Backups can be used for a variety of purposes - in case of data integrity issues, to create a copy of the company for testing purposes, and to make on the fly backups when closing periods or doing other major processes within the workflow. Follow the steps given below to use File Tools to back up your accounting data.

IMPORTANT: Sage recommends that File Tool backups are for backing up Sage Data only for clients on versions 16.1 and prior. For Sage versions 17.1 and later please use the System Administrator backup tool. See How to Back up Company data with System Administrator when using SQL Replicator

Note: The File Tools backup saves your data files in a compressed file with a .tsZip2 extension. Verify that the Windows Explorer option to Hide extensions for known file types is not selected. See the link below for instructions. If you use Service Management, see the link below for considerations when backing up Service Management data files.

1. File Tools backups should be done on the same computer where the data is stored. If a backup is done from a workstation, it may take significantly longer to complete or it may fail if there are problems on the network, particularly if the data is over 500 MB or there are many printouts, pdf, txt, or .zip files.
2. Data cannot be backed up if it is in use. Before backing up an entire company, ensure that everyone has exited all Sage 300 Construction applications.
3. From Sage 300 CRE Desktop, select Common Tasks, the Tools menu, select File Tools. For Estimating, go to the File menu, select File Tools.
4. Select Backup and click Next.
5. You can add multiple data folders or files to the backup that File Tools creates. Click the appropriate option as follows:
   • Click Add Folder to back up an entire data folder.
     1. Click Add Folder.
     2. Browse to and select the folder that you want to backup.
     3. Click OK.
     4. The folder is now added to the list of files and folders you want to backup.
   • Click Add Files to back up specific files.
     1. Click Add Files.
     2. Browse to and select the files that you want to backup. Press and hold CTRL to select multiple files.
     3. Click Open.
     4. The files are now added to the list of files and folders you want to backup.
   • Click Remove to remove a file or folder from the current backup list of files and folders.
     1. Select the file that you want to remove.
     2. Click Remove.
   • For information on how to use Wild-cards or Exclusions, see below.
     • The Wild-card option allows you to refine the selection of folders and files that you want to include in this operation.
     • The Exclusion option allows you to refine the selection of folders and files that you want to exclude from this operation.
       Tip: Excluding **.PRN, **.PDF, **.TXT, **.XLS, **.XLSX, **.MSG and **.TSZIP2 files will reduce the size of your backup and improve processing speed.
6. Click Next.
7. In the Destination box, type the path to the location where you want to save the .tszip archive file that the backup process creates. Click Browse to browse to the location where you want to save the .tszip file.
8. In the Archive name box, type the name that you want for your .tszip archive file.
9. Click Next to begin the validation process. The following validation occurs:
   • Note: A green circle indicates the validation completed successfully. A red circle indicates the validation completed with exceptions. Any exceptions appear in the window so that you can fix the issue prior to continuing the process.
     • Scan file system to build file list - Uses the selected folders and files to build a list of files to back up.
     • Validate data files - Scans the selected files and folders to verify that the data structure is intact, that all required data components are present.
     • Check for files that might be overwritten - Verifies whether any files in the file list already exist. (This is more applicable to the Restore, Copy, and Move operations than the Backup operation.)
     • Ensure files are not in use - Verifies whether any files in the file list are in use.
     • Verify space is available for the operation - Verifies whether sufficient disk space is available.
10. Click Next.
11. Review the list of all the files that you are about to backup. The State column indicates whether you decided to include or skip a file. You can include or skip files as follows:
    • Select a file and click Skip to not copy the file and change the State to Skip.
    • Select a file and click Include to include the file and change the State to Include.
    • Click Include All to include all files and change their State to Include.
    • Click Skip All to skip all files and change their State to Skip
12. Click Next.
13. Verify that the information in the Execution Summary window is correct. If not, click Back to make corrections.
14. Click Next to back up your files.
15. Review the information in the Operation Journal window.
16. Optional: If you want to print your journal to a file or printer, select Summary or Detail from the list depending on the level of detail that you want to see. Click Save to save your journal to a text file. Click Print to print your journal to a printer.
17. Click Finish.

Wildcard and Exclusion Pattern Options

When you backup, copy, move, or delete folders and files, you can click Advanced to use wildcard and exclusion patterns to the files in the selected operation. The Wildcard option allows you to refine the selection of folders and files that you want to include in this operation. The Exclusion option allows you to refine the selection of folders and files that you want to exclude from this operation.

1. From the Backup, Copy, Move, or Delete window, click Advanced.
2. Select Add Wildcard or Add Exclusions to set patterns to refine your file search.
3. Enter or select the path for the folder and files to which you want to apply the pattern.
4. Place your cursor at the end of the path and enter a backslash.
5. Click Append to select a pattern or enter the pattern and enter the file information before or after the append characters.
   • You can use the Recursive, Match Any, and Match Character pattern options separately or in combinations.
     • Recursive (**)
       Select recursive to include all files and folders that match the criteria that you enter. This includes all folders and subfolders.
     • Match Any (*)
       Select this pattern to include or exclude all files that have a character that matches this character.
     • Match Character (?)
       Select this pattern to include or exclude all files that have this single character in a folder name or path.
   • Examples:
     • *.prn will include or exclude all files with the extension .prn in the selected folder
     • **.prn will include or exclude all files with the extension .prn in the selected folder and all subfolders
     • Invoice* will include or exclude all files beginning with Invoice in the selected folder
     • *Invoice* will include or exclude all files containing the Invoice in the selected folder
     • **Invoice* will include or exclude all files containing Invoice in the selected folder and all subfolders
     • Invoice ?1.Prn will include or exclude all files with the name Invoice ?1.prn where the ? is replaced by any single character. Files with the names of Invoice 11.Prn or Invoice 21.Prn or Invoice 31.Prn would be included and a file with the name of Invoice 12.Prn or Invoice 12.Prn would not be included
     • **Invoice*.??? would include or exclude all files beginning with Invoice and ending with any three-character extension in the selected folder and all subfolders. Files that began with Invoice that did not have a three-character extension would not be included.
6. Click OK to return to the operation window.
7. The selected path with the selected patterns appears on the list.

File Tools did not back up all my files
How do I back up my Service Management data files?
How do I use the System Administrator to backup and restore data in versions 17.1 and later?
Can I still use File Tools to make a backup in 17.1 and later?