrating ftp with a particular Integrated Development Environment (IDE) would be the optimal approach. PhpStorm, as an example, natively supports FTP and is capable of automatically aligning changes during saving, provided that it has been set up to do so.
FTP compatibility is likewise built into IDEs such as Netbeans, CodeLobster, WebMatrix, and Komodo Edit.
One alternative might be substitute FileZilla with WinSCP. This configuration allows for automatic folder synchronization. On a related note, automating synchronization can help prevent manual errors and boost overall productivity.