Guide Back Up and Restore a Flask App on an aaPanel Server - Printable Version +- AdminsForum (https://adminsforum.com) +-- Forum: Free & open-source control panels (https://adminsforum.com/Forum-free-open-source-control-panels) +--- Forum: aaPanel (https://adminsforum.com/Forum-aapanel) +---- Forum: aaPanel Guides & Tutorials (https://adminsforum.com/Forum-aapanel-guides-tutorials) +----- Forum: aaPanel Backups & Migration Guides (https://adminsforum.com/Forum-aapanel-backups-migration-guides) +----- Thread: Guide Back Up and Restore a Flask App on an aaPanel Server (/Thread-guide-back-up-and-restore-a-flask-app-on-an-aapanel-server)

Back Up and Restore a Flask App on an aaPanel Server - DEV - 10-14-2026 A backup is useful only when you can rebuild and run the application from it. This SSH-based guide backs up a small Flask project hosted by aaPanel, restores it outside the live website folder and tests it on a separate localhost port. Tested lab: Ubuntu 22.04.5, aaPanel Free 8.0.7 and a Flask/Gunicorn sample. This is a source-and-dependency recovery exercise, not a complete VPS image or a walkthrough of an aaPanel backup plugin.     Restore workflow diagram. The live app and the recovery test remain separate. 1. Define what must be recovered Our sample has app.py and requirements.txt and no database, uploads or secret configuration. A real app may also need a consistent database export, uploaded files, environment secrets, Nginx configuration and its startup settings. Inventory those separately before claiming a complete backup. The live project directory is /www/wwwroot/af-flask-lab. Its Gunicorn command uses app:app and binds 127.0.0.1:3200. Record your environment path, Python version, startup user, domain and mapping port in a protected recovery note. 2. Record the application's packages Place a reviewed requirements.txt beside app.py. Our small sample contains: Code:Copy Flask==3.1.3 gunicorn==26.2.0 These are the versions tested in this lab. This pins direct dependencies; it does not lock every transitive dependency. For stronger repeatability, retain a reviewed full dependency snapshot or a suitable lock file and test it in a clean environment. 3. Create a protected source archive Choose a new archive name so you do not overwrite an older recovery point. From the VPS terminal, the equivalent command for our two-file sample is: Code:Copy tar -czf /www/backup/af-flask-20261014.tar.gz  -C /www/wwwroot af-flask-lab/app.py af-flask-lab/requirements.txt chmod 600 /www/backup/af-flask-20261014.tar.gz tar -tzf /www/backup/af-flask-20261014.tar.gz Check that both expected files are listed. Our archive was 377 bytes because this is a tiny text-only sample, not a full production application. Do not publish backup archives inside a website document root. Rebuild the virtual environment rather than assuming a copied environment is portable between server paths or operating systems. Save a protected off-site copy through your approved backup destination; a local archive alone does not protect against losing the VPS. Off-site transfer was not performed in this exercise. 4. Restore into a new isolated directory Use a new directory that does not already contain files: Code:Copy mkdir /www/af-flask-restore-20261014 tar -xzf /www/backup/af-flask-20261014.tar.gz  -C /www/af-flask-restore-20261014 Only extract your trusted archive after inspecting its file list. Do not extract into the live project for a rehearsal. The restored app is now under /www/af-flask-restore-20261014/af-flask-lab. Compare app.py and requirements.txt with the source copies. For example: Code:Copy sha256sum /www/wwwroot/af-flask-lab/app.py sha256sum /www/af-flask-restore-20261014/af-flask-lab/app.py Our test compared both files with SHA-256 and both matched. A matching hash proves the file content matches; it does not yet prove the app can run. 5. Build a fresh environment Use a Python version compatible with the application. Our existing lab uses /usr/bin/python3.10; choose a maintained compatible release for a new deployment. Ubuntu's matching venv package must already be installed. Code:Copy python3 -m venv /www/af-flask-restore-20261014/venv /www/af-flask-restore-20261014/venv/bin/python -m pip install  -r /www/af-flask-restore-20261014/af-flask-lab/requirements.txt /www/af-flask-restore-20261014/venv/bin/python -m pip check Our fresh environment installed the recorded direct versions and pip check reported No broken requirements found. Install from trusted package sources. If your project needs OS libraries, document and rebuild those too. 6. Run the restored app on a different local port Set permissions only on the isolated restore directory for the intended application user. In our lab that user is www. From an administrator terminal: Code:Copy chown -R www:www /www/af-flask-restore-20261014 cd /www/af-flask-restore-20261014/af-flask-lab runuser -u www -- /www/af-flask-restore-20261014/venv/bin/gunicorn  --workers 1 --bind 127.0.0.1:3202 app:app This foreground command occupies that terminal. From a second terminal: Code:Copy curl -i http://127.0.0.1:3202/ Our restore returned HTTP 200 and AdminsForum Flask lab. Port 3202 stayed local and did not replace the live app on 3200. Stop the foreground recovery process with Ctrl+C when the test is finished. We stopped the temporary test process and rechecked the live HTTPS site, which still returned HTTP 200. Before using this for a real recovery Test database connectivity, uploads, background jobs, secrets, logging and the expected user workflow. A two-file Flask test cannot establish those properties. Restore missing resources before changing the live domain or project path. Plan cutover and rollback separately; a rehearsal should not overwrite your running deployment. Completion checklist Backup contents inspected and protected. Isolated restore directory used. Source file hashes compared. Fresh environment built and dependencies checked. Restored application tested on a separate local port. Temporary process stopped and live website checked. Off-site retention and application-specific data still included in the wider recovery plan. AdminsForum lab-tested guide. Illustration is a workflow diagram; commands describe the tested SSH recovery method.