Feature Request: Auto Backup

[febin]

Would it be possible to have auto backups, perhaps on a per company level?

[Brucanna]

You can have a type of auto backups if you use a service like Dropbox or OneDrive (Win 10) and are online…
By keeping your data files in the Dropbox/OneDrive Folders then they will duplicate to the cloud when ever you are online. This shouldn’t totally replace an independent backup on to other resources.

[febin]

That will only help with data loss/corruption since in most setups dropbox/onedrive syncs automatically. A native auto backup solution would allow reversion to in case of accidental deletes of accounts / batch operations etc

[Brucanna]

In Manager you can’t do accidental deletes of accounts if the account contain transactions.

[febin]

Didn’t know that. Still batch operations are possible, I know it tells you to backup before doing batch operations but in the interest of idiot proofing auto back-up would help

[dalacor]

I assume that your business has email, word and excel documents and other data that needs to be backed up. I doubt that Manager will ever have an auto backup feature and I agree with the developer. The backup facility in Manager is really more meant to transfer Manager from one computer to another or to backup the data before a major upgrade in the software.

You should be using an automated backup program that can backup Manager, your emails and contacts and calendar as well as all your word, excel documents. If your hard drive goes, your backups are useless if you backed up to the local hard drive and I don’t trust USB drives for backing up data.

[Jon]

Previously requested, and denied:

Suggestion: Improving and automating file backups

A few suggestions to improve the file backup process: (1) Provide an option to create an automatic backup every time the program exits. (2) Allow the default backup file location (directory) to persist between sessions. (3) As a default, append the date and time to each backup file, or append an incrementing file number, so that each new backup file does not overwrite the previous one. Ideally, allow the user to set a limit to how many old backup files are kept.

(One thing that has improved since I made that request is that suggestion #3 was silently adopted in a recent version. Manual backup files now automatically have the date appended. Thanks for that, Lubos!)

[Citusgler]

Hi
I think the request for automatic backup is appropriate and over whelming. I also think if there is automatic backup that can backup the TVS files into a designated drive other than the local hardrive on a schedule time will help. In that case u can backup the businesses into a network computer or cloud automatically. As it stands now if one forget to do a manual backup and there is a disaster of theft then data may be lost.

[Tut]

All you need to do is back up your application data folder as you would other important data. You don’t actually need to do a backup via the Backup button. In fact, if you have automatic backup arranged, that’s actually more work. If you do have automatic backups set up, the principal use of the Backup button is to transfer a single business to another machine, as has been explained previously in this year-old thread.

[ShaneAU]

@febin

That will only help with data loss/corruption since in most setups dropbox/onedrive syncs automatically. A native auto backup solution would allow reversion to in case of accidental deletes of accounts / batch operations etc

Dropbox allows you to revert to previous versions of a file, so it does support this.

Free account allows reverting back 30 days (last I checked, at least) and the Pro account allows reverting back 12 months for any file.

Official website mentions the feature here, but not the timeframe: Secure collaboration with Dropbox Business

File and version recovery
Easily recover deleted files and restore previous file versions.

[njm]

I tend to agree with the decision not to include this functionality for the reasons already given.

I do however have a question about backups:

Is it safe to backup the Manager data files while Manager is running, and working on the business?

And are changes made in Manager immediately saved to the file, or are they stored in memory for a while?

Thanks

[sharpdrivetek]

@njm

Is it safe to backup the Manager data files while Manager is running, and working on the business?

A backup is making a copy of the data. As long as you are not moving the files there will be no issues.

@njm

And are changes made in Manager immediately saved to the file, or are they stored in memory for a while?

when recording any transaction, hitting the or button will immediately update the database.

[Tut]

You can only make a backup while the program is running.

[ShaneAU]

@Tut

You can only make a backup while the program is running.

I believe that it’s possible to automate backups by setting up a script to just copy it out of the Application Data directory at regular intervals, but haven’t tested this yet (was going to do so when I start using Server Edition). Otherwise, that’s true.

My impression was that the backup functionality inside Manager itself just copies that file to a new directory with a new name.

[lamensterms]

Hi guys,

Following up on the internal backup vs auto-backup discussion…

I will be using a .BAT file for my data backups, and have been for years. Just wondering which of the .MANAGER files (in the “Application Data” folder) I should be backing up, in order to backup all of Manager’s businesses & settings.

I understand that I can create a backup of one business (for archiving/sharing), and that is OK.

I am also interested in backing up the entire Manager config & business databases. Is this possible by simply copying any or one of the .MANAGER files from within the “Application Data” directory? If so… what files should I be backing up (I have 4 files with the .MANAGER extension, in this folder)? And what would be the best way to restore these ‘external backups’?

Thanks for any help.

[sharpdrivetek]

@lamensterms

what files should I be backing up (I have 4 files with the .MANAGER extension, in this folder)?

read the following guide to understand the files stored in your Application data folder.
https://guides.manager.io/8394

@lamensterms

And what would be the best way to restore these ‘external backups’?

although you can open your business file directly without importing it to Manager, it has few restrictions.
read this guide Manager Guides

the import method is Manager Guides

[Tut]

Read both these Guides:
https://guides.manager.io/8890
https://guides.manager.io/8394

They should help you understand what is there and what is necessary. Basically, though, everything to do with a single business is in one file, including all its settings. The index of businesses and global preferences are in the 0000000...manger file. If you want to back up everything, back up the entire folder. Memory is cheap and these files are small.

[lamensterms]

Great, thanks a lot sharpdrivetek & Tut. Those links were very helpful & everything makes sense.

Thanks again.

[Yaser]

@Tut

All you need to do is back up your application data folder as you would other important data. You don’t actually need to do a backup via the Backup button. In fact, if you have automatic backup arranged, that’s actually more work. If you do have automatic backups set up, the principal use of the Backup button is to transfer a single business to another machine, as has been explained previously in this year-old thread.

PERFECT advice … It saved me genuinely!