Thread:Project:Support desk/Backing up /iimages

Mediawiki 1.24.1, PHP 5.59-1 and MYSQL 5.5.43.

I am testing my wiki for total failure and have backed up my_wiki ,my database and restored them with satisfaction, except for the image files that were uploaded. These files are in /var/lib/mediawiki/images which I wish to tar/zip them and unzip them on a different server. The directories and files are created by user www-data as user and owner for permission and access. I have a method to create, transfer and unzip the file, but they have myuser/myowner permissions and are not read by my wiki.

How do I backup the image files and transfer them to another server ?