Automatic Database Backup on Upgrade
By default, when you upgrade the version of Geo SCADA Expert software that is running on your Geo SCADA Expert server, an automatic backup is made of your database. The files that are backed up comprise Metadata, Configuration, and Data (or whichever combination of these files exist on your system, depending on the features that have been used). For information about these files and the type of data they include, see Locations of the Database Folders.
The automatic backup only includes certain files that contain versioning information. As such, the backup only contains a subset of the files that are stored in the Database folder (the name of this folder might differ on your server - see the link above for more information). The backup does not include any historic files.
The automatically-generated backup is stored in an UpgradeDatabaseBackup folder on the server. For information about the default location of this folder, . The files are stored in a format that corresponds to the version of Geo SCADA Expert software that was running on the server just prior to the upgrade.
Each database backup (one per software upgrade) is stored in a folder with a specific naming convention:
<Build Number>_<Date of Backup><Time of Backup>
83.7332_13-FEB-2020112635.282
The above folder contains the automatic database backup of a database that ran on Geo SCADA Expert version 83.7332. The database backup occurred on 13th February 2020 at 11:26:35.282 .
NOTICE
Do not store any other files in the UpgradeDatabaseBackup folder, or in any of its subfolders.
These folders should be used exclusively for storing automatic database backups during upgrades of the Geo SCADA Expert software.
Failure to follow these instructions could result in the loss of other files.
Be aware that the server will take a little longer to start up when performing the automatic backup following an upgrade.
The Server Startup log file, DBStartup, includes information about the status of the automatic backup that occurs when you upgrade Geo SCADA Expert.
If insufficient disk space is available for the automatic backup to complete successfully, the Server Icon will turn magenta to indicate that it was unable to perform the backup. A partial backup might exist if this occurs. The DBStartup log file will contain information about the status of the automatic backup (or inability to perform the backup). For information about this log file, see Access the DBStartup Log File.
If you want to, you can roll back the Geo SCADA Expert software following an upgrade. To perform the rollback, you downgrade back to the version of Geo SCADA Expert that was running just before the upgrade. The procedure to roll back differs slightly, depending whether was enabled for the upgrade and has continued to remain enabled. If Database Emulation was disabled for the upgrade (or was enabled but has since been disabled), the downgrade procedure requires you to restore the automatically-generated database backup for the version of software that the server was running just prior to the upgrade (see Perform a Downgrade after Upgrading Geo SCADA Expert). (There is no need to restore the automatically-generated database backup if Database Emulation has continuously remained enabled since the upgrade. This is because the database files will have continued to have been saved in the format that applied to the version of software that the server was running just prior to the upgrade.)
NOTICE
If you downgrade back to a previous version of Geo SCADA Expert and reinstate the automatically-generated backup of the database for that version of software, be aware that you will lose any new data that was retrieved following the upgrade, including any new alarms. You will also lose any configuration changes that were made after that database backup occurred. This might include new database items that were created
following the backup, or the reinstatement of obsolete database items that were deleted after the backup occurred. Likewise, you will be unable to make use of any new features or functionality that are only available in the upgraded version of the Geo SCADA Expert software, once you have uninstalled and downgraded the software.
Following these instructions can result in loss of database changes and functionality
Following a successful upgrade, we recommend that you archive the automatic database backup from each server before removing those backups from disk.
Database files are stored in a database format that differs slightly per version of Geo SCADA Expert (as the format takes into account any features and functionality that are version-specific). If is enabled when you upgrade the version of Geo SCADA Expert software that is running on your Geo SCADA Expert server, the database files will continue to be stored in the same database format as the version of Geo SCADA Expert that the servers were running just prior to the upgrade. As such, this will provide a smoother downgrade path if you decide that you want to downgrade after performing the upgrade as you will not have to restore the automatically-generated database backup (see Perform a Downgrade after Upgrading Geo SCADA Expert).