Backing Up Databases

Both the current customer database and the global database can be easily backed up.  First of all, you must tell Aspect where to back up the databases.  In the Settings window, select Database Backups and choose a folder to save backed up databases to.  Note that you only have to enter this information once and only need to change it if you want to change the location of backed up databases.  Then, to back up your databases:

  1. Go to the backstage area of Aspect by choosing the File menu above the Ribbon Bar.
  2. Along the left side of the backstage area, choose the Customers tab.
  3. Along the top of the customers section, click the Backup Database button.

A .zip file will be created in the folder you have chosen for backups that contains the customer database name and the date/time of the backup.  This means that backups are always created where there is no chance of overwriting an existing backup.  You can (and are encouraged to) backup your databases frequently (perhaps halfway through a day of inspection and at the end of the day).  Backup files are relatively small--a fairly large customer database with 500 pieces of equipment will compress down to under 300K, including the global database.

You can still perform a backup when a customer database is not open.  In this case, just the global database will be backed up.

Only the databases are backed up.  The assets folder and its contents, including any imported images, are NOT backed up.  This backup method is intended to be a quick way to back up your databases.  We recommend using a comprehensive backup solution to backup both your databases and all of its assets.