When I originally wrote Automatic Updater, I had an action trigger just before the update, so site owners could easily take a backup snapshot, in case of a catastrophic failure. Now that we have Automatic Updates in WordPress Core, however, there’s no such action, and with good reason.
Backups Are Slow
We’re not talking 10-20 seconds slow. We’re talking minutes, or even hours, if the backup includes everything you’ve every uploaded. Some hosts kill processes that take too long, so WordPress might never get to update. Alternatively, it’s possible the backup could still be running when WordPress tries to run the update again, which could potentially cause conflicts.
So with this in mind, how should you do backups before an automatic update runs?
Backup Incrementally
If your backup software doesn’t know how to make an incremental backup, you need to get rid of it, and buy better backup software. I’m naturally biased towards VaultPress, which my employer makes, but there are plenty of good options available. Incremental backups are faster, so it’s easier for you to take backups on a more regular basis – even multiple times a day!
Schedule Your Backups
Instead of running your backup exactly when the update runs, you can schedule a cron job to run 5 minutes before (adjust as needed for the time your backups take). It’s a little tricky to determine if an update is going to run, so here’s a gist you’re welcome to use for your own purposes.
Have fun, stay safe, and remember to test your backups!