What is CodeGuard?

CodeGuard is a service that provides an automatic website / database backup solution. It monitors your website / database regularly. If any changes are detected, it will notify you about the changes and backup your website / database. It also allows you to restore your website / database to a previous version.

How does CodeGuard connect to my website?

If your website is hosted on Defend Hosting’s Linux servers, use the SFTP option. Also, you must use the default FTP user that comes with your cPanel account. You cannot connect to CodeGuard using any other FTP user. For Defend Hosting’s Windows servers, use the FTP option.

In case of other hosting providers, you can choose either the FTP or SFTP option, based on your service provider’s settings.

Wouldn’t the hosting provider’s backup suffice?

Hosting companies tend to keep your backups in the same place as your primary files. In case of any eventuality, along with your primary files, your backups too will be affected. CodeGuard provides safe, offsite backup that is 100% independent from your hosting provider.

Moreover, hosting companies provide you only the latest backup. CodeGuard follows a versioning system and allows you to restore a backup of an earlier date as well.

After I add a website, how do I change what files are backed up?

After you add a website, any new files or directories that you add to your site will automatically backed up. CodeGuard will only exclude files and directories that you don’t select when adding your website. If you need to change how your website is backed up, you need to delete and re-add your website. However, this should be handled with care as you will lose your backups. This option is only recommended if you have just added your website.

What types of database are supported for backup?

CodeGuard only supports MySQL database.

What database user permissions are needed to backup and restore?

The database user that you specify in CodeGuard must have the appropriate permissions granted. It is recommended that the user has the permissions for both backup and restore actions:

• Backup
  • Select
  • Show View
  • Show Databases
• Restore
  • Select
  • Update
  • Insert
  • Delete
  • Drop
  • Create
  • Alter
  • Index

How does CodeGuard store data? Is it encrypted? What is the privacy policy with regards to data captured by CodeGuard?

CodeGuard’s privacy policy can be located here.

How long are the backups stored in the CodeGuard account?

By default, only 90 days of backups are stored. You can choose to retain all backups, from the Backup Retention Settings section in the ACCOUNT SETTINGS view. You can navigate to this view through the SETTINGS -> ACCOUNT menu, within your CodeGuard account.