MokoSuiteBackup

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

Plugin Overview

MokoJoomBackup is a Joomla package that ships with seven plugins alongside the main component. All plugins are auto-enabled on installation.

Auto-Cleanup (System Plugin)

Automatically removes old backup records and archive files based on age and count limits.

• Max Age — Delete backups older than N days (default: 30, range: 1–365)
• Max Backups — Keep only the N newest backups (default: 10, range: 1–100)
• Runs once per hour on admin page loads (not AJAX), throttled via session
• Age-based deletion runs first, then count-based enforcement
• Both the archive file and the database record are removed

Configure in System > Plugins > System — MokoJoomBackup.

Dashboard Widget (Quickicon Plugin)

Adds a status widget to the Joomla Home Dashboard showing:

• Time since last backup (e.g. "2h ago", "3d ago")
• Total backup count and total storage used
• Warning states: no backups exist, recent failures, or stale backups (older than 7 days)

Automatic Pre-Update Backups (Content Plugin)

Triggers an automatic backup before Joomla extension installs or updates.

• Backup Before Install — Triggers before installing a new extension (default: disabled)
• Backup Before Update — Triggers before updating an extension (default: enabled)
• Profile — Which backup profile to use for automatic backups
• Throttled to one auto-backup per hour to prevent excessive backups
• Non-fatal: if the backup fails, a warning is shown but the install/update proceeds

Configure in System > Plugins > Content — MokoJoomBackup.

Action Logging (Action Log Plugin)

Records MokoJoomBackup actions in Joomla's User Action Logs (Users > User Actions Log):

• Profile created, updated, or deleted
• Backup record deleted
• Backup completed or failed

Each log entry includes: user, IP address, item ID, and timestamp.

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

Overview

Placeholders are tokens enclosed in square brackets that are resolved at backup time. Use them in the Backup Directory and Archive Name Format fields of a backup profile to create dynamic, portable paths and filenames.

Available Placeholders

Examples

Archive Name Format

Default: [host]_[datetime]_profile[profile_id]

Result: www.example.com_20260607_143025_profile1.zip

Custom: [site_name]_[type]_[date]_[random]

Result: My-Joomla-Site_full_20260607_a3f2b1.zip

Backup Directory

Default: [DEFAULT_DIR] (resolves to the component's backups folder inside the web root)

Outside web root: /home/user/backups/[host]/[year]/[month]

Result: /home/user/backups/www.example.com/2026/06/

Organised by profile: /var/backups/joomla/[profile_name]

Result: /var/backups/joomla/Daily-Full/

Notes

• Placeholders are resolved at backup time — the directory is created automatically if it doesn't exist
• The [DEFAULT_DIR] placeholder makes profiles portable across different server paths
• Directory paths containing unresolved placeholders skip permission checks in the dashboard (they can't be validated until backup time)
• Sanitisation removes special characters, keeping only alphanumerics, dots, hyphens, and underscores

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

Restore Methods

MokoJoomBackup supports three ways to restore a backup:

1. Admin Panel — Select a backup record and click Restore in the toolbar
2. CLI — php cli/joomla.php mokojoombackup:restore <record-id>
3. MokoRestore — Standalone restore script for bare-server deployment (no Joomla required)

Admin Panel Restore

The built-in restore engine runs a six-step process:

1. Extract archive to a temporary staging directory
2. Preserve configuration.php so database credentials and paths survive the restore
3. Restore files from the archive to the Joomla root
4. Import database from the SQL dump (if present)
5. Restore configuration.php with the preserved version
6. Clean up the staging directory

Supports ZIP, tar.gz, and JPA (Akeeba Backup) archive formats. Encrypted archives are supported with a password prompt.

MokoRestore Standalone Script

When Include MokoRestore is enabled in a backup profile, the archive is packaged as:

outer.zip
├── restore.php      (standalone installer)
└── site-backup.zip  (the actual backup)

Upload both files to any PHP server and open restore.php in a browser. The wizard guides you through:

Step 1: Preflight Checks

• PHP version (8.1+ required)
• Required extensions: ZipArchive, PDO MySQL, mbstring, JSON
• Backup file exists and is readable
• Directory is writable
• Free disk space (500 MB minimum)
• PHP memory limit

Step 2: Extract

Extracts the site backup archive. Pre-reads any existing configuration.php to pre-fill database credentials. Supports encrypted archives.

Step 3: Test Database

Enter database credentials and test the connection before proceeding.

Step 4: Import Database

Imports database.sql with foreign key checks disabled. Reports statements executed and any errors.

Step 5: Configuration

Updates or creates configuration.php with your database credentials, paths, a fresh secret key, site name, and live site URL.

Step 6: Admin Management

Lists super administrator accounts and optionally lets you reset a password using bcrypt hashing.

Step 7: Cleanup

Removes restore.php, site-backup.zip, and database.sql artifacts from the server with a self-delete mechanism.

