Migrating from cPanel to DirectAdmin: how to generate backups via CLI

Migrating from cPanel to DirectAdmin: How to Generate Backups via CLI#

Those who work with infrastructure and N2 support know: when you've been used to a tool for over 10 years (in my case, cPanel), switching to another - like DirectAdmin - can be a real head-scratcher.

I was in the middle of a tough migration (moving instances from Proxmox to OVH) and needed to generate a full account backup via terminal. In cPanel, your fingers automatically go to /scripts/pkgacct, but what about DirectAdmin? Where is the equivalent?

Follow me, and I'll show you what I learned on the "battlefield," the errors I encountered, and how I solved them securely.

The cultural shock: pkgacct vs. task queue#

If you, like me, come from the school of PHP, Shell Script, and "root" Linux, you know that pkgacct is a lifestyle. You run the command, it locks the terminal, and shows you line-by-line what is happening.

In DirectAdmin, the approach is different. It works with a Task Queue. You request the backup, it says "okay" and returns the prompt to you, but it keeps processing everything in the background. At first, this is nerve-wracking because you think nothing is happening!

Initial system diagnostics and versions#

Before initiating any migration or massive account backups, it is vital to ensure that the DirectAdmin instance is operational, up to date, and that its core services are responding:

# Verify the installed DirectAdmin version
cat /usr/local/directadmin/version

# Check for pending panel updates
/usr/local/directadmin/directadmin update

# Validate global configuration directives
cat /usr/local/directadmin/conf/directadmin.conf | head -20

1. Validate local connectivity#

Verify that the default panel port (2222) is responding locally:

# Validate local API response
curl -k https://localhost:2222/

# Verify that the port is listening
ss -lntp | grep -E "2222|8080"

2. Check HTTP daemon status#

Ensure the web servers hosting the sites are running healthily before initiating backups:

systemctl status httpd 2>/dev/null || systemctl status nginx

Critical prerequisites: disk space and permissions#

A common mistake is initiating backups without validating whether the target partition has free space, or if the backup process has permissions to write the file.

1. Disk space verification#

The golden rule is to have at least twice the size occupied by the user account to be migrated (once for the temporary dump files and once for the final compressed archive).

# Check the space occupied by the user home directory
du -sh /home/user_system/

# Check available space on the backup partition
df -h /home/admin/admin_backups/ 2>/dev/null || df -h /home/

Automated pre-backup verification script:

REQUIRED=$(du -sm /home/user_system/ | awk '{print $1}')
AVAILABLE=$(df -m /home/ | tail -1 | awk '{print $4}')

# Set a safe margin of 2x the size
SAFE_REQUIRED=$((REQUIRED * 2))

if [ "$AVAILABLE" -lt "$SAFE_REQUIRED" ]; then
    echo "ERROR: Insufficient disk space. Required: ${SAFE_REQUIRED}MB, Available: ${AVAILABLE}MB"
    exit 1
else
    echo "Sufficient disk space verified to proceed with backup."
fi

2. Directory permissions audit#

Check directory permissions at the standard backup location:

# View ownership and permissions of the directory
ls -la /home/admin/admin_backups/
stat /home/admin/admin_backups/

# Test if the admin user has write permissions
sudo -u admin touch /home/admin/admin_backups/test-write && rm /home/admin/admin_backups/test-write

Generating the preventive global backups#

1. Backing up server configurations#

Before performing migrations, manually back up the configuration files for the panel and active web/mail services:

# Back up the core DirectAdmin directory
tar czf /root/directadmin-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /usr/local/directadmin/

# Back up Apache and Postfix configuration paths
cp -r /etc/httpd/ /root/httpd-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)/ 2>/dev/null || cp -r /etc/nginx/ /root/nginx-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)/
cp -r /etc/postfix/ /root/postfix-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)/

2. Generating the account backup via CLI#

To generate the backup of a user (let's call it user_system) directly via terminal:

/usr/local/directadmin/directadmin reseller_backup user=user_system

3. Bulk backup loop for all accounts#

If you need to migrate all user accounts in batch:

# Sequentially back up all normal users
for user in $(ls /home/ | grep -v -E "admin|lost\+found"); do
    echo "Generating backup for user: $user"
    /usr/local/directadmin/directadmin reseller_backup user=$user
done

Real-time progress monitoring#

Since the DirectAdmin command returns instantly to the shell, use tail on the task queue log to monitor generation:

tail -f /var/log/directadmin/task.queue.log

To verify if the packaging processes are actively running, check using ps:

ps aux | grep -E "tar|zstd|gzip"

The immediate execution command ("cPanel style")#

To force immediate execution and print output logs directly to your shell:

/usr/local/directadmin/dataskq d800

The d800 is the debug level. It will print details about every database dump and packed directory.

