Solid Backups � Legacy: Troubleshooting Guide

This guide consolidates solutions and instructions for common issues with Solid Backups � Legacy (formerly BackupBuddy). It includes troubleshooting for error codes, backup creation, destination settings, site migration, restoration, and advanced settings. All necessary details are now housed in this document for easy reference.

Error Codes / Frequently Seen Support Issues

Error Codes

Error #4001 � Unable to successfully generate ZIP archive.

Backup FAILED. See logs above for more information. The Status Log entries just prior to the final indication of the 4001 condition will provide further detail on the site/server/hosting problem that caused Solid Backups to halt the backup. This typically happens because it is either unsafe or impossible to continue.

For example, the error could occur if a file requested to be backed up cannot be accessed by the web server process, or it might be impossible due to a lack of disk space. Pay close attention to the Zip process exit code: ##, as this will provide more insights into the issue.

Important Notes:

The 4001 error in BackupBuddy v5+ is synonymous with the 3382 condition in BackupBuddy pre-v5 versions.

Common Exit Codes with Error #4001:

Exit Code 10, -10, -1, and 14: This indicates a lack of available disk space on the hosting server. You may need to free up space on your hosting account or have your host increase the disk quota. Consider removing any unnecessary backups, and possibly store them on an offsite storage location.
Exit Code -4: The server’s zip utility cannot allocate memory during program initialization. This is likely a memory issue on your server. You may need to refer to your host for assistance. Additionally, you can try setting the “Zip Method Strategy” to “Force Compatibility” within Solid Backups settings:
- Navigate to Solid Backups -> Settings -> Advanced Settings/Troubleshooting -> Zip -> Zip Method Strategy and set it to Force Compatibility. Be sure to click “Save Advanced Settings” and then retry.
- If this doesn’t work, switch to the Alternative Zip System and try it with both “Best Available” and “Force Compatibility” strategies to see which works.
Exit Code 5 (Internal Logic Error): This indicates a programming error on the server side. It may also be due to a lack of disk space or a fixed cap on file sizes imposed by the host. To resolve, try freeing up space or increasing the disk quota. If the issue persists, contact your host for further investigation.
Exit Code 9 and 137: These exit codes indicate that the hosting provider prematurely terminated the process. Possible solutions include:
- Disable zip compression in Solid Backups settings under Advanced Settings/Troubleshooting.
- Enable the Alternative Zip System with the “Multi-Burst/Single-Step” strategy.
Exit Code 12: This means the zip utility could not access the site installation directory. You may need to adjust permissions or contact your host to ensure the zip utility can access the necessary directories. In the meantime, you can try forcing compatibility mode:
- Go to Solid Backups -> Settings -> Advanced Settings/Troubleshooting -> Zip and set the Zip Method Strategy to Force Compatibility.
Exit Code 18: This indicates an unreadable file that may be corrupted or locked by the host. Exclude the problematic file from the backup or consult your host to determine why the file is unreadable.
Exit Code 24 and 152: These errors occur when the CPU time limit is reached. Try disabling zip compression in the Advanced Settings.
Exit Code 126: This means the server failed to execute the zip utility, which is usually caused by permission issues on the server. Contact your host’s support team for further assistance.
Exit Code 153 and 159: These errors typically occur due to hosting file size creation limits. Check with your host to see if they can increase the file size limit.
Exit Code 255: This indicates that the server�s zip utility is not functioning correctly. The host needs to investigate why the zip process is failing.

Error #5283 � Zip Archive Not Created

Cause: Insufficient server resources or timeout during zip creation.
Solution: Try switching archive creation methods (Settings > Archive Method). If that doesn’t resolve the issue, exclude large directories (e.g., wp-content/uploads) and attempt a smaller backup.

Error #9030 � Stash Upload Failed

Cause: Stash storage quota exceeded or connection timeout.
Solution: Log in to your SolidWP account and check your storage limits. Try re-authenticating the Stash connection.

Fatal Errors in Logs

Cause: Common issues include a low WP_MEMORY_LIMIT, conflicts with other backup plugins, or a disk quota exceeded error.
Solution: Review your backup logs (Solid Backups > Logs tab) and address the identified issues.

Other Error Codes

For additional errors, please check the backup logs within your Solid Backups dashboard. Common causes are file permission issues, insufficient memory, or connection timeouts.

Frequently Seen Support Issues

Backup Fails to Complete

Solution: Increase WP_MEMORY_LIMIT to 256M or more in your wp-config.php file and set the max execution time to 300+ seconds in php.ini or .htaccess. Consider switching to a different archive method such as ZipArchive, PclZip, or Shell Zip. For more details, check out our Understanding PHP�s Memory Limit guide.

Stash Upload Fails

Solution: First, verify that your Stash storage quota hasn�t been exceeded. You can check this from the Backups > Stash Live. If needed, reauthenticate the connection to Stash.

Tip: After confirming that you have enough available Stash space, try force restarting the Stash Live process:

Navigate to Backups > Stash Live in your WordPress dashboard.
Pause both the Database and Files progress.
Scroll down to Advanced Troubleshooting Options.
Click Delete Catalog & State, then click Restart Process (Force).

