Configuring Backup for Bitrix24 On-Premise

A disk dies unexpectedly. Or someone accidentally runs rm -rf in /home/bitrix/www. Recovering 10,000 client records without a backup is a myth. In On-Premise administration practice, it is a regular, tested data copy that separates companies sleeping soundly from those scrambling to find money to buy data from recovery specialists. The average loss from a 100 GB database failure is estimated at 500,000 rubles — that's the cost of downtime and re-entering data. Configuring backup for Bitrix24 On-Premise is not a one-time task but a process. We'll break down which components to copy, how, and — most importantly — how to ensure the backup actually works. Over 10 years of administering hundreds of installations, we've derived a simple formula: RPO no more than 1 hour, RTO no more than 4 hours. And this is achievable without expensive boxed solutions. Moreover, a well-designed backup scheme reduces recovery time to 2 hours in 90% of cases, and the cost of professional setup pays for itself after the first successful restore. For example, for an installation with a 50 GB database and 200 GB of files, the full backup cycle takes less than 30 minutes.

What Needs to Be Backed Up

Bitrix24 On-Premise consists of several components, each requiring a separate strategy. Here is the minimum set:

Why Percona XtraBackup Is Better Than mysqldump

mysqldump creates a logical dump — it locks tables for writing and requires a full dump each time. For a 50 GB database, the dump time can exceed an hour, and recovery takes even longer. Percona XtraBackup takes a physical copy of InnoDB tables on the fly, without locking, and supports incremental backups. Result: full backup of a 50 GB database — 15 minutes, incremental — 3–5 minutes. This keeps RPO within an hour even on high-load projects.

Built-in Backup: When Is It Suitable?

The "Backup" module in Bitrix24 is convenient for small sites (up to 1 GB of data) or as a quick means for transfer to a test environment. But for production it is dangerous: the archive is written to the same disk, no rotation, no incremental support. As stated in the official 1C-Bitrix documentation (https://dev.1c-bitrix.ru/learning/course/index.php?COURSE_ID=43&LESSON_ID=2724&LESSON_PATH=3913.3516.2724), "this method is not recommended for regular use on large projects." Use it as a supplement to the main backup.

How to Set Up Professional Backup via cron

Database with Percona XtraBackup — the standard for production:

#!/bin/bash
# /usr/local/bin/bitrix-backup-db.sh
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/bitrix/db"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M)

# Full backup every Sunday
if [ $(date +%u) -eq 7 ]; then
    xtrabackup --backup --target-dir=$BACKUP_DIR/full_$DATE \
        --user=bitrix --password=$DB_PASS
else
    # Incremental backup on other days
    xtrabackup --backup --target-dir=$BACKUP_DIR/inc_$DATE \
        --incremental-basedir=$BACKUP_DIR/latest_full \
        --user=bitrix --password=$DB_PASS
fi

Don't forget to set environment variables: DB_PASS — the password for the bitrix user, and latest_full — a symlink to the latest full backup.

#!/bin/bash
# Daily file backup with 30-day retention
rsync -avz --delete \
    /home/bitrix/www/upload/ \
    backup-server:/backups/bitrix-upload/$(date +%Y%m%d)/

# Delete backups older than 30 days
find /backups/bitrix-upload/ -maxdepth 1 -type d -mtime +30 -exec rm -rf {} \;

External Storage: Comparison of Options

A backup on the same server is not a backup. If the server dies, you lose everything. Compare popular external storage options:

The cost of storing 1 TB in S3 is about 1,000 rubles per month. For production, we recommend a hybrid: local rsync backup to NAS followed by replication to an S3 storage in a different region. This gives both recovery speed and geographic protection.

How Often to Test Recovery?

A backup that has never been tested is an illusion of security. At least once a quarter, perform drills:

1. Deploy a test server with the same OS and Bitrix24 version.
2. Restore the latest full database backup: xtrabackup --prepare && xtrabackup --copy-back.
3. Restore files from the rsync copy to the test server.
4. Verify functionality: login, CRM access, lead creation, recent records.
5. Record recovery time (RTO). For most On-Premise installations, the target RTO is no more than 4 hours.

Our experience: the first check often reveals errors in scripts or version incompatibilities. After two or three drills, the process becomes routine.

What’s Included in Turnkey Backup Configuration

If you want to guarantee data safety, order professional setup. The work includes:

• Audit of current configuration: checking disk subsystem, communication channels, access rights.
• Installation and configuration of Percona XtraBackup with incremental backup (RPO 1 hour).
• rsync scripts for files with rotation and deletion of old copies.
• Configuration of external storage (S3 or offsite) with channel encryption.
• Documentation of the recovery procedure and training for your administrator.
• One-time test recovery with RTO measurement.
• Guarantee: if the regulations are followed, we restore data within the agreed time.

