Back up the Database

You can make a backup of your database at any time without shutting down the ClearSCADA server(s). When you have made a backup, you can use the backup files to restore your database to its original state (that is, restore the data that has been lost or corrupted since the backup took place).

We recommend that you back up your database:

When making potentially harmful changes to your system, such as compressing a database or changing the server arrangement
Routinely, so that you can restore your database when unexpected events occur, such as server anomalies (when there is no redundancy) and human mistakes, for example, accidental deletions.

NOTE: The backup will only take place on the Main server.

ClearSCADA will continue to synchronize data between the Main server and the Standby servers during the backup.

When you make a backup, we also recommend that you back up the ClearSCADA registry key, as this contains information about the setup of your server at the time of the backup.

NOTE: ClearSCADA usernames and passwords that stored in the registry are encrypted (for example for alarm redirection). You can only decrypt them on the machine from which they were backed up. This means that backing up the registry and then re-applying it to another machine requires you to recreate users in order to use the affected functions. This is also true if windows is re-installed on the machine.

NOTICE

LOSS OF DATA

During the backup process, ClearSCADA will not save to disk any changes that users make to the database. ClearSCADA will store the changes in memory, and then save them to disk when the backup is complete. Therefore, we recommend that users do not make any changes to the database when a backup is running

Failure to follow these instructions can result in loss of data.

To back up your database:

In ViewX, Configure a Backup Database Item.
Either:
- Initiate a Database Backup Manually
  Or:
- Configure ClearSCADA to make Automatic Database Backups
Finally, Back up the Server Settings The server settings are stored in the registry and need to be backed up separately.

When a backup is taking place, you can: