Configuring Automatic Backups

It is strongly recommended that Backups be performed as often as significant changes are made to the database.  The Windows Operating system provides several ways to perform backups; however, the preferred method is to use the Backup utility that comes with Symphony AC.  Symphony AC Backup Utility backs up the entire Data folder and the associated Symphony AC SQL Server database.  The backup process can be automated by scheduling it to run periodically.

  • Click Utilities, Backups and Archives menu from Symphony AC.
  • Select the backup location to store the backup files.  To select the location click on the drop down arrow below the Backup Path tag. A file folder must be selected in order for the backup to complete successfully.  The Backup Path is the location of where the backup file will be stored; it is recommended that the location the backup is set to a network drive or external device.  If a backup has been stored on the local hard drive and the computer experiences a hardware failure the system will be unrecoverable.
  • Select the desired amount of backup files to keep by clicking on the drop-down arrow to the right of the Number of backup files to keep tag.  Once this number is set, this is the amount of backup files that will be kept until the system begins overwriting previous backups.  For example, if the number is set to seven (7), the system will keep a week's worth of backup files at all times.  This option to can be set to keep all backup files or a number from 1 to 365.
  • Schedule a backup to run periodically by choosing the day(s) to run at the scheduled backup time.  To select the days of the week to backup, click in the box to the left of the day(s) of the week for the backup to occur.
  • To select the time of day when the backup will occur, click on the up and down arrows to the right of the Scheduled backup will occur at this time tag.
  • Once a backup has occurred, if the appropriate backup path is selected, a list of backup files stored in the folder will be displayed in zip format.

Note: Symphony AC must be running on the server at the scheduled backup time in order for the backup to complete.

Troubleshooting Backups (SQL Server)

If a backup does NOT perform successfully, please check the following:

  1. Make sure that backups are being scheduled to run from the same computer that has SQL server installed.
  2. Make sure that the SQL User that is logged into the Symphony AC server has sufficient Permissions to do backup.
  3. Make sure the BackupPath is properly configured.
  4. Make sure that the SQL Database Name does NOT have any spaces in it (use underscores instead).

To further troubleshoot the issue, look at the following files located in the Symphony AC folder of the server:

  • SQL_Backup.bat
  • SQL_Backup.sql

The 2 files are custom generated based on the configuration settings, and if a backup fails, there is a message that is generated to easily identify why there was a failure. Launch SQL_Backup from a command prompt and you'll have your answer.

Restoring a Backup

  • Click Utilities, Backups and Archives menu from Symphony AC.
  • Select the backup location of the store backup files.  To select the location click on the drop down arrow below the Backup Path tag.
  • Highlight the backup file to be restored from the list of backup files located beneath the Backup Path Location box.
  • Click the Begin Restore button.

Note: If a restore is done from a backup file, events and personnel record information added or updated since the time of the last backup will be lost.

Running a Manual Backup

  • Click Utilities, Backups and Archives menu from Symphony AC.
  • Select the backup location to store the backup files.  To select the location click on the drop down arrow below the Backup Path tag. A file folder must be selected in order for the backup to complete successfully.  The Backup Path is the location of where the backup file will be stored; it is recommended that the location the backup is set to a network drive or external device.  If a backup has been stored on the local hard drive and the computer experiences a hardware failure the system will be unrecoverable.
  • Click on the Perform a Manual Backup now button.

Note:  If Symphony AC uses a Microsoft Access database, the system will go into maintenance mode and will close any network client sessions.  Microsoft Access requires the database to be in single user mode in order to perform a copy or backup of the database files.  If a Microsoft SQL server database is used, there will be no impact during the backup process.