README

A simple Laravel package for creating and managing database and storage backups.

Smart Backup uses spatie/laravel-backup internally, but adds a cleaner workflow:

Creates database and storage backups.
Saves backup records in the database.
Provides Artisan commands.
Provides optional routes for dashboard/API usage.
Supports single delete and bulk delete.
Automatically detects mysqldump when possible.
Saves backups in one managed folder, default: backups.

Requirements

PHP ^8.2
Laravel ^11.0|^12.0|^13.0
MySQL/MariaDB requires mysqldump

Installation

composer require karim-dev/smart-backup

If Composer needs to update related dependencies:

composer require karim-dev/smart-backup -W

Publish config and migration:

php artisan smart-backup:install
php artisan migrate

smart-backup:install already publishes the migration. Do not publish the migration again unless you need another copy.

Usage

Create a full backup (database + storage):

php artisan smart-backup:run

Create a database-only backup:

php artisan smart-backup:database

Create a storage-only backup:

php artisan smart-backup:storage

List backups:

php artisan smart-backup:list

Delete a backup:

php artisan smart-backup:delete {id}

Force delete:

php artisan smart-backup:delete {id} --force

What Is Backed Up?

By default, Smart Backup includes:

storage/app
storage/demo

storage/demo is included only if it exists.

Smart Backup does not back up the full Laravel project.

It does not include:

.env
vendor/
app/
routes/
resources/
storage/framework/
storage/logs/

Backup Location

By default, backups are saved in:

storage/app/private/backups

Example:

storage/app/private/
└── backups/
    ├── 2026-05-09-01-00-51.zip
    └── 2026-05-09-01-01-48.zip

Smart Backup avoids keeping extra folders named after the project, such as:

storage/app/private/zamil
storage/app/private/Laravel

The final backup files should be kept inside the managed backups folder.

Configuration

The config file is published here:

config/smart-backup.php

Most projects do not need to add anything to .env.

Optional .env values:

SMART_BACKUP_DISK=local
SMART_BACKUP_DIRECTORY=backups
SMART_BACKUP_KEEP_BACKUPS=true
SMART_BACKUP_PREVENT_DELETE_LAST=true
SMART_BACKUP_MYSQL_DUMP_BINARY_PATH=
SMART_BACKUP_MYSQL_DUMP_TIMEOUT=300
SMART_BACKUP_MYSQL_SINGLE_TRANSACTION=true

Optional Settings

Change backup folder

Default:

SMART_BACKUP_DIRECTORY=backups

Example:

SMART_BACKUP_DIRECTORY=system-backups

Keep only the latest backup

Default is to keep all backups:

SMART_BACKUP_KEEP_BACKUPS=true

To delete old backups after a successful new backup:

SMART_BACKUP_KEEP_BACKUPS=false

Prevent deleting the last backup

Default:

SMART_BACKUP_PREVENT_DELETE_LAST=true

Custom `mysqldump` path

Normally, you do not need this.

Smart Backup tries to detect mysqldump automatically from common paths like XAMPP, Laragon, WAMP, /usr/bin, and /usr/local/bin.

If detection fails, set:

SMART_BACKUP_MYSQL_DUMP_BINARY_PATH=C:/xampp/mysql/bin

or on Linux/cPanel:

SMART_BACKUP_MYSQL_DUMP_BINARY_PATH=/usr/bin

You do not need to edit config/database.php.

Routes

Smart Backup registers a route macro.

It does not load routes automatically, so you can register the routes wherever you want in your Laravel application.

Basic usage

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::smartBackup();

This will register the following routes:

GET     /backup                     backup.index
POST    /backup                     backup.store
GET     /backup/{backup}/download   backup.download
DELETE  /backup/{backup}            backup.destroy
DELETE  /backup                     backup.bulk-destroy

You can use the route names like this:

route('backup.index');
route('backup.store');
route('backup.download', $backup);
route('backup.destroy', $backup);
route('backup.bulk-destroy');

Creating Backups via API / Dashboard

When creating a backup via the backup.store endpoint (POST /backup), the process runs as a Queue Job (RunSmartBackupJob) in the background. This ensures your web requests never timeout.

You can specify the backup type by passing it in the JSON payload.

Full Backup:

{
    "type": "full"
}

Database Only:

{
    "type": "database"
}

Storage Only:

{
    "type": "storage"
}

The endpoint will respond instantly with:

{
    "success": true,
    "queued": true,
    "message": "تم وضع النسخة الاحتياطية في الطابور بنجاح وسيتم تنفيذها في الخلفية."
}

Note: If your .env is set to QUEUE_CONNECTION=sync, the backup will run immediately and wait to finish. If set to database or redis, you must have php artisan queue:work running on your server.

