---
title: "Create a new backup package"
url: https://phatdev.net/en/docs/sl-migrations/create-backup
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-20
alternate:
  vi: https://phatdev.net/docs/sl-migrations/create-backup
markdown: https://phatdev.net/en/docs/sl-migrations/create-backup.md
---

# Create a new backup package

Part of the doc set: [SL Migrations](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/sl-migrations.md)

> The steps to create a backup and the parts you can customize.

## Steps

1. **SL Migrations → Packages → Create New**
2. Name the package. The plugin automatically adds a hash and a timestamp to the file name.
3. **Storage** - choose where to keep the archive. The default is Default Local Storage. You can add remote storage over SFTP or FTP (this build does not include cloud storage such as Amazon S3, Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive).
4. **Components** - choose what to back up:
   - **Database**
   - **Files**: you can exclude some folders (cache, logs, dev files)
5. Click **Next** to go to the Scanner step.

## What the Scanner checks

The plugin checks the following automatically before building:
- Write permission on the backup folder
- Large files (by default it warns about files over 500 MB)
- Total site size
- Required PHP extensions (zip, openssl, …)
- Memory limit / max_execution_time
- Database size, table engine

Warnings can be ignored if you understand them. **Red errors** must be fixed before you build.

## Build phase

After passing the Scanner, click **Build**. The plugin will:

1. Dump the database to a SQL file
2. Compress all files into the archive
3. Generate the `installer.php` file
4. Upload to the configured storage (if it is not local)

Speed depends on:
- Site size (mainly `wp-content/uploads`)
- The server's CPU and disk speed
- The zip engine in use

## Exclude files and folders

In **Settings → Package → File Filters** you can add:
- Excluded folders (cache, logs, dev tools)
- Excluded extensions (`.tmp`, `.bak`, …)
- Specific files (by path)

Exclusions reduce the archive size and speed up the build. See [Managing server resources](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/sl-migrations/how-to-manage-server-resources-cpu-memory-disk).

## See also

- [Resolving scanner warnings](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/sl-migrations/how-to-resolve-scanner-warnings-errors-and-timeout-issues)
- [Schedule automatic backups](https://phatdev.net/en/docs/sl-migrations/schedule-backup)