Create Sage Timeslips backups

Create backups manually

1. Select File, Open Database to open the database that needs a backup.
2. Select File, Backup, and click Yes.
3. Select the backup location.
   • For network installations, select one of these:
     • Back up the database on the server. Which instructs the database server to back up the data.
     • Back up to a file, which saves to any browsable location.
       CAUTION:

       Backing up to a local file sends the entire database to the workstation and takes longer.

   • For single‑station setups, browse to the backup location.
4. Click Save.
5. Click OK when the completion dialog appears.

Restore Sage Timeslips backups

Select a backup to restore

1. Open Timeslips.
2. Select File, Restore, and choose a restore option:
   • Restore a backup from the server, when the file exists in the server’s Timeslips backup location.
   • Restore a backup from a local file, when the file exists on a workstation. Also choose this option if the backup is outside the server’s backup location.

Choose where to restore the backup

1. Select Current database to overwrite existing data.
   
   CAUTION:

   Mark Back up the current database first to avoid data loss.

2. Select Choose a new location if you wish to restore a backup locally for personal use. You can also choose this option to restore to the network for shared access.
   • Type a database name or use ... to choose a new restore location.  Choose ... to view existing databases and avoid duplicates.
     This also allows you to add a comment to the restored database.

Set backup options

1. Select Setup, Preferences to open the Personal Preferences dialog box.
2. Select the Startup and Exit tab.
   • Mark Back up the database to receive a reminder when exiting Timeslips.

Make safe backups

Guidelines for effective backups

1. Back up your database regularly, based on daily activity levels.
2. Store backups on separate media, such as an external disk or tape drive.
3. Rotate multiple backup media to detect older corruption and store copies off‑site. Using multiple pieces of media for your backups provides several important benefits:
   • If you detect data corruption, it could have been present for some time and captured in multiple backups. With several backups, it's possible that you can find an uncorrupted backup of your database.
   • It allows you to store the backup to a secure location. Take the file off-site. This will allow you to restore if there’s a fire or other major disaster to your office.
4. Keep at least three different backups.
5. Create a backup before purging data, closing a period, or running large data‑changing processes.
6. Use a unique name for each backup to avoid overwriting earlier files.

Use of other backup programs

Other backup software often can’t handle SQL databases correctly. Ensure any third‑party program supports SQL database backup before using it.

Other considerations

Sage Timeslips backup files include all files in the database folder. You can also include sub‑folders when creating backups.