Before You Start
A couple of quick prerequisites:
- MokonyxBackup is installed. If you have not installed it yet, follow MokonyxBackup Installation & Setup first, then come back here.
- A default backup profile exists. The package pre-configures a default profile, so you can back up straight away — no setup required.
- The tuning wizard has been run. On a fresh install, MokonyxBackup marks its execution tuning as pending, and manual backups stay blocked until you run the wizard once. If the Backup Now button is greyed out, open Components > Backup > Options > Execution Tuning, click Run tuning wizard, review the values, and click Save. You only ever do this once. See MokonyxBackup Execution Tuning for detail.
Step by Step
- In the Joomla administrator, go to Components > Backup. MokonyxBackup opens on the Dashboard — your home base, with status cards for your last backup, next scheduled run, total backups, and storage used.
- Find the Quick Actions panel (lower-left of the Dashboard).
- In the profile dropdown, leave the default profile selected (or pick another if you have created one).
- Click Backup Now.
- A full-screen Backing Up progress screen takes over, showing a live progress ring and the current phase — Backing up database…, then Backing up files…, then Finalising archive…. Leave this window open; a warning reminds you: Please do not close this window or switch to another window until the backup finishes.
- When it finishes, the title changes to Backup Complete. Click View backup record to open the new backup, or Back to dashboard to return.
That's it — your site is backed up.
Where Your Backup Lives
Every backup you take is listed under Backup Records (from the Dashboard, use the Backup Records link in Quick Actions, or the Backups admin menu). Each row shows the description, profile, Status (a green Complete badge when all is well), type, size, and date.
To keep a copy on your own computer:
- Open Backup Records.
- Click the backup's description to open its detail page.
- Click the green Download button in the toolbar at the top of the detail page to save the archive to your computer. (The Download button appears only once the backup has finished and its archive file is still on the server.)
By default the archive is stored outside your site's web root, so it cannot be downloaded by visitors or accidentally swept into a later backup.
What Just Happened
A MokonyxBackup archive is a single, complete snapshot of your site. In one file it captures:
- Your database — every table, dumped and included.
- Your files — your site's files, according to the profile's settings.
- Your configuration — so the backup is a faithful copy you can restore later.
The default profile takes a Full Site (Database + Files) backup, which is exactly what you want for a first, safe copy of everything.
Next Steps
Now that you have your first backup, here are good things to explore next:
- Backup Profiles & Types — create profiles for database-only, files-only, or differential backups, and tune what each one includes.
- Scheduled Tasks & Web Cron — run backups automatically on a schedule so you never have to remember.
- Restore & MokonyxRestore — when you need it, learn how to restore a site from a backup archive.
- Remote Storage (FTP, Google Drive, S3) — send your backups off-site to a remote destination for extra safety.
Running into a snag? See MokonyxBackup Troubleshooting.