Security

• MokoRestore includes CSRF token protection on all forms
• Encrypted archive support (AES-256)
• Self-contained in a single PHP file — no dependencies
• Always delete restore.php after use

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

Overview

MokoJoomBackup can send email notifications when backups complete or fail. Notifications are configured per profile, giving you fine-grained control over who gets notified and when.

Configuration

Open a backup profile and go to the Notifications tab:

Email addresses and user group members are combined. Duplicate addresses are automatically filtered.

Email Content

Subject Line

[MokoJoomBackup] SUCCESS: Daily Full Backup — My Joomla Site
[MokoJoomBackup] FAILED: Daily Full Backup — My Joomla Site

Email Body Includes

• Site name and URL
• Backup status (success/failure)
• Profile name and backup type
• Backup description and origin (backend, CLI, scheduled, web cron)
• Archive filename and total size
• Duration, start time, and end time
• Remote filename (if uploaded to FTP/S3/Google Drive)
• File count and table count

On failure, the last 30 lines of the backup log are appended to help diagnose the issue.

Tips

• For critical production sites, enable Notify on Failure and add the site admin's email
• Use user group notifications to automatically include new team members
• Notification errors are logged but never block the backup process — a failed email won't cause a backup failure

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

Overview

MokoJoomBackup provides five CLI commands via the Joomla console plugin. All commands are run through Joomla's CLI entry point:

php cli/joomla.php <command> [options]

Commands

mokojoombackup:run

Run an immediate backup.

php cli/joomla.php mokojoombackup:run --profile=1
php cli/joomla.php mokojoombackup:run -p 2 --description="Pre-deploy backup"

mokojoombackup:list

List backup records.

php cli/joomla.php mokojoombackup:list
php cli/joomla.php mokojoombackup:list --status=complete --limit=10

Output columns: ID, Profile, Status, Type, Size, Origin, Started.

mokojoombackup:profiles

List all backup profiles.

php cli/joomla.php mokojoombackup:profiles

Output columns: ID, Title, Type, Published.

mokojoombackup:restore

Restore a backup by record ID.

php cli/joomla.php mokojoombackup:restore 42

Requires interactive confirmation. Validates that the record exists, is marked complete, and the archive file is present on disk.

mokojoombackup:cleanup

Clean up old backup records and archive files.

php cli/joomla.php mokojoombackup:cleanup
php cli/joomla.php mokojoombackup:cleanup --max-age=14 --max-count=5
php cli/joomla.php mokojoombackup:cleanup --dry-run

Cron Integration

Combine CLI commands with system cron for fully automated backup management:

# Daily full backup at 2 AM
0 2 * * * /usr/bin/php /path/to/joomla/cli/joomla.php mokojoombackup:run -p 1

# Weekly cleanup on Sundays
0 3 * * 0 /usr/bin/php /path/to/joomla/cli/joomla.php mokojoombackup:cleanup --max-age=30 --max-count=10

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

Joomla Scheduled Tasks

MokoJoomBackup integrates with Joomla's built-in Scheduled Tasks (System > Scheduled Tasks). This is the recommended way to automate backups.

Creating a Scheduled Backup

1. Go to System > Scheduled Tasks > New
2. Select MokoJoomBackup — Run Backup Profile as the task type
3. Choose which backup profile to run from the dropdown
4. Set your schedule (e.g. daily at 2:00 AM, weekly on Sundays)
5. Save and enable the task

You can create multiple scheduled tasks pointing to different profiles. For example: a daily database-only backup and a weekly full backup.

Joomla Cron Setup

Joomla's Scheduled Tasks require a system-level cron job to trigger the task runner. Add this to your server's crontab:

*/5 * * * * /usr/bin/php /path/to/joomla/cli/joomla.php scheduler:run --all

Web Cron (Shared Hosting)

If you don't have access to system cron (common on shared hosting), MokoJoomBackup provides a web cron URL that can be triggered by external cron services.

Setup

1. Go to Components > MokoJoomBackup > Options (toolbar gear icon)
2. Enable Web Cron
3. Set a Web Cron Secret — a long random string that acts as a password
4. Optionally restrict by IP with the IP Whitelist field

Web Cron URL Format

https://yoursite.com/index.php?mokojoombackup_cron=YOUR_SECRET&profile_id=1

External Cron Services

Use any external cron service (cron-job.org, EasyCron, UptimeRobot, etc.) to hit the web cron URL on your desired schedule. The endpoint returns a JSON response with the backup result.

Security

• The web cron secret is compared using timing-safe string comparison to prevent timing attacks
• IP whitelist support restricts which addresses can trigger backups
• PHP execution limits are automatically overridden (max_execution_time=0, memory_limit=512M)

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

Dashboard Overview

The Dashboard is the default landing page when you open MokoJoomBackup in the Joomla administrator. It gives you a real-time overview of your backup status, system health, and quick access to common actions.

