====== Backing Up ======

The most important step before any upgrade, is backing up your current SunShop installation completely.

**1. Backing Up Your Templates:**

Any modified template files you may have in the themes/ folder will need to be backed up if you wish to keep those modifications. It is also a good idea to rename customized template folders to names other than the default theme folder names. This way, when you upgrade, you will not accidentally overwrite your themes. 

You can also backup your template files to a zip file prior to upgrading by clicking on the "Settings" -> "Manage Templates" -> "Backup Templates" link. This method will backup your themes to your local machine should anything happen while upgrading.

**2. Backing Up Product Images:**

Under normal circumstances, you do not need to backup your product images. However, there are instances where you may accidentally delete folders and it's always a good idea to have backups just in case. Your images should be located in the images/products/ folder but if you changed the default images folder they can be located elsewhere.

You can also backup your complete folder of images to a zip file prior to upgrading by clicking on the "Products" -> "Manage Images" -> "Image Backup" link. This method will backup your images to your local machine should anything happen while upgrading. Please note that if you have a large amount of images, this process can sometimes fail due to lack of memory available to PHP on the server. If this happens, you should backup your images manually.

**3. Backing Up Your Database:**

There are a few ways that you can backup your SunShop database. No matter which method you choose, please be sure that you have a complete backup of the database before proceeding with your upgrade.

  - **One Click Backup:** SunShop currently has a database backup feature within the admin area. To utilize it, simply click through to "Settings" -> "Manage Database". On that page the top section will have a one click backup feature that you can use to backup the entire database. Make sure that when you backup all database tables are selected. They should all be selected by default but if they are not, use the CTRL key to select multiple tables at the same time.

  - **Hosting Control Panel:** Every hosting company usually has some type of database management tool to view and maintain your database. In most cases, you will find a tool called PHPMyAdmin. First, locate your host's MySQL management area. Once you locate this and the store's database, follow the instructions in this link to perform a export/backup of your data: [[https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-quickly-back-up-and-restore-a-database-with-phpmyadmin/|Backup Using PHPMyAdmin]]

**Continue to [[sunshop:upgrade-steps|Upgrade Steps]]**