Ability to download point in time backup sets without WordPress running

I really need a way to access backups from various points in time and be able to download them as a zip file (files + database .sql file) where the backup service prepares the download file from the incremental backup files up to the chosen restore point/date.

Most of the backups that have MainWP add-ons and support incremental backup at all seem to rely on having a working Wordpress site, preferably the actual source site, that is healthy enough to do the restore. They have various work-arounds for recovering a site that is down / broken but they are a lot of work.

Sometimes I just need to make a localhost copy of a site to do some development or testing and having to restore to an external site just so that I can get at the DB and files to copy them to localhost is an extra step and a lot of expensive time.

I’m not suggesting you revive your own backup solution that you’ve deprecated but you may want to a) look for additional backup partners that have more efficient and flexible restore/download options and/or b) lobby the existing partners to improve in this area so that, together, you can better compete with other management console / backup solutions like ManageWP’s.

If you need a use case, I manage about 50 clients’ sites. Not too long ago some malware managed to get into two of my VPS servers and taint every single account. I needed to get at the backup files from about a week earlier and replace the existing files. I had no way to know if it would be safe to do that from within WordPress and a backup plugin as the malware might attach itself to the restore process and instantly re-infect the sites. It was better to get all the files staged in zip files then use SSH and FTP to remove the existing files, upload the zip file and extract the contents for each site. That would’ve taken days if even possible with the backup solutions that have MainWP add-ons. It took an afternoon with ManageWP.