Important Note: The ServiceLedger database is not stored in an ordinary file and will not be backed up by common file-based backup systems. In addition, trying to use such software to back up your ServiceLedger folder or database can prevent ServiceLedger from running. Please see below for more information on coordinating ServiceLedger backups with other backup utilities.
How to back up your database
Backing up a database is required before performing any action suggested to you by ServiceLedger. It will provide a method to roll back if there were any problems during such actions.
Starting with ServiceLedger 2007, there are now two methods you can use to back up your ServiceLedger database & files. The first way listed works with 2007 and up and is sligthly easier to use. The second way works with all versions of ServiceLedger. Both will yield an identical backup file, and both should be performed from the server computer only in most cases.
Method 1: Works with ServiceLedger 2007 and up
- With ServiceLedger running, go to Administration->Administration
- Click on the Database Administration tab
- Click the Back up your Database button
- Choose a location to store your backup.
- Click OK and wait for the updater to disappear.
Method 2: Works with all versions of ServiceLedger
- Go to Start->(All)Programs->ServiceLedger->Updater
- When the updater pops up, select Backup DB
- Enter in a location to store the backup (The default is c:\Program Files\ServiceLedger\ServiceLedger\)
- Click OK
- After about a minute, shut down the updater
A note about SQL Server Backups:
If you are running multiple users from multiple machines, please remember that the backup is stored on the server, not the workstation. If the server and workstation are not the same machine, you will find your backup on the server.
ServiceLedger backups are named with a time stamp in the format of: yyyymmdd_hhmmsscc where:
- yyyy is the year of the backup
- mm is the month
- dd is the day
- hh is the hour
- mm is the minute
- ss is the second
- cc is the hundredths of a second
ServiceLedger Backups and File-Based Backup Programs
Please note that backing up ServiceLedger is usually necessary IN ADDITION to any file-based backup systems you may already have in place. Many file based backup programs may attempt to back up c:\MSSQL7\Data or C:\Program Files\Files\ServiceLedger\ServiceLedger\MSDE\MSSQL$SERVICELEDGER\Data. The attempt to backup this directory in most cases fails, because the database server has a lock on ServiceLedger's data files. Please ensure you use our backup function for ServiceLedger if you are not an experienced MS SQL Server DBA. To truly protect yourself from loss of data, you should take these backup files and copy them to removable media. Further, it is suggested that you store the media offsite.
If you need to automate the backup, you can schedule a task (refer to your O/S instructions) to run this: "C:\Program Files (x86)\ServiceLedger\ServiceLedger\Updater.exe" -mode AUTO -method BACKUP -directory "c:\slbackups"
Where "c:\slbackups" is the file location you want to store the backup. It must be a local drive, not a mapped network drive. You can use another command (such as from a batch file) to copy the contents of your directory to a mapped drive. If you have backup software, ensure the directory you use is marked to be backed up. Under NTFS, you must ensure that the drive and directory is a fixed hard drive, and that approriate permissions have been set for the local SYSTEM account to read and write to this directory.
Information on restoring your backup can be found at:
http://support.serviceledger.com/kb/Default.asp?ToDo=view&questId=5&catId=5
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