How to Backup Your WordPress Website Programmatically Without a Plugin – 2026

/*
 * Snippet: How to Backup Your WordPress Website Programmatically Without a Plugin – 2026
 * Author: John Cook 
 * URL: https://wcsuccessacademy.com/?p=1163
 * Tested with WooCommerce 10.7.0
 * "Programmatically backup WordPress database"
*/
function wcsuccess_backup_database() {
    include_once('wp-config.php');
    $conn = new mysqli(DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_NAME);
    if ($conn->connect_error) {
        die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
    }

    $tables = array();
    $sql = "SHOW TABLES";
    $result = $conn->query($sql);
    while ($row = $result->fetch_row()) {
        $tables[] = $row[0];
    }

    $return = '';
    foreach ($tables as $table) {
        $result = $conn->query("SELECT * FROM " . $table);
        $num_fields = $result->field_count;
        $return .= 'DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ' . $table . ';';
        $row2 = $conn->query('SHOW CREATE TABLE ' . $table)->fetch_row();
        $return .= "\n\n" . $row2[1] . ";\n\n";

        while ($row = $result->fetch_row()) {
            $return .= 'INSERT INTO ' . $table . ' VALUES(';
            for ($i = 0; $i < $num_fields; $i++) {
                $row[$i] = addslashes($row[$i]);
                $row[$i] = preg_replace("/\n/", "\\n", $row[$i]);
                if (isset($row[$i])) {
                    $return .= '"' . $row[$i] . '"';
                } else {
                    $return .= '""';
                }
                if ($i < ($num_fields - 1)) $return .= ',';
            }
            $return .= ");\n";
        }
        $return .= "\n\n\n";
    }
    $backup_file = 'db-backup-' . time() . '-' . (md5(implode(',', $tables))) . '.sql';
    $handle = fopen($backup_file, 'w+');
    fwrite($handle, $return);
    fclose($handle);
    echo "Database backup successfully saved as " . $backup_file;
}

/*
 * Snippet: How to Backup Your WordPress Website Programmatically Without a Plugin – 2026
 * Author: John Cook 
 * URL: https://wcsuccessacademy.com/?p=1163
 * Tested with WooCommerce 10.7.0
 * "Programmatically backup WordPress files"
*/
function wcsuccess_backup_files() {
    $rootPath = realpath('/path/to/your/wordpress/root');
    $zip = new ZipArchive();
    $zipFile = '/path/to/save/backup-' . date("Y-m-d-H-i-s") . '.zip';
    $zip->open($zipFile, ZipArchive::CREATE | ZipArchive::OVERWRITE);
    $files = new RecursiveIteratorIterator(new RecursiveDirectoryIterator($rootPath), RecursiveIteratorIterator::LEAVES_ONLY);
    foreach ($files as $name => $file) {
        if (!$file->isDir()) {
            $filePath = $file->getRealPath();
            $relativePath = substr($filePath, strlen($rootPath) + 1);
            $zip->addFile($filePath, $relativePath);
        }
    }
    $zip->close();
    echo "Files backup successfully saved as " . $zipFile;
}