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  4. The pkgacct Script
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The pkgacct Script

Valid for versions 102 through 122

Version:

102

124

Last modified: September 3, 2024

Overview

You can use the /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/pkgacct script to create a cpmove archive for an account. After you create the archive, you can then restore the account on any cPanel & WHM servers. By default, this script compresses the cpmove archive.

Important:
  • This script does not use the /etc/cpbackup-exclude.conf file to exclude files or directories from backups.
  • The system won’t transfer any email addresses from Plesk® to cPanel & WHM that contain a plus sign (+) in the email username.
  • You can’t back up the root user.
  • You can’t back up a WHM reseller account without an associated domain.
  • This feature does not transfer Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) configuration information for an account. The user will need to reconfigure 2FA on the new server.
  • We do not recommend that you transfer accounts with calendars or contacts data from a server that runs cPanel & WHM version 120 or later to a server that runs cPanel & WHM version 118 or earlier. If you do this, you will need to manually copy and import the accounts’ calendars and contacts data once the transfer has completed.

Server requirements

When you package an account for transfer, the source and destination servers must contain free disk space greater than twice the size of the largest account. Both servers also require an additional 1 GB of free disk space. The package and restore processes use the free space to store temporary files.

Run the script

To use this script, run the following command as the root user:

/usr/local/cpanel/scripts/pkgacct [options] USERNAME DIRECTORY
Note:

This script uses strict argument/option matching. For example, --userba no longer automatically expands to match --userbackup. The system will display the help text for this script if you use an incomplete option name.

Options

This script accepts the following options:

Option Description Example
USERNAME Required
The cPanel account username for which to create a cpmove archive. You must pass this option after any options, but before the DIRECTORY option.		 example
DIRECTORY The directory path in which to store the archive. By default, the script uses the /home directory. You must pass this option after the USERNAME option. /usr/local/cpanel/backups
--allow-override Use the /var/cpanel/lib/Whostmgr/Pkgacct/pkgacct file to package the account, if it exists.
Note:
You must pass this option before any other options.
--allow-override
--mysql=VERSION The archive’s required minimum version of MySQL®. --mysql=5.1.1
--roundcube=VERSION The archive’s required minimum version of Roundcube. --roundcube=3.0
--dbbackup=TYPE The type of database backup to perform:
  • all — The script backs up all of the database information. This is the default option.
  • schema — The script only backs up the database schemas. Only use this option to track a database’s users if you back up your databases through a different method.
  • name — The script only backs up the database names. MySQL databases transfer as placeholders containing a CREATE TABLE statement. PostgreSQL® databases transfer as empty .tar placeholder files.
 --dbbackup=all
--dbbackup_mysql=TYPE An override of the --dbbackup option for MySQL only. This option accepts the same values as the --dbbackup option.
Note:
  • If you pass **both** this option and the `--dbbackup` option, the system applies the `--dbbackup_mysql` option to MySQL and the `--dbbackup` option to PostgreSQL.
  • This option has no effect on PostgreSQL backups.
--dbbackup_mysql=all
--get_version Display the version of the pkgacct script. --get_version
--use_backups Use the account’s last known successful backup as a template when the script creates the archive. Use this option to speed up the backup process. --use_backups
--incremental Update the destination file with any new content since the previous backup. This option also removes any content that no longer exists on the account. If the destination file does not exist, the script creates a new file in that location.
Note:
This option will pass the --nocompress option to create an uncompressed archive.
--incremental
--split Create the archive in smaller data files. This option reduces the overall load on the system and makes it easier to transfer the files. The system creates these files in the cpmove-USERNAME.tar.gz.part00001 format, where USERNAME is the user’s account and part00001 is the file’s incremental ID. --split
--nocompress Do not compress the archive. --nocompress
--userbackup Allow the user to use the archive as a backup file for the account (for example, backup-3.18.2020_09-16-55_USERNAME). The system creates the file in the /home directory. This file is compatible with WHM’s Transfer or Restore a cPanel Account interface (WHM » Home » Transfers » Transfer or Restore a cPanel Account).
Important:
The system also creates two ASCII files for internal use in the /home/USERNAME directory, where USERNAME is the cPanel account name. You must remove these ASCII files after the system creates them. To create a backup file without the ASCII files, use UAPI’s fullbackup_to_homedir function.
--userbackup
--backup Use the archive as a backup for the account at the given file path. This option creates the username.tar.gz file, where username represents the account’s username. --backup
--serialized_output Encodes each line of the script’s output in JSON format in order to allow the live_tail_log.cgi script to stream it. --serialized_output
--skipacctdb Exclude the account’s MySQL and PostgreSQL databases from the archive. --skipacctdb
--skipapitokens Exclude the account’s API tokens from the archive. --skipapitokens
--skipauthnlinks Exclude the account’s external authentication credentials from the archive. --skipauthnlinks
--skipbwdata Exclude the account’s bandwidth data from the archive. --skipbwdata
--skipcron Exclude the account’s cron data from the archive. --skipcron
--skipdnszones Exclude the account’s DNS zone file information from the archive. --skipdnszones
--skipdomains Exclude the account’s subdomains, parked domains (aliases), and addon domains from the archive. --skipdomains
--skipftpusers Exclude the account’s FTP user accounts from the archive. --skipftpusers
--skiphomedir Exclude the account’s /home directory from the archive. Use this option if you will save or transfer the /home directory with another method, such as the rsync command. --skiphomedir
--skipintegrationlinks Exclude the account’s integration links from the archive. --skipintegrationlinks
--skiplinkednodes Exclude the account’s server node linkages from the archive. --skiplinkednodes
--skiplocale Exclude the account’s locale information or customized locale from the archive. --skiplocale
--skiplogs Exclude the account’s log files from the archive. --skiplogs
--skipmail Exclude the account’s mail directory from the archive. --skipmail
--skipmailconfig Exclude the account’s mail configuration information from the archive. --skipmailconfig
--skipmailman Exclude the account’s Mailman mailing lists from the archive. --skipmailman
--skipmysql Exclude the account’s MySQL databases, database users, and database grants from the archive. --skipmysql
--skippasswd Exclude the account’s password from the archive. --skippasswd
--skippgsql Exclude the account’s PostgreSQL databases, database users, and database grants from the archive. --skippgsql
--skippublichtml Exclude the account’s /public_html directory. --skippublichtml
--skipquota Exclude the account’s disk quota limits from the archive. --skipquota
--skipresellerconfig Exclude the account’s reseller privileges from the archive. --skipresellerconfig
--skipshell Exclude the account’s shell information and privileges from the archive. --skipshell
--skipssl Exclude the server’s SSL certificates and files in the Apache® configuration. This option does not exclude the SSL files in the account’s /home directory. --skipssl
--skipuserdata Exclude the account’s subaccount information. You create these accounts in cPanel’s User Manager interface (cPanel » Home » Preferences » User Manager). --skipuserdata
--help Display a brief help message. --help
--man Display the script’s full documentation. --man

Use a custom pkgacct script

To create a custom pkgacct script, perform the following steps:

  1. As the root user, copy the /usr/local/cpanel/scripts/pkgacct file and modify it.
  2. Store the modified pkgacct file in the /var/cpanel/lib/Whostmgr/Pkgacct/pkgacct directory.
  3. Run the /usr/local/cpanel/bin/backup --allow-override command.

Additional Documentation