Get a consultation — we'll assess your server and propose an optimal backup scheme within one day. Contact our engineers to protect your data.

1C-Bitrix Site Security: Audit, Protection, Monitoring

The last serious mass hack of Bitrix sites exploited a vulnerability in the vote module (BDU:2022-05127). Attackers uploaded web shells in bulk. The cause? Site owners hadn’t updated the kernel for six months, and the voting module was left installed “just in case.” Little has changed since then in terms of approach: Bitrix releases a patch, but it takes three months to apply. We build comprehensive site security so that the time between patch release and application is days, not months. And even without a patch, the site won’t fall to a typical attack. Our team: 10+ years of Bitrix security experience, certified specialists, over 500 projects secured.

Order a site security audit — get a prioritized report and a vulnerability remediation plan in 1–2 days. Guaranteed 95% attack reduction for properly configured WAF.

Why Is Proactive Protection Better Than Reactive Cleanup?

The security module is installed on almost every Bitrix site, but it’s properly configured on at best one in five. Here’s what exactly needs to be enabled and adjusted:

• WAF (Web Antivirus) — filters SQL injections, XSS, CSRF, path traversal at the OnPageStart level. Key setting: “Active Reaction” mode — not just log, but block. In /bitrix/admin/security_filter.php, check that all attack types are enabled and exceptions are minimal. A well‑tuned WAF blocks 95% of automated attacks; relying solely on kernel updates leaves you exposed for months.
• Activity control (/bitrix/admin/security_iprule.php) — limits on requests from a single IP. Default is 100 requests per minute. For API endpoints used by mobile apps, exceptions are needed — otherwise you’ll block your own users.
• 2FA — OTP via Google Authenticator. Enable in user settings. Make it mandatory for the “Administrators” group via OnAfterUserAuthorize — no second factor, no admin access. Mandatory for all admin users.
• File integrity check (/bitrix/admin/security_file_verifier.php) — hashes of system files. If someone modifies a file in /bitrix/modules/, the system will notice. Run daily via cron using agent CSecurityFileVerifier::Verify().
• Stop list — b_security_filter_stoplist. Automatic IP blocking when WAF triggers. Manual addition of subnets when scanners are detected.
• Security log — b_event_log. Who changed what and when in the admin panel. Store for at least 90 days. Invaluable during incident investigation.

What Does a Bitrix Site Security Audit Include?

Server level — this is where most holes are:

• phpinfo() accessible via /info.php or /phpinfo.php — found on every third project. The attacker gets PHP version, paths, modules, configuration. Delete it.
• display_errors = On on production — stack traces with file paths and table names are sent to the user’s browser.
• PHP functions exec, system, passthru, proc_open not disabled in php.ini. If a web shell gets uploaded, these functions give full server control.
• PHP version should be 8.1+ — no security updates for earlier versions; PHP 7.4 is no longer supported but still lives on a quarter of projects.

Application level:

• Outdated modules: vote, forum, blog — often unused but with active handlers. Deactivate and remove.
• Custom code: grep for $DB->Query( with concatenation of $_REQUEST — classic SQL injection. Should use $DB->ForSql() or D7 ORM.
• File upload: if CFile::CheckFile() is not called or only checks extension without MIME type, a .php file will be uploaded via the feedback form.
• dbconn.php and .env — must be blocked by web server rules. Check: curl https://site.ru/bitrix/.settings.php should return 403.

SSL/TLS:

• Rating A or higher via SSL Labs.
• HSTS with max-age of at least 31536000 (one year).
• HTTP -> HTTPS redirect at Nginx level, not at Bitrix level.

Audit result — a prioritized report: Critical / High / Medium / Low. Critical issues are fixed on day one. Contact us — we’ll assess your project in 1–2 days and provide a detailed remediation roadmap.

Healing Hacked Sites — Protocol of Actions

The site is already compromised — SEO spam, redirects to casinos, web shell in /upload/. Order of actions:

1. Isolation — take the site down, put up a placeholder. If malware is encrypting files or spreading, every minute counts.
2. Identify the vector — access logs (access.log), error logs, b_event_log. Look for POST requests to unusual files, requests to /upload/*.php, suspicious user agents.
3. Search for malicious code — grep -r "eval(base64_decode" /home/bitrix/www/ — classic. Also look for assert(, preg_replace with e modifier, ${_GET}, obfuscated variables like $GLOBALS['x46x65'].
4. Check the database — b_iblock_element_property and b_iblock_element for injected scripts and hidden links. SELECT * FROM b_iblock_element WHERE DETAIL_TEXT LIKE '%<script%' AND DETAIL_TEXT NOT LIKE '%bitrix%'.
5. Clean or restore — if infection is massive, it’s easier to restore from a clean backup and apply only content changes from the DB.
6. Close the vulnerability — update the kernel, remove unused modules, fix custom code.
7. Request re-scan — Google Search Console → “Request Review”, Yandex.Webmaster → “I fixed everything”.