This will reset the Stash Live process and help resolve any stuck backups or state issues.

Server Permissions and File Ownership

Solution: Ensure all backup directories have appropriate permissions (755) and are not owned by the root user.

Backup Timeout

Solution: Backup timeouts can occur when the server is unable to complete the backup process within the expected time frame � often due to limited server resources, large files, or inefficient settings. Here are the most effective steps to troubleshoot and resolve these issues:

1) Disable Zip Compression
Go to Backups > Settings > Advanced Settings > ZIP and uncheck “Enable zip compression”. Disabling compression can significantly speed up the backup process, especially on servers with limited resources.

2) Exclude Large or Unnecessary Files
Use Backups > Settings > General Settings > File & Directory Defaults to exclude directories or files that aren�t essential. View the File and Directory Defaults section below.

3) Check Disk Space
Confirm with your hosting provider that your server has sufficient available disk space for backups. Consider deleting unnecessary files or increasing your hosting plan�s storage allocation.

4) Optimize Cron and Server Settings

Go to Advanced Settings > Basic Operation and uncheck “Limit to one action per cron pass”
Go to Advanced Settings > Technical & Server Compatibility and:
- Check “Reschedule missing crons in manual backups”
- Set “Force cron if behind by X seconds” to 5

5) Run Cleanup Steps Before Retesting
After applying these settings, visit Backups > Diagnostics > Troubleshooting, then run the cleanup steps in order to reset any stuck processes before starting a new backup

6) (Optional) Enable Alternative Zip Method
If backups continue to stall, go back to the ZIP settings and enable the “Alternative Zip System (beta)” and set the Zip build strategy to “Multi-burst/Multi-step”. This is helpful for sites with very large files or slower servers.

For more context and tips, see our blog post on How to Resolve Solid Backups Timeouts.

Dealing with large backups? See: Zip Method.

Seeing a Cron event not found error on Schedules

A Cron event not found error in Solid Backups can occur when scheduled backup events are not registered or cleared properly.

If this error still appears while running the latest version of Solid Backups, it may be due to cached data. The following steps can help clear any outdated scheduling data:

Go to WP Admin > Tools > Scheduled Actions > Pending and delete any actions named backupbuddy_cron. If the Scheduled Actions page is not visible in your WP Tools menu, access it directly using this link: https://yoursite.com/wp-admin/tools.php?page=action-scheduler (replace �yoursite.com� with the site’s domain)
Navigate to Solid Backups > Diagnostics > Troubleshooting and run the following tools one at a time, waiting for each to finish:
- Force Cancel All Backups & Transfers
- Delete Orphan .dat Files
- Delete All Temporary Data Files
- Regular Housekeeping
- Clean Up Transients (Advanced)
Go back to Solid Backups > Schedules, then delete and recreate any existing backup schedules.

Following these steps should resolve lingering cron or scheduling issues related to this error.

Getting an AJAX error when running Importbuddy

AJAX allows user input, so an error can happen due to a browser issue, an extension/add-on, or a server-side configuration blocking the request.

When you run into an AJAX error like: ERROR #329723: Unexpected server response from AJAX, here are some things you can do to resolve it:

Try running the process in a different browser, as sometimes an extension/add-on can interfere with the process.
Ensure that the importbuddy.php file is not renamed to something like importbuddy(1).php. This also applies to the actual backup file, make sure it’s not renamed either.
Check if there are any server-side implementations like Varnish, XCache, Google PageSpeed, CloudFlare, mod_security, Sucuri Firewall, etc., as they may need to be temporarily disabled during migration.
- While checking for server-side implementations, also check if there are server configuration files: .htaccess, php.ini, user.ini, etc., in your web root (same directory as the importbuddy.php and the backup file) where you are running importbuddy.php (even if they were extracted from the backup). If there are any, temporarily rename them to something like php.ini.bak, and so on.
If you’re using the Wordfence plugin, its WAF option can interfere with the process, so temporarily disable it.
That error could also point to an error with the database, so confirm that your database settings are correct and that the associated database user has full privileges. Contact your hosting provider for assistance if you need clarification.
Increase the PHP memory limit on your server.
Another possibility of this error could be due to using an outdated importbuddy file. Use a newer importbuddy.php file generated from a website where it’s running the latest version of the Legacy Solid Backups plugin and has completed a recent backup.

Destination Settings

Google Drive Loss of Support

Google Drive will no longer support backup storage for Solid Backups. For those still using Google Drive as a destination, you need to change to a different storage method, such as Amazon S3 or OneDrive.

Notice: Google Drive is no longer supported for backup storage. Ensure that your backups are redirected to another destination such as Amazon S3 or OneDrive.

Amazon S3 Setup

Create an Amazon S3 Bucket:
- Log in to your AWS account and create an S3 bucket to store backups.
- Ensure the bucket is in a region close to your site for optimal performance.
Configure S3 in Solid Backups:
- Navigate to the Solid Backups settings page in your WordPress dashboard.
- Select Amazon S3 as your backup destination.
- Enter your AWS Access Key ID and Secret Access Key.
- Specify your bucket name and region, then save the settings.
Backup Settings:
- Choose the appropriate backup settings, including backup frequency, file exclusions, and compression methods.
Test the Configuration:
- Create a test backup to ensure everything is set up correctly and the backup is successfully stored in Amazon S3.

