Abtrac has two items that will need to be backed up daily to keep your Abtrac data safe:

• AbtracShared Folder

• AB_data

ABTRACSHARED (Backup the whole folder daily)

On most Servers Abtrac is installed with a shared folder called AbtracShared.

The easiest way to find this is to type into an explorer window two back slashes (\\) followed by your server name (\\ServerName) followed by a single back slash (\) followed by the word AbtracShared.

It will look like this: \\SERVERNAME\AbtracShared

AbtracShared is your main Abtrac folder as it holds all the application files, install files, etc. This is where we ship any updates or modifications to your Abtrac System.

SUB FOLDERS FOR ABTRACSHARED

· SetupClient holds the Install files for a new machine.

· AbtracDailyBackupis a backup for Abtrac Support only.

There is a backup file taken for every day of the week Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday etc. Every seven days the file will be replaced with a new backup for that day.

To run the AbtracDailyBackup we use a sql script which takes a backup and at the same time it shrinks your Abtrac data file so it does not grow out of proportion every time it is opened. To run the SQL script we use “Windows Task Scheduler” a default program built into MS Windows and run sqlcmd.exe to execute the script.

The problems with using the task scheduler is that the SQL script and the task scheduler are both looking at certain locations on the machine, so if anything is moved around then it will not run and there will be no backup.

If user permissions (both Windows user and SQL Server user) are changed then this can also cause the task scheduler to not run.

And finally if the machine is turned off obviously the backup won’t run.

Since we are not your Information System Technicians we are not aware of any changes being made to your servers which may affect your AbtracDailyBackup.

Every so often we do come across client servers where this backup routine has been disrupted and has failed.

For these reasons we do not guarantee the task scheduled backup set in the AbtracShared folder.

We set the AbtracDailyBackup as another cover for you if your own backup fails, and it is used for our Support purposes when updating or upgrading your version of Abtrac.

Temporary Folders for AbtracShared (AbtracShared also sometimes contains temporary folders including)

· SetupServer is used when a server is installed. This usually holds install files for SQL Server and in some cases your very first data file for Abtrac. This folder is usually removed by Abtrac Support after we are happy with the server setup in a few months time.

· PreviousVersion is used for when we ship updates to your system so there is a copy of the version used before an update. This can be handy for ongoing modifications which may need to be tweaked such as invoice/account rendered modifications.

AB_DATA (backup daily)

The Abtrac data file is named ab_data*.

The ab_data files (.mdf and .ldf) can be found in the default location of the installed SQL.*

This default location is generally C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\…
This can differ for each machine depending on if the machine is a 32 or 64 Bit machine, and will also depend on how many SQL Servers are installed on the machine.

For a 32Bit machine with one SQL Server installed the location will look like the following:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\ab_data.mdf
and
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\ab_data.ldf

These two files are your actual data files and need to be backed up with your backup program.

Backing up the data files are not as simple as just copying the files, there are usually permission problems with this.

Most backup applications will have a routine available to back up data files safely and securely. We recommend taking the advice of your IT Professionals as to the server backup application that you use in your office.

*N.B. This is the default installation for Abtrac. If your company or your IT support requested a non-standard datafile name or SQL install location at the time of your Abtrac installation we would expect that you would be aware of the special location and/or file names and adjust your backup routine accordingly.

Abtrac KB# 2009