When you are using the Easy Mode of the JoomlaPack component, the configuration page has an oversimlplified look and feel. Instead of numerous options, you have a handfull of settings which let novice users successfully configure the component.
The available options are:
Output Directory . This is the directory where the result of the backup process goes. The result of the backup - depending on other configuration options - might be an archive file or an SQL file. The output directory must be accessible and writable by PHP .
![[Important]](/images/stories/docimport58/important.png)
Important Providing a directory with adequate permissions might not be enough! There are other PHP security mechanisms which might prevent using a directory, for example the
open_basedirrestriction which only allows certain paths to be used for writing files from within PHP . JoomlaPack will try to detect and report such anomalies in the page before you attempt a backup.Archive Name Template . Here you can define the naming template of backup files. There are a few available macros. Macros are special strings which will be expanded to something else at backup time. They can be used to make the names of the files harder to guess for potential attackers, as well as allow you to store multiple backup archives on the output directory at any given time. The available macros and their expansion at backup time are:
- [HOST]
The configured host name of your site
- [DATE]
The current server date, in the format YYYYMMDD (year as four digits, month as two digits, day as two digits), for example 20080818 for August 18th 2008.
- [TIME]
The current server time, in the format HHMMSS (hour as two digits, minutes as two digits and seconds as two digits), for example 221520 for 10:15:20 pm.
- [RANDOM]
This is a nice security measure, as it generates a 64 character semi-random string (the MD5 hash of the server's time, accurate up to the millisecond). This is almost impossible to guess, unless you know the exact millisecond the template name was processed by the server. Yes, the chance to find this is very, very slim indeed! Please note that some hosts impose a limit on the maximum length of a file's name. On such hosts using RANDOM will most probably result to backup failure for no other apparent reason.
Settings Mode . This governs the overall performance of the JoomlaPack component. There are three available options:
Optimistic . Backups to ZIP files using Javascript redirects mode, including JoomlaPack Installer 3, using the Smart algorithm and relatively generous time and memory allowances. This is a good choice for fast servers and/or small sites.
Balanced . Same as above, using the JPA archive format, stricter time and memory allowances, with the MySQL Keep-Alive feature enabled. This is the recommended setting for most production-grade sites.
Conservative . Same as above, with very conservative settings, using the Slow algorithm and very strict time and memory allowances. This should be used in problematic cases where the Balanced settings mode does not work. If this settings mode does not work either, the only way to get JoomlaPack to work is to switch to the Expert mode and tweak the advanced settings there.
Log Level .
None . No log file is created. Not recommended unless you are sure of what you're doing!
Simple . Only errors and warnings are logged. Only recommended if you are able to take backups regularly.
Full . This is the default setting since JoomlaPack 2.1. It produces a detailed log file and it is absolutely necessary when you file a support request in our support forum .
Important Whenever you seek support in our forum, you are supposed to download, ZIP and attach the detailed (debug) log file with your support request. This greatly enhances our ability to understand what may be the problem with your site and work out a solution.