OneDrive Setup

Set Up OneDrive:
- Create a OneDrive account if you don’t already have one.
- Log in to your OneDrive account and create a folder to store backups.
Configure OneDrive in Solid Backups:
- In the Solid Backups settings, select OneDrive as your backup destination.
- Authorize Solid Backups to access your OneDrive account by signing in.
Test Backup to OneDrive:
- Create a backup to OneDrive to ensure the integration works properly.

Site Migration / Restoration

Migrating/Restoring with ImportBuddy

Prepare the Backup:
- From your original site, go to Solid Backups > Backups and create a full backup.
- Download the backup zip file and importbuddy.php file to your local machine.
  - You�ll find the Standalone Importer in Solid Backups > Backups. Just click the Standalone Importer dropdown and you can either download the file or send it to a remote destination.
Upload to the New Server:
- Using an SFTP client, upload the backup zip file and importbuddy.php to the root directory of your new server (typically public_html or htdocs).
  
  Using SFTP for Backup Restoration

Download an SFTP Client:
- Use an SFTP client like FileZilla or Cyberduck to connect to your server.
Upload Backup Files:
- Connect to your server using the provided credentials from your hosting provider.
- Navigate to the root directory (public_html, htdocs, etc.).
- Upload the backup zip file and importbuddy.php.
- Access importbuddy.php from your browser (yourwebsite.com/importbuddy.php) to begin the restoration process.
Run the Import:
- In your browser, navigate to https://yourdomain.com/importbuddy.php.
- Enter the password you created when downloading importbuddy.php.
- Select the backup zip file and proceed with the restoration process.
Finalize the Restore:
- Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the site restoration. The plugin will handle database restoration and site structure.

Solid Backups WP-CLI

Solid Backups supports WP-CLI for managing backups and restores. Below are the essential commands:

Backup Command: To start a backup, use:
wp backupbuddy backup run �profile=default
Status Command: To check the status of your backup:
wp backupbuddy status
Restore Command: To restore from a backup:
wp backupbuddy restore backup.zip
Scheduling Command: To schedule automatic backups:
wp backupbuddy schedule add --frequency=daily --time=3am

Advanced Settings Documentation

Basic Operations

Backup Profiles: Set up different profiles for regular backups, manual backups, or backup frequency adjustments.
Debugging: Enable debug logging in Solid Backups to identify and resolve issues. Logs are available under the Solid Backups > Logs tab.
General Settings:
- Backup file compression method.
- Backup file encryption options.
- File exclusions (e.g., exclude cache directories or log files).

Logging

Enable Debug Logging: Navigate to the Advanced Settings and enable debug logging. This will record detailed information about backup and restore operations, helping you identify any issues.
Logs are stored in /wp-content/uploads/backupbuddy_temp/logs/ on your server.

Technical & Server Compatibility

Ensure your server meets the following minimum requirements for Solid Backups:

PHP Version: 5.6 or higher.
Zip Support: Ensure that your server supports ZipArchive, PclZip, or Shell Zip for creating backups.
File Permissions: Backup directories should have the appropriate permissions (755) and should not be owned by the root user.

Database

Database Backup: Solid Backups will automatically back up your entire database. You can exclude certain database tables if needed (such as transient tables or cache).
Database Dump Method: The recommended method is mysqldump, but you can adjust it in the settings if needed for performance.

Zip Method

Solid Backups uses the ZipArchive method by default for backup compression. If this method is unavailable or fails, it will fall back to PCLZip or Shell Zip (via PHP exec).

If you experience issues, you can switch to the PCLZip or Shell Zip (via PHP exec) in the settings for better performance.

Things to consider:

PCLZip has a known maximum of ~4GB total archive size or ~64,000 files. If your backup exceeds this limit, the file will be invalid and may fail the Integrity Check.

For large backups, we recommend enabling the PHP exec function on your server so Solid Backups can use Shell Zip (via PHP exec), which is faster and handles larger archives without PCLZip�s limits.
- You can confirm whether this function is disabled by going to the Backups > Diagnostics page and look for these values:
  [WARNING] Zip Methods = ziparchive, pclzip [WARNING] Disabled PHP Functions = exec, passthru, shell_exec, system
- If exec is disabled, you can ask your host to enable it using this request:
  “Hello,
  I would like the PHP exec function to be enabled on my server, as one of my WordPress plugins needs this to create backups efficiently. Here�s the specific function: https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.exec.php
  Thank you.“

File and Directory Defaults

The File and Directory Defaults section of the General Settings tab allows you to exclude files and directories from default backups. This feature is useful for excluding large, unnecessary directories to help the backup process complete in a shorter amount of time.

Note: /wp-content/ /wp-content/uploads/ and Solid Backups backup & temporary directories cannot be excluded. Solid Backups directories are automatically excluded.

Using the picker, click on a directory name to navigate directories. Click the red minus sign to the right of a directory to place it in the exclusion list.

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