Data backup and restore utilities are provided in the Astra Schedule installation.  These utilities can be used to create a backup for safekeeping or to provide technical support with a copy of your data for troubleshooting purposes.  Additionally, a previous backup can be restored to return to a certain state after a failure.

 

These two utilities, AstraDataBackup and AstraDataRestore respectively, are located in the application installation Tools folder.  For example "Ad Astra\AstraSchedule\7.x.x\Tools\Backup and Restore".

Back Up Data

To create a backup file of your Astra Schedule data, perform the following:

 

1.On the application server, navigate to Start > All Programs > Ad Astra Information Systems > 7.x.x (your version) > Tools > Astra Data Backup.
 

2.Double click to launch the exe file labeled AstraDataBackup_GUI.exe.
 
You may need to right click on AstraDataBackup_GUI.exe and select ‘Run as Administrator’ for this application to run.
 
The following application will be launched.
 

 

3.Enter the server and database names, and provide the database user name and password.
 

4.Select the database provider from the drop down menu.  (SQL or Oracle)
 

5.Select the backup format from the drop down menu.  (Database file or Text files)

 

6.Select a table option.  (Full Backup, Selected Tables, or From XML File)
 
If using the "Selected Tables" option, select the tables to be backed up from the list on the Tables tab.  All tables are selected by default.
 

 
If using the "From XML File" option, you must create an XML file that includes the list of tables to be backed up.  This file must be called AstraIncludeBackup.xml, and should include the following tags:
 
<tables use="whitelist">
    <table name="TableName1"/>
    <table name="TableName2"/>
</tables>
 
Click the ellipsis button (...) and browse to and select the file.  The file location defaults to the location of the backup utility application.

 

7.Click the Start Backup button.

 

When the backup is finished, the backup file can be located in the Tools folder in the Astra Schedule installation.

Restore Data

To restore a copy of the data using an Astra Schedule backup, perform the following:

 

1.On the application server, select Start > All Programs > Ad Astra Information Systems > 7.x.x (your version) > Tools > Astra Data Restore.
 

2.Double click to launch the exe file labeled AstraDataRestore_GUI.exe.
 
You may need to right click on AstraDataRestore_GUI.exe and select ‘Run as Administrator’ for this application to run.
 
The following application will be launched.
 

 

3.Enter the server and database names (for the destination), and provide the database user name and password.
 

4.Select the database provider from the drop down list. (SQL or Oracle)

 

5.Click the ellipsis button (...) next to "File to Restore" and browse to and select the file to be restored.
 
(the default location is the Tools directory in the Astra Schedule application installation)
 

6.Optionally, you may disable the default restoration behaviors, including:
 
"Disable Section Trigger", "Use Bulk Copy", and "Delete all data before restoring tables"
 

7.Select a table option to define what tables are restored.
 
Select "Restore all Tables" to perform a complete restoration of the file selected.
 
Select "Use Table List File" to provide a file that includes a list of tables to restore.  If using this option, you must create an XML file that includes the list of tables to be restored.  This file must be called AstraIncludeRestore.xml, and should include the following tags:
 
<tables use="whitelist">
    <table name="TableName1"/>
    <table name="TableName2"/>
</tables>
 
Click the ellipsis button (...) and browse to and select the file.  The file location defaults to the location of the restore utility application.
 
Select "Exclude Specific Tables" to enter certain exclusions from the restoration process in the field provided.
 

8.Click the Start Restore button to restore the database.