Attach a backup as a second disk to recover selected files without replacing your server's current disks. Copy the files you need, unmount the backup and detach it when finished.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Before you begin

Applies to: Windows servers with an NTFS backup volume, or Linux servers with an ext4 backup partition. Use the section for your server's operating system.

You need a completed backup and administrator access to the server. The Linux example below was checked on Ubuntu 26.04 with an ext4 backup partition. Disk names and filesystems can differ; identify the backup before mounting it.

The attached backup can be larger than the server's live disk. You only need enough free space at the recovery destination for the files you copy. This applies to attaching a separate backup disk, not to restoring or cloning onto a smaller disk.

On Windows, open PowerShell as administrator and run Get-Disk before attaching the backup. Keep that disk list so you can identify the added disk afterwards.

Choose Attach, not Restore
Restore replaces the server's current disks. Attach makes the backup available alongside them for file recovery.

Attach the backup in mPanel

  1. Open your server in mPanel and select Backups > Manage.
  2. Select the backup by its date and label, then select Attach.
  3. Wait for attachment to complete. The page shows the attached backup and its expiry time.

A selected daily backup with the Attach button in the current panel

Check the displayed expiry and finish copying before the backup is automatically detached.

Recover files on Linux

Connect to the server using SSH and identify the attached backup disk:

lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,TYPE,FSTYPE,RO,MOUNTPOINTS

In this example, the running system is on /dev/vda1 and the backup's ext4 filesystem is on /dev/vdb1. Do not assume those names apply to your server.

For this ext4 example, use an unused mount directory and mount without replaying the filesystem journal:

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/backup
sudo mount -o ro,noload /dev/vdb1 /mnt/backup
findmnt /mnt/backup

Check that the mount options include ro. Browse /mnt/backup and copy the required files to a separate recovery directory on your server. Check recovered files before replacing live application data.

The noload option is specific to filesystems such as ext4. It avoids journal writes but does not repair an inconsistent filesystem. Do not apply this example unchanged to XFS, LVM, encrypted volumes or another disk layout.

Finish and detach on Linux

Close files and leave any shell directory inside the backup, then unmount it:

cd ~
sudo umount /mnt/backup

If unmounting reports that the target is busy, close the process using it before continuing. Once unmounted, return to Backups > Manage and select Detach. Wait for completion.

Recover files on Windows

Connect to your Windows server and open PowerShell as administrator. Compare the disk list before and after attaching the backup to identify the added disk:

Get-Disk | Format-Table Number,Size,OperationalStatus,IsOffline,IsReadOnly

In our Windows Server 2025 test, the live disk was disk 0 and the attached backup was disk 1. Attachment did not restart the server. The backup was read-only but initially offline. Do not assume the disk numbers will be the same on your server.

Keep the backup read-only
Do not initialise or format the backup disk, clear its read-only setting, or change your live system disk. If Windows cannot recognise the backup's filesystem, stop rather than accepting a format prompt.

If the identified backup disk is offline, bring only that disk online. Replace 1 below with its confirmed disk number:

Set-Disk -Number 1 -IsOffline $false
Get-Disk 1 | Format-List Number,OperationalStatus,IsReadOnly
Get-Volume | Format-Table DriveLetter,FileSystem,Size

Check that the backup is online and remains read-only. In our test, Windows assigned its NTFS volume the letter D:. Use the letter shown on your server, not necessarily D:.

Open that drive in File Explorer and copy the required files to a separate recovery folder on your live disk or another destination with enough free space. Check the recovered files before replacing live application data.

The attached Windows backup opened as drive D in File Explorer, showing its folders and a test file

When finished, close files and Explorer windows using the backup. Return to Backups > Manage, select Detach and wait for completion. If the disk cannot be brought online or its files are unavailable, record the error and contact support rather than changing disk identities or formatting it.

To recover files on a separate Windows computer instead, download the backup and extract the required files.