Request: one-click backup and upgrade

autumneve

Joined: 2012-10-25
Posts: 10

Posted: Tue, 2013-03-26 00:01

Could we please get a feature that allows us to automatically backup, and automatically upgrade, right from the control panel? WordPress integrated this into their software years ago, and it's a lifesaver for people using the software who are photographers first, and programmers/DB admins a very very distant last.

I, for one, would keep my software more up-to-date if doing so didn't involve taking a few hours worth of digging up the (correct) instructions (there are at least two different sets of instructions that I've found so far), getting stuck because there's little explanation of how to properly backup with phpMyAdmin, copying the upgrade to one folder, shuffling old files and new together, chanting three times, spinning in a circle, deleting a folder and hoping it's the right one, and running the upgrader while hoping that you didn't just overwrite your customized theme.

It can be done, as WordPress shows, so can we please do it? Thank you.

davejgenus

Joined: 2013-05-08
Posts: 1

Posted: Wed, 2013-05-08 12:30

Davej
I also would like to see this feature for automatic backup from the control panel. I am also a photographer. Maybe we can get some improvements.

Ladunfirst

Joined: 2013-05-11
Posts: 1

Posted: Sat, 2013-05-11 22:37

Hi, I am a photographer too. This is something that I would be interested in as well.

stu2000

Joined: 2013-05-09
Posts: 4

Posted: Fri, 2013-05-17 08:25

Agreed gallery3 needs to be designed for us non techie types.

jnash

Joined: 2004-08-02
Posts: 814

Posted: Fri, 2013-05-17 13:15

There is a problem with this process that has hampered any development of such a module:

Archiving the albums folders for a backup -could- result in a very large file that exceeds reasonable zip/tar/gz etc filesizes. Imagine a large gallery that consists of tens of thousands of photos resulting in easily a multi-gigabyte backup file. It just isn't feasible, particularly on 32bit systems.

The backup of the database could be easily managed, but what good is that without the 'var' folder structure? Not much.

In as much as I agree, a nice simplified method would be awesome, but it would only be reasonable for small galleries.

Some will argue that 'you can offload the backup to another filesystem (external hardrive, NAS, network share, cloud, etc.) but the process involved in accounting for these methods outweighs the many other methods of backing up a website and it's contents.

I hope this explains some a bit. I'm not the expert here, but I do know that I haven't thought of a 'simple' method (at least within the gallery) to back things up. I have several 'simple' methods outside of the gallery that I use though.

Just my 2¢, take it with a grain of salt please.

autumneve

Joined: 2012-10-25
Posts: 10

Posted: Fri, 2013-05-17 17:20

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see how the SIZE of the backups would change whether you did it with a one-click module or the cryptic multi-step process.

You could also, as you said, have a module that backs up the DB, then offers options to backup the var/ folder 1. not at all 2. to an external drive or 3. wherever else people would generally want to back up. Or hell, just instructions that now that the DB is backed up (and also custom settings, themes, plug-ins, and whatever else might be changed from a default new install by virtue of using the software), you need to make a copy of the var/ folder somewhere. Downloading a single, named folder via FTP is a lot simpler than making a copy of a DB and figuring out what to copy to save your customizations. And simple, one-step instructions are a lot easier to follow than complex, cryptic ones.

This also doesn't address the one-click upgrades, which are the big issue. Currently I'm expected to download the new software files and figure out for myself which ones to overwrite and which I definitely shouldn't, which runs the rather high risk that I DO overwrite something I shouldn't, like a custom setting (is that in the config file?), a custom theme, or custom plug-ins. If I'm using the custom menu plug-in, where are the details of the menu actually saved? I don't know, I set it up through the user interface, not by typing it into a PHP file. Or, alternatively, my attempt to NOT overwrite important things results in me not updating a crucial file, which breaks my gallery.

And in addition to everything that could go wrong, upgrading WordPress takes about a minute, and upgrading Gallery currently takes me, minimum, a couple of hours. A lot of that is spent just looking for the instructions, and trying to figure out which instructions are the most accurate; because, btw, I can never be sure that the instructions I followed last time were the instructions that were updated this time. They are also pretty obtuse to someone who is not a programmer.

floridave

Joined: 2003-12-22
Posts: 27300

Posted: Fri, 2013-05-17 18:25

One step upgrades are planed for 3.1
All takes time and resources that a free open source project has little of.

Dave
_____________________________________________
Blog & G2 || floridave - Gallery Team

Gork

Joined: 2008-09-09
Posts: 85

Posted: Wed, 2013-05-22 06:26

I have a cron job which automatically initiates a backup the database a few times per week and I have a system in place to back up all the files, both in /var directory and elsewhere, every week. It works great.

But I serve my web pages of my own server. I can see that if folks are with a hosting company which doesn't provide tools to set something up like this it might be more difficult for them.

