Calculating the size of your site and no complete backup

I have excluded every single folder and the “complete run now” works ok. the “backups completed” list gets updated.

Add wp-inlcudes (12.9Mb, 8Mb Zipped) and it works (the only way of making the spinner stop is to click away and come back (however the “calculating the size of your site…) remains. the “backup completed list” updates

the moment include wp-content (307Mb, 283Mb Zipped) is included the “completed backup list” no longer updates and the only way of stopping the spinner is to cancel which will delete the .zip file.

I hope this makes sense.

Lino

Hi there –

So it sounds like you have two separate things going on – the heartbeat plugin and then the backups running. I don’t know that you need to worry about activating the heartbeat plugin because I think your problem is likely server limits.

From what you’re saying, the database backup works and completes, which then adds the completed zip file to the list in the admin; the file backup works but does not complete, even though it looks like it’s almost done running, so once the backup is canceled the running backup file and zip file are deleted, or; the file backup works and completes, which then adds the completed zip to the list – but ONLY if the size of that file backup is much smaller.

This sounds like your backup is either timing out or running into a memory or other server limit, which stops running the backup and results in the spinning wheel of doom (or the backup that never seems to complete). The almost complete file you are seeing is an indication that it’s close to the limit you need, just not quite enough.

Check with your host to see if you are able to edit your php.ini levels or whether they have default limits in place for, specifically, the max_execution_time and memory_limit values. Max both of those out if you are able to do so with your host and see if the backup then completes.

If it still doesn’t work check with your host about other, usually unknown, limits they might have in place on the server. These limits include CPU usage, I/o limits, and other things that might stop the backup process from running.

Hopefully that helps! Let me know what you find out,
Kat

Thank you, Kat. Do you expect these server limits to also be responsible for the non-stop spinning when in the “exclude” section?

Kat, should these values allow your plugin to run?

Thanks,

Lino

allow_url_fopen On
date.timezone UTC
display_errors Off
error_reporting E_ALL
file_uploads On
include_path .:/opt/alt/php56/usr/share/pear:/opt/alt/php56/usr/share/php
log_errors On
mail.force_extra_parameters no value
max_execution_time 90
max_input_time 90
max_input_vars 1000
memory_limit 256M
open_basedir no value
post_max_size 64M
session.save_path /tmp
short_open_tag On
upload_max_filesize 64M

The non-stop spinner is actually something they’re working at correcting, because for some hosts and in some sites, it’s too memory-intensive to try and calculate the size of all the files.

The main values I worry about for timing out errors would include max_execution_time and the memory_limit ones. Your memory_limit value at 256M is standard for most WP sites and is likely okay. If you are able to upgrade it at all you should try pushing it up to 512M – but many of our users are at the 256M level. The max_execution_time value at 90 is pretty low. Most minimums start at 120 and I generally recommend trying to hit 300 or above (the value is seconds, I believe, so running a backup can take longer and will easily time out at lower values).

If you are able to upgrade at least the max_execution_time please push it to whatever maximum you are able to push it to – it will help backups complete more easily. The memory_limit value should be upgraded if possible, but that is still a standard value and not my first priority.

Hopefully that helps – please let me know what you find out!
Kat

Hey there –
?
We have our first beta release to try addressing the file handling issue that we think impacted you and a few other users. We anticipate this beta will solve the problem for some users, but not all.
?
Would you be able and willing to test the attached beta version to see if you are able to complete backups, if anything changes between the last running of the plugin versus using the beta version, or if there are any other notes you might have that can help us in further troubleshooting this in further releases?
?
We appreciate your patience and your assistance in finding out if this helps the situation at all,
?
?Kat

Link to Beta plugin download: https://github.com/humanmade/backupwordpress/files/617058/BackUpWordPress-3.6.3-beta.zip

ps – please note this might not address your issue specifically, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed it might help the situation out for you – definitely report back and let me know what you find out or if you have other updates!

Hey there –

I am just checking back in since it’s been a while. I am going to close this topic out for now, but if you still need further help in troubleshooting please just reply back and I’ll be happy to work with you further!

Kat