Back up and restore alarm and map configuration

Available functionality depends on the system you are using. See the Product comparison chart for more information.

It is important that you regularly back up your alarm and map configurations. You do this by backing up the event server, which handles your alarm and map configuration as well as the Microsoft® SQL Server Express database, which stores your alarm data. This enables you to restore your alarm and map configuration in a possible disaster recovery scenario. Backing up also has the added benefit that it flushes the SQL Server Express database’s transaction log.

When you back up and restore alarm and/or map configuration, you must do it in the following order:

Requirements

Step 1: Stop the Event Server service

Stop the event server service to prevent configuration changes from being made:

  1. On your surveillance system server, click Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.
  2. Right-click the Event Server, click Stop.

This is important since any changes made to alarm configurations—between the time you create a backup and the time you restore it—are lost. If you make changes after the backup, you must make a new backup. Note that the system does not generate alarms while the Event Server service is stopped. It is important that you remember to start the service again once you have finished backing up the SQL database.

Step 2: Back up alarms data in SQL Server Express database

If you do not have SQL Server Management Studio Express, you can download it for free from the Microsoft website.

  1. Open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express from Windows' Start menu by selecting All Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 2008 > SQL Server Management Studio Express.
  2. When you open the tool, you are prompted to connect to a server. Specify the name of the required SQL Server and connect with administrator user credentials. You do not have to type the name of the SQL server: if you click inside the Server name field and select <Browse for more...>, you can select the SQL Server from a list instead.
  3. Once connected, you see a tree structure in the Object Explorer in the left part of the window. Expand the SQL Server item, then the Databases item, which contains your entire alarm configuration.
  4. Right-click the VIDEOOSDB database, and select Tasks > Back Up...
  5. On the Back Up Database dialog's General page, do the following:
  6. On the Back Up Database dialog's Options page, under Reliability, select Verify backup when finished and Perform checksum before writing to media.
  7. Click OK to begin the backup. When backup is finished, you see a confirmation.
  8. Exit Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express.

Step 3: Reinstall your system

Do not install your surveillance software on a mounted drive. A mounted drive is a drive that is attached to an empty folder on an NTFS (NT File System) volume, with a label or name instead of a drive letter. If you use mounted drives, critical system features may not work as intended. You do not, for example, receive any warnings if the system runs out of disk space.

Before you start: Shut down any existing surveillance software.

  1. Run the installation file. Depending on your security settings, you may receive one or more security warnings. Click the Run button if you receive a warning.
  2. When the installation wizard starts, select language for the installer and then click Continue.
  3. Select if you want to install a trial version of your system or indicate the location of your software license file.
  4. Read and accept the license agreement, and indicate if you want to participate in the Milestone data collection program.
  5. Select Typical or Custom installation. If you select Custom installation, you can select application language, which features to install and where to install them. Let the installation wizard complete.

You can now begin to configure your system, see Configure your system in Management Application.

Step 4: Restore alarms data in SQL Server Express database

Luckily, most users never need to restore their backed-up alarm data, but if you ever need to, do the following:

  1. In the Windows Start menu, open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express.
  2. Connect to a server. Specify the name of the required SQL Server, and connect using the user account the database was created with.
  3. In the Object Explorer on the left, expand SQL Server > Databases, right-click the VIDEOOSDB database, and then select Tasks > Restore > Database...
  4. In the Restore Database dialog, on the General page, under Source for restore, select From device and click <Browse for more...>, to the right of the field. In the Specify Backup dialog, make sure that File is selected in the Backup media list. Click Add.
  5. In the Locate Backup File dialog, locate and select your backup file VIDEOOSDB.bak. Then click OK. The path to your backup file is now listed in the Specify Backup dialog.
  6. Back on the Restore Database dialog's General page, your backup is now listed under Select the backup sets to restore. Make sure you select the backup by selecting the check box in the Restore column.
  7. Now go to the Restore Database dialog's Options page, and select Overwrite the existing database. Leave the other options as they are, and then click OK to begin the restoration. When the restore is finished, you see a confirmation.
  8. Exit Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express.

Note: If you get an error message telling you that the database is in use, try exiting Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express completely, then repeat steps 1-8.

Step 5: Restart the Event Server service

During the restore process, the Event Server service is stopped to prevent configuration changes being made until you are done. Remember to start the service again:

  1. On your surveillance system server, click Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.
  2. Right-click the Event Server, click Start.

About the SQL Server Express transaction log and reasons for flushing it

Each time a change in the system's alarm data take place, the SQL Server logs the change in its transaction log. The transaction log is essentially a security feature that makes it possible to roll back and undo changes to the SQL Server Express database. The SQL Server by default stores its transaction log indefinitely, and, therefore, the transaction log builds up more and more entries over time.

The SQL Server's transaction log is by default located on the system drive, and if the transaction log just keeps growing, it may in the end prevent Windows from running properly. Flushing the SQL Server's transaction log from time to time is therefore a good idea, however flushing it does not in itself make the transaction log file smaller, rather it prevents it from growing out of control. Your system does not, however, automatically flush the SQL Server's transaction log at specific intervals. This is because users have different needs. Some want to be able to undo changes for a very long time, others do not care.

You can do several things on the SQL Server itself to keep the size of the transaction log down, including truncating and/or shrinking the transaction log (for numerous articles on this topic, go to support.microsoft.com and search for SQL Server transaction log). However, backing up the system's database is generally a better option since it flushes the SQL Server's transaction log and gives you the security of being able to restore your system's alarm data in case something unexpected happens.

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