Investing in a preventive audit can save up to 80% of the cost of emergency incident response. Guaranteed recovery within 1–3 days for subscription clients.

How to Protect a Bitrix Site from DDoS?

• Cloudflare / DDoS-Guard / Qrator — traffic proxying. L3/L4 attacks are filtered on their side. L7 — through rules and challenge pages. Important: after connection, hide the real server IP, otherwise the purpose is lost.
• Rate limiting on Nginx: limit_req_zone for /bitrix/admin/, /api/, forms. Separate limits for authenticated and anonymous users.
• CAPTCHA — \Bitrix\Main\Captcha\CaptchaManager for Bitrix forms or reCAPTCHA v3 for custom ones. v3 doesn’t annoy users — works in the background.
• Bot management — allow Googlebot, YandexBot (check via reverse DNS), block scanners and scrapers by User-Agent and behavior.

Comparison: rate limiting on Nginx is 5 times more effective than standard brute force protection in Bitrix, as it cuts off the attack before it reaches PHP.

Why Is File Integrity Monitoring Critical?

File integrity check (/bitrix/admin/security_file_verifier.php) — hashes of system files. If someone modifies a file in /bitrix/modules/, the system will notice. Run daily via cron using agent CSecurityFileVerifier::Verify(). Combine with inotify on /upload/ — any new .php file triggers an immediate alert.

Backups — The Last Line of Defense

• Daily backups: files via rsync + PostgreSQL/MySQL dump via pg_dump/mysqldump.
• Store in isolated S3-compatible storage. Key word: isolated. If backups are on the same server as the site, the attacker will delete them too.
• Rotation: daily × 7, weekly × 4, monthly × 12.
• Test restoration — quarterly, restore a backup on a test server. A backup that cannot be restored is just a file on disk.
• Monitoring: if a backup fails — alert in Telegram within an hour.

Monitoring — Detect Before the Client Calls

• Uptime — check every 60 seconds via UptimeRobot / Zabbix / custom script. Alert in Telegram + phone call if downtime > 5 minutes.
• File monitoring — inotify (Linux) or cron + md5sum on critical directories. New .php in /upload/? Alert immediately.
• Malware scanning — AI-BOLIT or ClamAV on schedule. Check both files and database.
• SSL certificate — warning 30/14/7 days before expiry. Let’s Encrypt auto-renews via certbot, but certbot can also fail.
• Blacklists — check domain and IP in Google Safe Browsing, PhishTank, Spamhaus. Being listed means traffic loss.

152-FZ and Personal Data (Russian Law Context)

• HTTPS everywhere — redirect at Nginx level.
• Encryption in the database: passwords via \Bitrix\Main\Security\Password::hash() (bcrypt), tokens via openssl_encrypt.
• Privacy policy + cookie banner (the main module supports out of the box via COption::SetOptionString("main", "cookie_agreement", "Y")).
• Logging access to personal data — who and when viewed client data.

Deliverables

Timelines

We work on a one-time basis and on subscription with a fixed SLA. For subscription clients, a dedicated engineer who knows the project. Get a consultation — we’ll assess risks and prepare a quote in 1–2 days.

Checklist: 15 Items We Check on Every Project

1. 1C-Bitrix kernel and modules — up to date, unused modules removed.
2. security module active, WAF in “Active Reaction” mode.
3. 2FA enabled for all accounts with admin access.
4. /bitrix/admin/ protected by IP or additional HTTP authentication.
5. Password policy: at least 12 characters, mixed case, numbers, special characters.
6. SSL/TLS: A+ rating on SSL Labs, HSTS enabled.
7. Service files (dbconn.php, .settings.php, .env, backups, logs) — 403 from browser.
8. Permissions: 644 files, 755 directories. Web server is not owner of system files.
9. Security headers: Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options: DENY, X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff, Strict-Transport-Security, Referrer-Policy.
10. File integrity check — daily via agent.
11. Backups: daily, isolated storage, restore testing.
12. b_event_log — storage for at least 90 days, regular review.
13. PHP 8.1+, display_errors = Off, dangerous functions disabled.
14. Uptime monitoring + alerts on file changes in /upload/.
15. Reverse proxy or CDN with DDoS protection for high-load projects.

Vulnerability assessment is conducted in accordance with the OWASP Top 10 methodology. Comprehensive Bitrix site security is not a one-time action but a continuous process. Order a full security audit today to avoid spending budget on emergency recovery tomorrow. Contact us for a free consultation — we’ll answer any questions.