Scheduling Automatic Backups

You can schedule backups to occur automatically at a specified time. When a backup occurs, data is written to a ZIP file created in the \vocera\reports\backup directory. The ZIP file name uses the format "report-backup-sql-MMMDD-TTTT.zip" where MMM indicates the three-letter abbreviation for the current month, DD indicates the day of the month, and TTTT indicates the time the backup operation was completed in the format HHMM (HH=01-24, MM=00-59).

Here is an example file name for a backup file created at 3:13 p.m. on October 4: report-backup-sql-oct04-1513.zip.

The Report Server can run only one backup operation at a time. If a backup operation is scheduled to start while another backup operation is still running, the scheduled backup will wait to start until the other backup operation is finished.

The backup operation is performed as a background process. While a backup operation is in progress, people can still log into the Report Console to generate reports and load report data.

A backup file contains system data (such as report packages) and report data loaded at the time the backup operation started. Any data created or loaded after that is not included in the backup.

To work with a subset of report data, use the Archive task, which copies or restores report data up to a specified date. See About Scheduling Automatic Archiving of Report Data.

Make sure you have adequate hard disk space to accommodate backups of Report Server data. See Hard Disk Space Needed for Backups.

Important: The times for scheduled backup and data load operations must be different. For example, a backup and a data load cannot both be scheduled to run at 1:00 a.m. on the same day. In general, you should schedule backups to run before data loads.

To schedule a backup of report data:

  1. Click Task Scheduler in the navigation bar.
  2. Select the Backup task, and then click the Edit Task button.
    The Edit Task dialog box appears.
  3. On the Task Information tab, make sure the Enabled check box is checked.
    When this check box is checked, the task runs according to the specified schedule. Otherwise, the task is disabled.
  4. Click the Schedule tab.
  5. Select Schedule Frequency, Start Date, and End Date options. You can leave the End Date field blank if you don't want the backup schedule to expire.
    By default, the schedule frequency for Backup is every 2 days.
  6. In the Time of day to run the task field, select the time to begin the backup task. The first list specifies an hour from 1 to 12, inclusive. The second list specifies minutes in 15 minute intervals (0, 15, 30, or 45). The third list specifies a.m. or p.m.
    The default time for the Backup task is 2 a.m.
  7. By default, the Backup task preserves up to 10 backup files. If you want to change that setting, follow these steps:
    1. Click the Executables tab.
    2. Select the Backup Task executable, and then click the Edit button.
      The Edit Executable dialog box appears.
    3. Click the Parameters tab.
    4. Click the MaxFiles parameter, and click the Edit button.
      The Edit Executable dialog box appears.
    5. In the Value field, enter the maximum number of backup files to store (from 1 to 99). The default is 10 files.
      When the specified limit is reached, the oldest file is replaced during the next backup. For example, if you enter 5 in this field, the system stores five backup files. When the sixth backup occurs, the oldest backup file is replaced by the new backup file. The directory still contains only five files.
    6. Click Save to save the new value and close the Edit Executable dialog box.
    7. Click Save to save settings and close the Edit Executable dialog box.
  8. Click Save to save settings and close the Edit Task dialog box.