Zstandard: Plesk backups compressed .tzst

Without giving notice, Plesk switched to Zstandard compression for Backups , this algorithm was developed by Facebook, to manage a large amount of data on a daily basis, it is a lossless compression algorithm, so it operates without causing data loss. Zstd allows you to perform real-time data compression operations, offers a compromise between compression speed and compression ratio , and therefore allows you to compress large amounts of data in a short time. It is therefore understandable why Plesk has decided to switch to this algorithm to make backups, the advantages are innumerable, but for Windows users it can be complex to decompress the backup archives in case of need to access some data or restore the backup to the external Backup utility present in the Plesk control panel.

How to unpack .tzst backup in Windows?

When we download the backup from our Plesk panel, we will find the usual .tar file that we can unpack directly with WinRAR or the 7-zip open source program. Compared to the past, however, the files contained in the archive are in Zstandard format with the extension .tzst .

In a GNU / Linux environment there would be no big problems, we just need to install zstd. With Windows it is necessary to "tinker" a little more, starting to install the free PeaZip software ( here to download it) one of the few that allows us to decompress files in this format.

We will then have to unpack the backup file, go to the folder and unpack the various .tzst archives. We remind you that in Plesk backups the data files that make up our PrestaShop or Wordpress installation are located in backup_user-data_xxx .tzst , while the database data is in the "databases" folder

We then position ourselves with the mouse on the file we want to unpack and click with the right button.

We will end up with a backup_user-data_xxx file, with no extension

We just have to unzip this file with 7-zip

The procedure with Windows is currently cumbersome, once done we will have unpacked the archive on our PC

In the httpdocs folder we will find the files that make up our ecommerce in PrestaShop or other CMS. For the database it is the same procedure, with the difference that the unzipped file will have no extension, just open it with notepad ++ or other text editor, or import it into PhpMyAdmin as it is.

Notes: these procedures are best done in GNU / Linux, perhaps directly via SSH on the target server. Obviously the backup restore procedure in Plesk is much simpler and safer.

Author: Loris Modena

Loris Modena

SENIOR DEVELOPER

For Ind Loris Modena , owner of Arte e Informatica , he began working in the IT sector in 1989 as a system engineer in charge of the maintenance and installation of IT systems. He started programming for the web in 1997 dealing with CGI programming in PERL and then moving on to programming in PHP and JavaScript. In this period he approaches the Open source world and the management of Linux servers.

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