Putting things back.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH FIRST
What exactly is broken, and from when.
WHY
Restoring further back than necessary loses data that was fine.
WHAT TO FIND
The most recent backup taken before the problem began.
WHAT TO DO BEFORE RESTORING ANYTHING
Take a copy of the current state.
WHY
The current broken state may contain data the backup lacks, and restoring destroys it.
WHAT TO RESTORE TO FIRST
A separate location, not over the live copy.
WHY
It lets you verify before committing.
WHAT TO CHECK IN A RESTORED COPY
That files are complete That the database imports without error That ownership and permissions are right
WHAT ORDER TO RESTORE IN
Files, then database, then configuration.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT A DATABASE RESTORE
Create the database, then import the dump.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Character set problems, which corrupt text silently.
WHAT TO VERIFY AFTERWARDS
That the application runs That recent records exist That nothing is duplicated
WHAT TO DO IF ONLY SOME DATA IS NEEDED
Restore elsewhere and extract only what is missing.
WHAT TO RECORD
What was restored, from when, and what was lost.
