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Troubleshooting Common BackWPup Errors: Database, Syntax, and Permission Issues

19 threads Sep 21, 2025 Plugin → Backwpup – wordpress backup & restore plugin

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Why Your BackWPup Plugin Might Be Failing (And How to Fix It)

The 'BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin' is a powerful tool, but like any complex software, it can sometimes encounter errors. Based on common community reports, this guide addresses the most frequent issues and provides steps to resolve them.

1. Database Backup and Import Errors

Symptoms: Errors like #1064 – SQL syntax error when importing an SQL file into phpMyAdmin, or warnings like Error while writing file! or Failed to open stream: operation failed during a database backup.

Why it happens: These errors are often related to how the SQL file is generated or written. It can be caused by a conflict with specific database table prefixes, server configuration for handling compressed files, or insufficient write permissions in the temporary directory BackWPup uses.

Solutions:

  • Change Backup Format: In your BackWPup job settings, try changing the 'Database Backup' format from 'SQL' to 'SQL with Drop-Table statements' or use a compression method like GZip.
  • Check Disk Space: Ensure your server has enough free disk space and that your hosting account has not exceeded its disk quota.
  • Manual Export: For a critical import, consider using phpMyAdmin to export your database directly as a reliable alternative for that specific task.

2. PHP Syntax Errors After Installation or Update

Symptoms: Fatal errors that crash your site, such as: Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '[' in .../backwpup.php on line 69 or Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING in .../backwpup.php on line 120.

Why it happens: This is almost always caused by running an outdated version of PHP on your server. Newer versions of plugins use modern PHP code that is not compatible with old PHP versions (typically PHP 5.6 or below).

Solutions:

  • Check PHP Version: Contact your web host to confirm your server's PHP version. The 'BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin' team recommends using PHP 7.4 or higher.
  • Update PHP: Ask your host to upgrade your PHP version. Most hosts allow you to do this easily from your hosting control panel (e.g., cPanel).
  • Regain Access: If your site is crashed, access your site via FTP/SFTP or your host's file manager. Rename the /backwpup folder inside /wp-content/plugins/ to /backwpup-deactivate. This will deactivate the plugin and restore access to your site, allowing you to update your PHP version.

3. File and Folder Permission Issues

Symptoms: Warnings in logs like CARPETA no permite su lectura (folder not readable) or errors stating that files cannot be opened for reading.

Why it happens: Your web server's user does not have the correct read permissions for all files and folders WordPress is trying to back up. This can sometimes happen if file permissions are changed by another plugin or a manual server operation.

Solutions:

  • Check Permissions: Using FTP or a file manager, ensure that most folders have permissions (CHMOD) of 755 and files have 644. The user that owns the files (often 'www-data' or your username) must have read access.
  • Exclude Problematic Paths: In the BackWPup job settings, you can add specific folders that are causing 'read' errors to the exclusion list. The error log will show the full path of the problematic folder.
  • Open_basedir Restrictions: Errors mentioning open_basedir restriction in effect are strict server security rules. You may need to contact your hosting provider to adjust these rules or, again, exclude the listed paths from your backup job.

4. Memory Exhaustion and Timeout Errors

Symptoms: Errors such as Allowed memory size of 536870912 bytes exhausted or backups that fail after a long time without completing.

Why it happens: Backing up very large websites requires significant server resources (PHP memory and execution time). Hosting environments often have limits on these resources to maintain server stability.

Solutions:

  • Increase Resources: Try increasing WordPress memory limits by adding define('WP_MAX_MEMORY_LIMIT', '512M'); to your wp-config.php file.
  • Adjust Backup Job: Break your backup into smaller jobs. Instead of one job backing up everything, create one for the database only and another for files, or exclude large directories (e.g., a folder full of video files).
  • Check Server Logs: For persistent issues, your server's error log (available through your hosting panel) may provide more detailed information about resource limits being hit.

By methodically working through these common issues, you can often resolve BackWPup errors and get your WordPress backups running smoothly again. Always remember to test your backups by downloading and verifying the files to ensure their integrity.

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