Dashboard usage

You can register Smart Backup routes inside your dashboard route group:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::prefix('dashboard')
    ->name('dashboard.')
    ->middleware(['web', 'auth'])
    ->group(function () {
        Route::smartBackup();
    });

This will register the following routes:

GET     /dashboard/backup                     dashboard.backup.index
POST    /dashboard/backup                     dashboard.backup.store
GET     /dashboard/backup/{backup}/download   dashboard.backup.download
DELETE  /dashboard/backup/{backup}            dashboard.backup.destroy
DELETE  /dashboard/backup                     dashboard.backup.bulk-destroy

You can use the route names like this:

route('dashboard.backup.index');
route('dashboard.backup.store');
route('dashboard.backup.download', $backup);
route('dashboard.backup.destroy', $backup);
route('dashboard.backup.bulk-destroy');

Bulk delete

The bulk delete route is:

DELETE /backup

If you register the routes inside a dashboard group, it becomes:

DELETE /dashboard/backup

The route name will be:

route('backup.bulk-destroy');

Or inside dashboard:

route('dashboard.backup.bulk-destroy');

It expects an array of backup IDs:

{
    "ids": [1, 2, 3]
}

Blade form example:

<form method="POST" action="{{ route('dashboard.backup.bulk-destroy') }}">
    @csrf
    @method('DELETE')

    <input type="hidden" name="ids[]" value="1">
    <input type="hidden" name="ids[]" value="2">
    <input type="hidden" name="ids[]" value="3">

    <button type="submit">Delete selected backups</button>
</form>

AJAX example:

fetch("{{ route('dashboard.backup.bulk-destroy') }}", {
    method: "DELETE",
    headers: {
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Accept": "application/json",
        "X-CSRF-TOKEN": "{{ csrf_token() }}"
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
        ids: [1, 2, 3]
    })
});

Custom prefix and route name

You can customize the route prefix and route name:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::smartBackup([
    'prefix' => 'backups',
    'name' => 'backups.',
]);

This will register routes like:

GET     /backups                     backups.index
POST    /backups                     backups.store
GET     /backups/{backup}/download   backups.download
DELETE  /backups/{backup}            backups.destroy
DELETE  /backups                     backups.bulk-destroy

You can use them like this:

route('backups.index');
route('backups.store');
route('backups.download', $backup);
route('backups.destroy', $backup);
route('backups.bulk-destroy');

Custom dashboard prefix and route name

You can also combine dashboard grouping with custom Smart Backup options:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;

Route::prefix('dashboard')
    ->name('dashboard.')
    ->middleware(['web', 'auth'])
    ->group(function () {
        Route::smartBackup([
            'prefix' => 'backups',
            'name' => 'backups.',
        ]);
    });

This will register routes like:

GET     /dashboard/backups                     dashboard.backups.index
POST    /dashboard/backups                     dashboard.backups.store
GET     /dashboard/backups/{backup}/download   dashboard.backups.download
DELETE  /dashboard/backups/{backup}            dashboard.backups.destroy
DELETE  /dashboard/backups                     dashboard.backups.bulk-destroy

You can use them like this:

route('dashboard.backups.index');
route('dashboard.backups.store');
route('dashboard.backups.download', $backup);
route('dashboard.backups.destroy', $backup);
route('dashboard.backups.bulk-destroy');

Notes

Use Smart Backup command:

php artisan smart-backup:run

Do not use Spatie directly when testing this package:

php artisan backup:run

because Smart Backup adds runtime configuration, database records, managed folder behavior, and cleanup logic.

Troubleshooting

`mysqldump` is not recognized

Set the path manually:

SMART_BACKUP_MYSQL_DUMP_BINARY_PATH=C:/xampp/mysql/bin

Then run:

php artisan optimize:clear
php artisan smart-backup:run

`Mailer [] is not defined`

For local testing, add:

MAIL_MAILER=log

Then run:

php artisan optimize:clear

Duplicate migration

If you published the migration twice, delete the extra migration file before running:

php artisan migrate

Author

Karim Mohamed

Package: karim-dev/smart-backup

GitHub: Kareem154

License

MIT

karim-dev / smart-backup

Maintainers

Package info

Statistics

Security

README

Requirements

Installation

Usage

What Is Backed Up?

Backup Location

Configuration

Optional Settings

Change backup folder

Keep only the latest backup

Prevent deleting the last backup

Custom `mysqldump` path

Routes

Basic usage

Creating Backups via API / Dashboard

Dashboard usage

Bulk delete

Custom prefix and route name

Custom dashboard prefix and route name

Notes

Troubleshooting

`mysqldump` is not recognized

`Mailer [] is not defined`

Duplicate migration

Author

License

karim-dev / smart-backup

Maintainers

Package info

Statistics

Security

README

Requirements

Installation

Usage

What Is Backed Up?

Backup Location

Configuration

Optional Settings

Change backup folder

Keep only the latest backup

Prevent deleting the last backup

Custom mysqldump path

Routes

Basic usage

Creating Backups via API / Dashboard

Dashboard usage

Bulk delete

Custom prefix and route name

Custom dashboard prefix and route name

Notes

Troubleshooting

mysqldump is not recognized

Mailer [] is not defined

Duplicate migration

Author

License

Custom `mysqldump` path

`mysqldump` is not recognized

`Mailer [] is not defined`