FAQ
Does my hosting company not back up my store already?
Section titled “Does my hosting company not back up my store already?”Many do, often on the same infrastructure, with their own retention and restore terms. Off-site Backup keeps copies in storage you control, in another data center, on your schedule. Keep both.
Which storage should I use?
Section titled “Which storage should I use?”Any S3-compatible storage works: AWS S3, Backblaze B2, Wasabi, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces or your own MinIO. Pick a region away from your store’s server. FTP/FTPS works with any backup server or NAS that offers it.
What does it cost?
Section titled “What does it cost?”The add-on has no subscription. Your storage provider bills you for the space and traffic of your own bucket; small stores often stay inside free or low tiers. Check your provider’s prices.
How big are the archives?
Section titled “How big are the archives?”The database archive is your SQL dump, compressed (typically a few MB to a few hundred MB). The files archive contains code, themes and images; thumbnails are excluded by default because the store recreates them.
Can it restore my store with one click?
Section titled “Can it restore my store with one click?”No. Restoring overwrites live data, so it stays a manual, deliberate step. Usage lists the steps.
Is the backup encrypted?
Section titled “Is the backup encrypted?”Only if you turn on Encrypt archives. Then the archive is encrypted with AES-256 on your server before the upload, and the storage provider only holds unreadable files. Keep the password safe: there is no way to recover it.
Was it tested with real storage providers?
Section titled “Was it tested with real storage providers?”It was tested against local S3-compatible and FTP/FTPS test servers: signed requests (checked against the AWS Signature Version 4 examples), single and multipart uploads, checksums, retries, retention, encrypted archives, downloads and a database restore into an empty database. It was not tested against live AWS, Backblaze, Wasabi or Cloudflare accounts. Use Test connection after setup.
A backup failed. What now?
Section titled “A backup failed. What now?”Open the run log: every step and the exact error are listed. Common causes: wrong keys or region (SignatureDoesNotMatch, AuthorizationHeaderMalformed), bucket name, firewall blocking outgoing FTP, PHP time limit on the cron URL (use the command-line cron), or not enough disk space for the archive.
Does it slow down the store?
Section titled “Does it slow down the store?”Backups run from the cron or when you click a button, not during page views. Making the archive uses CPU and disk for a few seconds to minutes, so pick a quiet hour.
Multi-Vendor and CS-Cart (Ultimate)?
Section titled “Multi-Vendor and CS-Cart (Ultimate)?”Both are supported. On Multi-Vendor, only administrators see the add-on, never vendors. On CS-Cart (Ultimate), one backup covers all storefronts; settings are global.
Still stuck?
Section titled “Still stuck?”Work through the troubleshooting guide, then contact support with your CS-Cart version, edition, PHP version and the add-on version (1.0.0).