NOTE: It is recommended that you keep regular backups of the system at an offsite location, in addition to the same server.
This article explains what files you need to back up for instances installed on the customers' server. Even though it is based on our Events/Room Reserve system, you can also apply the same method for our Summer Reader application. The difference would be in the names of the default web and database folders (They are both usually called "SR" for the Summer Reader module).
Our applications are MySQL based systems. The default name of the database for the Events/Room Reserve system is "autoemail". You need to make sure a backup is kept of it on a regular basis. We also highly recommend that you back up the web folder of the system; which is usually called "lib".
Keep in mind that these names can be different on your server. You can also have copies of them. So it is very important for you to determine the active files (to back up) used on your live/production site to ensure a recovery, should something go wrong.
Finding the right web folder:
- Look in the default web root first (c:\inetpub\wwwroot) for the "evanced" or "lib" folder.
- If it is there, create and save a test text file in it with the word test and today's date in it for example, then try to bring it up from the site link using an internet browser like this http://...your system link.../lib/test.txt. If you can see the contents of the file you have created, then you got it right. If not, try the next step, this means that the web root is located elsewhere on the machine and has been changed from its default.
- You can find where your files are located by browsing your IIS. See if there is a web site for the calendar. If so, right click it and select properties. It will point you to the location of the web files. If you cannot find a web site for the calendar, it could probably be under the default web site, select the default web site's properties to see where they are stored.
Finding the right database:
- Now, to find the right database, start by confirming its name. To do that, look in the "common" folder in the default Evanced system web root and locate the defines.inc file. Open it in Notepad and find the line of code referencing the DSN="....". It is usually "autoemail".
- Then go to the database manager (ODBC), under System DSN tab, highlight the autoemail ODBC connection and select configure just to see the configuration
- Check where the database is. If the server field has been filled by anything else other than "localhost" or blank, then the database is actually on a different server. YOU NEED ACCESS TO THAT OTHER SERVER AS WELL TO GET A COPY OF THE DATABASE.
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If the database resides on the same server, then you can locate its location from SERVICES under Control Panel>Administrator Tools. Find MySQL service, right click and select properties. The path will display there.
- If you have multiple instances/version of MySQL, you need to determine the version being used. At this point, we recommend that you use our support department's help if not sure.
- Once you have located the right path of the database, open the "autoemail” folder and make sure that latest modifications in it are current. You should see some dates from today's date or last night.