We recommend creating backups of your TestRail installation regularly and especially when upgrading to a new TestRail version. There are three parts that need to be considered when backing up TestRail: the database, the installation files and the attachments. See below for how to back up these application parts.
Database backup
As most TestRail data is stored in its database, backing up the TestRail database is critical. Please create backups of the database by using the tools of the specific database you are using (e.g. mysqldump or, more comfortable, phpMyAdmin for MySQL; and SQL Server Management Studio for SQL Server databases).
You usually want to create a logical backup of your database, which results in a SQL file with both the database schema as well as the data. Creating additional, other backup formats can also be useful to make sure you have a working backup. We highly recommend trying to recover the backup on a separate test machine once in a while to ensure that the database backup is working well.
Installation files
You should also backup all the TestRail installation files, i.e. the files that are stored in your web server’s root directory. The installation files also contain the TestRail configuration (config.php) with information on how to connect to the database.
Attachments & reports
Last but not least you should also backup the attachments and reports that are stored in the attachment and report directories you configured. You can look up the configured directories in TestRail’s Admin area under Site Settings. Please note that reports and the report directory are only available with TestRail 3.0 and later.
Restoring a backup
Please see our separate article on how to restore a TestRail backup.