Backup script generator

Database + wp-content, ready for cron.

Genuinely free. No sign-up, no email, no limits, no cookies. We don't store the URL you analyse.

Destination folder

Retention days

Code

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

BACKUP_DIR='/home/user/backups'
WP_ROOT="$(pwd)"
TIMESTAMP="$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S)"

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

# Database dump
wp db export "$BACKUP_DIR/db-$TIMESTAMP.sql" --path="$WP_ROOT"

# wp-content archive (themes, plugins, uploads)
tar czf "$BACKUP_DIR/wp-content-$TIMESTAMP.tar.gz" -C "$WP_ROOT" wp-content

# Remove backups older than 7 day(s)
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -type f \( -name '*.sql' -o -name '*.tar.gz' \) -mtime +7 -delete

echo "Backup done: $BACKUP_DIR/db-$TIMESTAMP.sql and wp-content-$TIMESTAMP.tar.gz"

# Add to crontab with: crontab -e
# 0 3 * * * /path/to/this-script.sh >> /var/log/wp-backup.log 2>&1

What it's for

Many hosts with SSH access offer WP-CLI but no automatic backup included. This script exports the database and archives wp-content (themes, plugins, uploads), cleaning up backups older than the chosen threshold on its own. Meant to be run from cron.

← All WordPress tools

Frequently asked questions

›Does it also upload the backup to external storage (S3, Dropbox)?

No, it stays a simple local script: it only saves to the server's filesystem. Adding a cloud upload requires credentials and a specific service, which is outside the scope of this generator.