Verifying backup file integrity#

Once complete, make sure the backup file was generated fully and is not corrupted:

1. Validate backup file format (tar.gz or tar.zst)#

DirectAdmin packages accounts in compressed archives. Check the exact compression format:

file /home/admin/admin_backups/user_system*.tar.*

2. Audit size and integrity#

The file must have a consistent size relative to the user's data:

# View file size
ls -la /home/admin/admin_backups/user_system*.tar.*
du -sh /home/admin/admin_backups/user_system*.tar.*

3. Validate internal archive structure and critical contents#

Test the archive's internal integrity without extraction:

# For tar.gz archives
tar -tzf /home/admin/admin_backups/user_system.tar.gz | head -20

# For tar.zst (Zstandard) archives
tar --zstd -tzf /home/admin/admin_backups/user_system.tar.zst | head -20

Verify that critical directories (web content, e-mails, and database dumps) exist inside:

tar -tzf /home/admin/admin_backups/user_system.tar.gz | grep -E "public_html|Maildir|backup/mysql"

Count the total files packed to ensure consistency:

tar -tzf /home/admin/admin_backups/user_system.tar.gz | wc -l

Account restoration procedure#

After transferring the .tar.gz or .tar.zst file to the target server, restore it via command line:

# Run restoration on target server
/usr/local/directadmin/directadmin reseller_backup user=user_system restore=/home/admin/admin_backups/user_system.tar.gz

Note: If the backup is in Zstandard format, adjust the file path accordingly.

Forcing restoration processing#

Like generation, restoring accounts enters the task queue. Force active execution for logs:

/usr/local/directadmin/dataskq d800

Validating the restored data#

Verify that the restored user folders and permissions match expectations:

ls -la /home/user_system/
ls -la /home/user_system/public_html/

Diagnosing failures and error logs#

If the backup fails or the task queue gets stuck, investigate the system logs:

# Check recent errors in the system log
tail -100 /var/log/directadmin/system.log | grep -i -E "error|fail"

# Filter for backup-specific or permission errors
grep -i "backup" /var/log/directadmin/system.log | tail -20
grep -i "permission\|denied" /var/log/directadmin/system.log | tail -20

Automated backups via cron configuration#

To avoid running commands manually, schedule backups using the admin user's crontab:

# View active cron schedules for admin
crontab -l -u admin

# Add daily backup schedule (at 02:00 AM) for the account
(crontab -l -u admin 2>/dev/null; echo "0 2 * * * /usr/local/directadmin/directadmin reseller_backup user=user_system") | crontab -u admin -

Checklist: CLI backups on DirectAdmin#

1. Pre-backup & diagnostics#

• [ ] Check installed version: cat /usr/local/directadmin/version
• [ ] Validate disk space at destination (requires 2x account size).
• [ ] Validate permissions on /home/admin/admin_backups/.
• [ ] Create preventive config backups of /usr/local/directadmin/ and /etc/httpd/.

2. Generation & monitoring#

• [ ] Run backup via DirectAdmin CLI.
• [ ] Monitor real-time task queue at /var/log/directadmin/task.queue.log.
• [ ] Optional: Run debug and force queues using /usr/local/directadmin/dataskq d800.

3. Integrity check#

• [ ] Verify generated file size.
• [ ] Run tar -tzf checks to inspect vital directories (public_html, Maildir).
• [ ] Confirm no error listings appear in /var/log/directadmin/system.log.

4. Restoration & post-migration#

• [ ] Transfer backup files to the destination server.
• [ ] Trigger restoration via CLI.
• [ ] Validate restored user files and permissions inside /home/user_system/.

Severity checklist and mapped issues#

CLI command quick reference: cPanel vs. DirectAdmin#

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See also

Infrastructure Debugging pure-ftpd stuck waiting for welcome message on cpanel/ovh

Infrastructure The master guide to legacy migration: from domino effects to architecture mismatch

Infrastructure Mastering cpguard CLI: real-world fix for "firewall is disabled

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