Backup Data

It is important to backup your database on a regular basis to prevent data loss. If your computer breaks or if information was deleted in error, you can restore a backup from a previous date to recover your information. Below you will find instructions on how to backup the database within the user interface.

Manual Backup

To create a one-time manual backup click Tools on the top menu and choose Backup.

Click the Select button to choose a file path and file name.

Make sure Include Images and Include Reports are both checked.

Click the Backup button to start the backup process. You will get a pop-up whenever the backup is complete.

Setting Up Auto-Backup

The application comes with an automatic backup system. If the automatic backup is enabled and setup, the program will check to see if a backup has been made whenever the client is closing. If a backup has not yet been made by any user on the network (based on the criteria in the automated backup settings) then a new backup will be created.

To setup the automated backup click Setup at the top menu and go to Settings.

Check Enable Auto-Backup to turn this feature on.

Backup every 1 days will attempt to create a daily backup. This is considered the interval between backups. For example, if this is set to 7 then only 1 backup will be made per week.

The Maintain last value refers to the number of backups you wish to keep archived in the backup folder. For example, if the system is set to backup every 1 day and maintain 7 backups then a full week of backups (7 days) will be kept. The oldest of the 7 backups will be deleted automatically whenever a new backup is made.

Click the Browse button to choose a backup location. It can be a local folder or a shared network path.

Please note that the auto-backup settings are Workstation-specific. This means that one computer may have this settings enabled and one may not. You want to ensure that this is enabled on computers that are used on a regular basis. If the computers do not get used (our application never gets opened or closed, such as at the server machine) then the system will NOT create a backup file. Ensure this is enabled only on computers that get actively used.

Even with auto-backup enabled, we still recommend creating a manual backup on a regular basis to help prevent data loss.

Database Locations

If you have a separate backup system for your computer / network environment you may wish to directly backup the data folder for our application.

For the single-user edition of the software the data is hard-coded to the C:\ProgramData\IMS\ location.

For the network edition the data path can be chosen during installation on the server computer. The default location is C:\FMP_DATA\.

If you are on the SQL Server edition, then data backups would be managed by your IT team.