Just my thoughts - not trying to make an argument either way. Glad to hear steps are being taken to assist folks with backing up their information.

autumneve Joined: 2012-10-25 Posts: 10	Posted: Tue, 2013-03-26 00:01
	Could we please get a feature that allows us to automatically backup, and automatically upgrade, right from the control panel? WordPress integrated this into their software years ago, and it's a lifesaver for people using the software who are photographers first, and programmers/DB admins a very very distant last. I, for one, would keep my software more up-to-date if doing so didn't involve taking a few hours worth of digging up the (correct) instructions (there are at least two different sets of instructions that I've found so far), getting stuck because there's little explanation of how to properly backup with phpMyAdmin, copying the upgrade to one folder, shuffling old files and new together, chanting three times, spinning in a circle, deleting a folder and hoping it's the right one, and running the upgrader while hoping that you didn't just overwrite your customized theme. It can be done, as WordPress shows, so can we please do it? Thank you.
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davejgenus Joined: 2013-05-08 Posts: 1	Posted: Wed, 2013-05-08 12:30
	Davej I also would like to see this feature for automatic backup from the control panel. I am also a photographer. Maybe we can get some improvements.

Ladunfirst Joined: 2013-05-11 Posts: 1	Posted: Sat, 2013-05-11 22:37
	Hi, I am a photographer too. This is something that I would be interested in as well.

stu2000 Joined: 2013-05-09 Posts: 4	Posted: Fri, 2013-05-17 08:25
	Agreed gallery3 needs to be designed for us non techie types.

jnash Joined: 2004-08-02 Posts: 814	Posted: Fri, 2013-05-17 13:15
	There is a problem with this process that has hampered any development of such a module: Archiving the albums folders for a backup -could- result in a very large file that exceeds reasonable zip/tar/gz etc filesizes. Imagine a large gallery that consists of tens of thousands of photos resulting in easily a multi-gigabyte backup file. It just isn't feasible, particularly on 32bit systems. The backup of the database could be easily managed, but what good is that without the 'var' folder structure? Not much. In as much as I agree, a nice simplified method would be awesome, but it would only be reasonable for small galleries. Some will argue that 'you can offload the backup to another filesystem (external hardrive, NAS, network share, cloud, etc.) but the process involved in accounting for these methods outweighs the many other methods of backing up a website and it's contents. I hope this explains some a bit. I'm not the expert here, but I do know that I haven't thought of a 'simple' method (at least within the gallery) to back things up. I have several 'simple' methods outside of the gallery that I use though. Just my 2¢, take it with a grain of salt please.

autumneve Joined: 2012-10-25 Posts: 10	Posted: Fri, 2013-05-17 17:20
	Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see how the SIZE of the backups would change whether you did it with a one-click module or the cryptic multi-step process. You could also, as you said, have a module that backs up the DB, then offers options to backup the var/ folder 1. not at all 2. to an external drive or 3. wherever else people would generally want to back up. Or hell, just instructions that now that the DB is backed up (and also custom settings, themes, plug-ins, and whatever else might be changed from a default new install by virtue of using the software), you need to make a copy of the var/ folder somewhere. Downloading a single, named folder via FTP is a lot simpler than making a copy of a DB and figuring out what to copy to save your customizations. And simple, one-step instructions are a lot easier to follow than complex, cryptic ones. This also doesn't address the one-click upgrades, which are the big issue. Currently I'm expected to download the new software files and figure out for myself which ones to overwrite and which I definitely shouldn't, which runs the rather high risk that I DO overwrite something I shouldn't, like a custom setting (is that in the config file?), a custom theme, or custom plug-ins. If I'm using the custom menu plug-in, where are the details of the menu actually saved? I don't know, I set it up through the user interface, not by typing it into a PHP file. Or, alternatively, my attempt to NOT overwrite important things results in me not updating a crucial file, which breaks my gallery. And in addition to everything that could go wrong, upgrading WordPress takes about a minute, and upgrading Gallery currently takes me, minimum, a couple of hours. A lot of that is spent just looking for the instructions, and trying to figure out which instructions are the most accurate; because, btw, I can never be sure that the instructions I followed last time were the instructions that were updated this time. They are also pretty obtuse to someone who is not a programmer.

floridave Joined: 2003-12-22 Posts: 27300	Posted: Fri, 2013-05-17 18:25
	One step upgrades are planed for 3.1 All takes time and resources that a free open source project has little of. Dave _____________________________________________ Blog & G2 \|\| floridave - Gallery Team

Gork Joined: 2008-09-09 Posts: 85	Posted: Wed, 2013-05-22 06:26
	I have a cron job which automatically initiates a backup the database a few times per week and I have a system in place to back up all the files, both in /var directory and elsewhere, every week. It works great. But I serve my web pages of my own server. I can see that if folks are with a hosting company which doesn't provide tools to set something up like this it might be more difficult for them. Just my thoughts - not trying to make an argument either way. Glad to hear steps are being taken to assist folks with backing up their information.

Request: one-click backup and upgrade

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