Backups and PHP version

[risc2008]

I've got two related questions that I haven't been able to get good answers to by searching through the forums and KB.

First, how do request an upgrade of my PHP version? I'm currently on version 1 according to my account panel, but when I go to "upgrade PHP version" I just get an error message saying that the feature hasn't been activated on my account. I'd like an upgrade to a version that supports the command system() or exec(), because I've been trying to run a PHP script that makes backups, archives them (using tar), and sends them to a remote server.

Second, is that a good way to make backups, and can anyone suggest a better one? I understand that the CPanel backup feature has been disabled, and that I can't access the backups kept by x10hosting. However, I don't want to go around every day exporting SQL databases and my public_html folder, so I'm thinking some kind of cron job would be best. That leads me back to the first question on system() support in PHP, which I don't have currently. Besides, can anyone recommend a script that can make backups of both public_html and my SQL database, and then upload them to an FTP server?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[misson]

1. Sometimes you need to use Google rather than the forum search. Ignore the account panel; the basic version of PHP isn't used right now, and almost no-one will be approved for a version with system() or exec() enabled.
2. To backup files, you don't need to run anything on the X10 server, you can just have a script on your backup server pull the files using FTP (if only we could use rsync). However, the files on the X10 server shouldn't be the master copy; you should have the master copy on your own computer and make backups from that. As for MySQL, a cron job to back up doesn't need system to get data from MySQL or to write it to a file. You might even be able to call mysqldump as a cron job, though you'd need to store database user credentials in your crontab. A 'backup' user that has SELECT (and maybe FILE) privileges and nothing else could mitigate the damage of security breaches. Read "Cron daily backup script" for some recommendations for 3rd party backup apps; I feel like there's at least one other good thread on the matter, but can't find it. Once the script dumps the database, it could push it to a server of your own, or your computer could pull (and delete) the dump over FTP.

[Gouri]

First, how do request an upgrade of my PHP version? I'm currently on version 1 according to my account panel, but when I go to "upgrade PHP version" I just get an error message saying that the feature hasn't been activated on my account. I'd like an upgrade to a version that supports the command system() or exec(), because I've been trying to run a PHP script that makes backups, archives them (using tar), and sends them to a remote server.

Righ now everybody on x10 has php level 2,

The levels are restrictions made by x10.

Second, is that a good way to make backups, and can anyone suggest a better one? I understand that the CPanel backup feature has been disabled, and that I can't access the backups kept by x10hosting. However, I don't want to go around every day exporting SQL databases and my public_html folder, so I'm thinking some kind of cron job would be best. That leads me back to the first question on system() support in PHP, which I don't have currently. Besides, can anyone recommend a script that can make backups of both public_html and my SQL database, and then upload them to an FTP server?

for the back up you can check this --> http://www.tufat.com/s_mybackup_web_...e_exporter.htm

[risc2008]

Mission and gsonline, thanks for the replies; it clears quite a few things up!