All-in-One WP Migration Google Drive Extension

Your backup shares space with your email

Scheduling a daily backup to Google Drive looks like a matter settled forever. But a Google account includes 15 GB free, shared with Gmail and Photos, and each backup holds the whole site. With a 2 GB backup a day and no cleanup rule, a week takes up 14 GB.

When Drive runs out of space, the backup fails. And that space is the same one your email uses. With this extension, the decision that counts is how many backups to keep.

All-in-One WP Migration Google Drive Extension adds Drive as a destination for exporting, importing and scheduling backups of a WordPress site. It is an add-on: it needs the All-in-One WP Migration plugin to work.

Google Drive as a destination to export, import and schedule

• Export to Google Drive by choosing it as the destination in the export menu.
• Import from Google Drive a backup stored in your account.
• Automatic backups every hour, day, week or month, at the time you set.
• Destination folder: by default it creates one named after the site, and you can choose another.
• Email notices when a backup finishes.
• Retention rules by count, total size or age.
• WP-CLI commands to create, list and restore backups from the terminal.

Three rules to keep Drive from filling up

Retention is set in three ways, and each answers a different question:

• By count: keeps the most recent backups. The question is how many points to go back to you want.
• By total size: puts a ceiling on what backups occupy in Drive. It fits if the account has other uses too.
• By age: sets how long a backup stays before being deleted.

To work it out, multiply the size of one backup by the number you want to keep and compare the result with the free space in the account. Do it again when the site grows, because size does not stand still. From WP-CLI you can also leave out spam comments, revisions, cache or media.

Importing replaces the site, not a part of it

Restoring means importing. You pick the backup in the Drive list, press Import and a warning appears: the backup will overwrite the database, media, plugins and themes of the site. Up to that point you can cancel; after pressing Proceed, the process no longer stops.

If you only want to undo a small change, keep in mind that restoring also takes away what was published after that backup.

Nor is the extension a Drive manager for visitors: it stores backups, it does not publish files on your site.

Connecting the account and running the first backup

You need the All-in-One WP Migration plugin installed and a Google account. Without connecting the account, the extension cannot be used.

1. Install and activate the extension on top of All-in-One WP Migration.
2. Open its settings and connect your Google Drive account.
3. Review the destination folder.
4. Set the frequency, the time and the retention, and save the changes.
5. Enter an email address for the notices.
6. Export a backup by hand and check that it appears in Drive.
7. Try importing it on a test site, never for the first time in production.

Dropbox, FTP and full backup plugins

The Dropbox extension adds that service as a destination with scheduling, inside the same plugin. The FTP extension takes backups to your own server, with FTPS and SFTP.

If you prefer another backup system, UpdraftPlus also works with Google Drive, allows several destinations at once and adds incremental backups and automatic backup before updating. You can also compare Duplicator Pro.

Space, folders and restoring on Google Drive

Does it work without All-in-One WP Migration?

No. The extension provides the destination and needs the base plugin.

What happens if Drive runs out of space?

The backup fails. Retention rules exist to prevent that.

Can I move the backups folder?

Yes. The folder can be moved without affecting exports, and you can also set another destination.

Can I restore from the terminal?

Yes, with wp ai1wm gdrive restore. The --yes option confirms without asking, so use it with care.

Will I know when a backup has finished?

You can receive the notice at the address you enter in Notification Settings.