www.akcp.com AKCess Pro Server Backup & Restore Manual Copyright 2015, AKCP Co., Ltd.
Table of Contents Introduction... 3 Backup process... 4 Copying the backup export files to other media... 9 Tips for better backup performance... 10 Restore process... 11 Complete server reinstallation steps... 16 APS version upgrading information and backup archives... 16 Location of the backup and restore log files... 17-2 -
Introduction The AKCess Pro Server (APS) Backup and Restore feature is built-in to the program, and is an integral part of saving your APS environment and its data. It is capable of saving and restoring all of your APS environment (monitored units, notifications, time attendance settings, other user accounts, etc.) and optionally the recorded video data. Access the Backup and Restore feature from the Tools menu, once you ve started APS: It is important to note that you must log in with an administrator account to APS, otherwise you won t be able to see or use the Backup and Restore feature! Also the Backup and Restore can only be run from the server s APS console (not the client). - 3 -
Backup process Click on Backup Configuration to set up the backup. Alternatively, click on Backup Now and after configuring the options, the program will immediately start the backup process. After the backup is configured, it will immediately start backing up the system if you click Backup Now. - 4 -
Choose a directory where you want to store the backups. Make sure there s enough free space on the target. You can also create a new folder using the browsing dialog, if you haven t made one before. Currently only local disks are supported for selecting the backup target. All other backup options are self-explanatory. It is recommended to select Remove Old Backup upon Maximum Size Reach option, as it will ensure you ll still have a recent backup. Note: all of the chosen disk space will be pre-allocated immediately, when you select the directory. It is to ensure there will be enough disk space for the backups and also to reduce file fragmentation (thus improve the backup and restore speed), see details at the tips section. - 5 -
If you don t want to set up scheduled backups, just leave the option at Never. You can also protect the backups with a password; you ll need to specify it at the restore. If you decide to set up scheduled backups, choose the frequency, and the time when it will be performed. - 6 -
In the last step, you can review the backup settings and modify them as needed. Click Finish to finalize the settings. If you ve used Backup Configuration only, click on the Backup Now link to start the backup process. Otherwise the backup will start automatically. - 7 -
You can see when a backup is running. The window can be closed; the backup will continue in the background. If you ve selected to include video recordings, the backup will take a longer time to execute. When the backup has finished, the last result of the backup process will be shown, whether it was successful or not. If you would like to turn off the backup reminder notification, uncheck the option here. - 8 -
Click on the Backup Log button to view the detailed information about the currently running or any previous backup process. Copying the backup export files to other media After the backup export file is generated, you can just copy it to another backup media from Windows, or by using any conventional backup software. If you need to find the latest backup, the files always have a date and time stamp in their file names, so you can find the most recent one easily. There is a Reserved directory under the chosen backup directory; it doesn t need to be backed up, as it contains only placeholder files, to reserve the disk space for the growing number of backup archives. In this folder, the backuplog.txt file stores the information about the previous backups, with their respective folder names. See below for information about the full backup log s location. - 9 -
Tips for better backup performance Exclude the backup directory from your antivirus scanning engine. The backup process is mostly consisting of copying and compressing files, and the background virus scanning can make it execute much slower. Have your disk defragmented fully, before setting up the backup directory. Less fragmentation means better speed. As noted before, the program will pre-allocate all space required for the backup files, and if they can be put in a continuous free area on the disk, the speed will be better. After creating your backups, disk fragmentation is generally not an issue, as the backup files are large files, less affected by fragmentation. Have enough free disk space on the backup drive, at least 30% - below this, the file system s speed will be slower and slower as the free space decreases. Use a separate drive than the operating system drive. A separate partition on the same disk will not speed up the process that much, because the HDD heads are going back-and-forth on the surface of the disk. - 10 -
Restore process Open the Backup and Restore window, and click on the Restore button on the left to get into Restore mode. Click on Restore Now to begin the restore wizard. - 11 -
Select the backup archive file (.bak) you wish to restore. The server s MAC ID and IP address are listed in the details, and whether the backup contains video data or not. Note: if you ve made a backup before that s not in the server s current configuration, you can still select the backup file with the browse button ( ). Provide the backup file password, if one is needed. We can recover your password for your backup file in case you have lost it. Please send us an e-mail to support and include the backup log files (see below for their location in the system). - 12 -
If recorded video data is included in the backup archive, choose whether to restore them to their original path, or to another location. Review the steps before executing the restore, then click Finish. - 13 -
After the restore process is finished, the result will be shown (success or failure) with the date of the last restore. You will be notified by the program that it needs to close and restart to finish the restoration process. - 14 -
Wait for the services to restart, which could take a few minutes. Until that you can t log in back to the server. After you log back in to the server, you can review the Restore Log from the Backup and Restore menu. - 15 -
Complete server reinstallation steps Assuming a database backup has been made before, follow these steps to restore the APS environment: 1. Install the program (the admin password should be the same as on the previous install) 2. Re-activate the license 3. Start APS, then go to Tools -> Backup and Restore 4. Select Restore from file, and select the backup export file 5. Follow the instructions about the restore process (provide the backup password when prompted) Note: These instructions are for using the internal database. If you use a third-party database software to store APS data (such as MS SQL, Oracle), then you will have to first reinstall that database system, and restore the APS database file prior to installing APS. We can recover your password for your backup file in case you have lost it. Please send us an e-mail to support and include the backup log files (see below for their location in the system). APS version upgrading information and backup archives When you upgrade APS over the top of an existing version, it should carry over all of the previous version s settings and data. The backup files are also compatible between APS versions as long as they are from a newer version from the 10.X.X series. - 16 -
Location of the backup and restore log files The log files are: backuplog.txt restorelog.txt Their location in the file system is: C:\ProgramData\AKCP ProgramData is a hidden directory, so if you haven t enabled the show hidden files and folders in Folder Options, just copy-paste the directory name to Explorer and press Enter to go there, as shown on the picture. Note: For previous versions of Windows (XP, 2003) the location is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\AKCP To enable showing the hidden files and folders, turn on this option in Folder Options. - 17 -
Please contact support@akcp.com if you have any further technical questions or problems. Thanks for Choosing AKCess Pro! - 18 -