Backing Up & Restoring

Your Inedo products should be backed up frequently.

These items are critical data you should back up for each product:

You can also back up your extensions folder (plug-ins), which is stored in the path defined in the Extensions.ExtensionsPath advanced configuration setting. This makes restoring to a new server as easy as possible, since you only need to copy the backup files to the same location on the new server.

Installation Configuration File Backup

The installation configuration file contains sensitive information, so it's important to consider how (or even if) you want to back this file up.

The most important piece of information in this file is the EncryptionKey setting. This is used to decrypt secrets stored in the database, such as passwords for connectors in ProGet or agent credentials in BuildMaster and Otter. Without the encryption key, your Inedo product will not be able to decrypt these secrets and unexpected errors may occur.

Also, someone who has access to the database and the encryption key could decrypt the secrets, so you should be careful where you back up the file. This file also contains your database connection string, which may include a password to connect to the database.

Database Backup

If you installed your Inedo product with the built-in database, then the installer also installed Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition with an instance named INEDO. The database is relatively easy to back-up using osql.exe or SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

To learn more about how to use these tools, see our guide on Backing Up and Restoring Databases.

Package Files Backup

All package files should be backed up regularly.

By default, a feed's package files are stored on disk in the %ProgramData%\ProGet directory. However, this directory can be changed by either editing the default directory or setting the Disk Path property on a feed. See Package File Storage & Retention to learn more.

Artifact Files Backup

Backup copies of all artifact files should be made regularly.

By default, artifacts are stored in a location (defined in Artifacts.Base.Path settings) that contains all files for artifacts you have created in BuildMaster.

Restoring an Installation

There are generally three reasons why you might want to restore an Inedo product installation from a backup.

• Rolling back to an earlier version of your Inedo product - if there were issues with or during the installation of a new version of the product
• Moving your Inedo product to a new server - see our guide for migrating BuildMaster to a new server
• Undoing a Serious Error - such as making a mistake in the software itself

The Easy Way (Restore from the same version)

The easiest way to restore an Inedo product installation is to first make sure you have a working installation with the same version number as your backup. This means that you should restore a backup of ProGet 2.6.1 to a working 2.6.1 installation, and so on.

If you aren't sure what version your backup has (maybe your server broke and you have only the .bak file), then you must use the advanced method described after this section.

If you backed up your database with the above command, you can use the following command to restore it:

Just make sure that the Windows services of the Inedo product are stopped; otherwise SQL Server will report the error "Database in use".

After you have set up the database, make sure your artifact files (BuildMaster) and/or package files (ProGet) are where they should be and start the service(s).

The Advanced Way (Restore from any version)

This isn't really much harder, but it does require some knowledge of Microsoft SQL Server or a willingness to ask us for help. First, you cannot restore a newer backup to an older version (for example, a backup from BuildMaster 3.0.0 to 2.6.1). However, since you never need to do this anyway, there is no need to worry.

If you're using your own SQL server, you just need to make sure that your Inedo product's database has been restored before running the installer for the version you want. The installer will make sure that the restored database is up-to-date as part of the installation.

If you want to use the built-in database, run the installer first. It'll install the files and create a new Inedo product database for you. From here, restore your database backup (you can use the command above) and then run the database tool (available at inedo.com) for the version you're installing. This will ensure that the database is up to date.