Status Cards

Four clickable cards appear at the top of the dashboard:

Quick Actions

The Quick Actions panel provides:

• Backup Now — Select a profile from the dropdown and click to start an immediate backup. A progress modal shows real-time step completion.
• Navigation links — Direct access to Backup Records, Backup Profiles, Scheduled Tasks, and Update Sites.

System Health

The System Health panel runs automated checks and displays pass/fail status for:

• PHP Version — Must be 8.1 or higher
• ZipArchive — Required PHP extension for ZIP archives
• AES-256 Encryption — Requires libzip 1.2.0+ for encrypted archives
• Backup Directory — Checks the configured directory exists and is writable
• Free Disk Space — Warns if less than 1 GB free

Default Directory Warning

If any published profile stores backups in the default directory inside the web root (administrator/components/com_mokojoombackup/backups), a warning banner is displayed. For better security, configure a backup directory outside the web root.

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

One-Click Import

1. Install MokoJoomBackup alongside Akeeba
2. Go to Components > MokoJoomBackup > Backup Profiles
3. Click Import from Akeeba
4. All profiles, filters, credentials, and history are imported
5. Akeeba plugins and scheduled tasks are disabled automatically

What Gets Imported

• Profile names, backup types, compression settings
• Directory, file, and table exclusion filters
• FTP, Google Drive, and S3 credentials
• Backup history with profile ID remapping

JPA Support

MokoJoomBackup can restore from Akeeba .jpa files directly. The engine auto-detects JPA vs ZIP format.

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

AES-256 Encryption

Set an encryption password in the profile Archive Settings. Archives use WinZip-compatible AES-256. Requires PHP 7.2+ with libzip 1.2.0+.

SHA-256 Integrity

Checksum computed after archive creation. Use the Verify Integrity button to detect corruption or tampering.

MokoRestore Restore Script

Self-contained restore.php with CSRF protection, pre-flight checks, and encrypted archive support. Upload to any PHP server for bare-server restore.

Backup Directory

Protected with .htaccess (Deny from all) and index.html.

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

REST API Endpoints

Auth: Authorization: Bearer <joomla-api-token>

MCP Server

The mcp_mokobackup MCP server supports both Akeeba and MokoJoomBackup. Set target type to "mokobackup" in config. The existing akeeba_* tools auto-detect the backend.

CLI

php administrator/components/com_mokobackup/cli/mokobackup.php --profile=1
php administrator/components/com_mokobackup/cli/mokobackup.php --profile=2 --description="Pre-deploy"

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

Storage Backends

S3-Compatible Services

• AWS S3: leave endpoint blank
• Wasabi: https://s3.wasabisys.com
• Backblaze B2: https://s3.us-west-001.backblazeb2.com
• MinIO: your server URL

All uploaders use pure PHP with cURL. No SDK dependencies.

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

Backup Types

Profile Tabs

• General: title, description, backup type
• Archive Settings: format, compression, split size, backup dir, encryption password, MokoRestore toggle
• Exclusion Filters: directories, files (wildcards), database tables (newline-separated)
• Notifications: email recipients, notify on success/failure
• Remote Storage: FTP/FTPS, Google Drive, Amazon S3 with individual credential fields

Differential Backups

Compares current filesystem against a manifest from the last full backup. Only new/modified files are included. Database is always fully dumped. Falls back to full backup if no base manifest exists.

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

Installation

1. Download pkg_mokobackup-*.zip from Releases
2. Go to System > Install > Extensions in Joomla Administrator
3. Upload the package ZIP
4. All five plugins are auto-enabled on install

Package Contents

Requirements

• Joomla 4.0+ (4.1+ for Scheduled Tasks)
• PHP 8.1+
• PHP extensions: ext-zip, ext-curl, ext-ftp, ext-mbstring, ext-pdo_mysql

First Backup

1. Navigate to Components > MokoJoomBackup
2. A default backup profile is pre-configured
3. Select the profile from the dropdown and click Backup Now
4. The progress bar shows real-time step completion

Details

Last Updated: June 07, 2026

What is MokoJoomBackup?

MokoJoomBackup is a comprehensive backup and restore solution for Joomla 4/5/6, built as a complete replacement for Akeeba Backup Pro. It provides full-site backups (database + files), multiple backup profiles, scheduled tasks, remote storage (FTP, Google Drive, S3), AES-256 encryption, and a standalone restore script.

Key Features

• Full, database-only, files-only, and differential backup types
• Multiple backup profiles with independent settings
• Joomla Scheduled Tasks integration for automated backups
• Remote storage: FTP/FTPS, Google Drive, Amazon S3 (+ Wasabi, B2, MinIO)
• AES-256 archive encryption for GDPR compliance
• MokoRestore standalone restore script for bare-server restores
• SHA-256 integrity verification
• Email notifications on success/failure
• REST API compatible with MokoBackup MCP server
• AJAX step-based engine for shared hosting
• One-click Akeeba Backup Pro migration
• JPA archive format import
• Admin dashboard status widget

Documentation

Full documentation is available on the MokoJoomBackup Wiki.