Automatic backup of the back end - can it be done

Keith Nichols · May 10, 2006

Sorry for the splurge of postings tonight - I'm on a roll.

Is there anyway to organize a back-end back-up to happen at a predetermined periodic time?

Ideally there would be some sort of utility that would archive the back end on a rolling basis, for instance at 00:00 hours, and delete the 7 day old back up.

In my particular case, all users are confined to the one time zone and work the local office hours so there are no issues of the DB being in use. However, if there was such an issue, there is a "Kick out all users fuction" in case some slacker forgot to turn off the PC.

From this, you can see that whatever utility was running, would have to be able to run without the administrator's (mine) PC running as that is shut down overnight as well.

Regards,

Keith.

RCurtin · May 11, 2006

Hi Kieth,
I've just been looking into that myself. What I did was create a utility database that compacted my main database and backed it up. I am using Windows task scheduler to open my utility database each night and then this code is run. The database shuts itself down when its finished. Mine just backs it up for one night.
Here is a link to a post I put up about it that includes the code:
http://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=107059

I've also seen utility software like WorkBench (http://www.vb123.com/workbench/) and CAL(http://www.peterssoftware.com/cal.htm)

I have put the db on a machine that is not shut down overnight - don't know if theres any other way to do it - maybe you can schedule tasks form the server?

Anyways hope that helps,
Rcurtin

Keith Nichols · May 11, 2006

RCurtin said:
I have put the db on a machine that is not shut down overnight - don't know if theres any other way to do it - maybe you can schedule tasks form the server?

Anyways hope that helps,
Rcurtin

Thanks R,

Our corporate policy is to shut down PC's when not in use. But we are in Arabia so everything is negotiable. I don't think anybody would mind if I left my PC on for the database admin functions, as long as I periodically logged off & on to go through the IT scanning routines.

I'll look at your other thread with interest. Thanks.

Keith.

kleky · Jun 8, 2006

www.access-autopilot.com...just the job

Keith Nichols · Jun 9, 2006

Access Autopilot - Any user reviews out there?

Hi Kleky,

Thanks for the pointer.

The software looks like it would do everything I want (and more!). Before I ask my boss to buyit, I'd like to see if anyone has any experience of this or similar software.

Regards,

Keith.

roverturf · Jul 22, 2008

I have been using Access Auto Pilot for several years and on several locations (I bought multiple licenses) without a single problem. Great product !

Steve R. · Jul 22, 2008

Unfortunately, I do not have an immediate answer. Recently I was reading a LINUX book that discusses how to initiate automated processes under LINUX. In reading this book it occurred to me that I have totally forgotten how to run MS-DOS batch files. With the advent of WindowsXP and other factors, I stopped writing batch files and my ability to do this has regretfully evaporated.

Assuming that the back-up is "easy" you could write a two line batch file that is triggered at a specific time by Windows. One line would be to run ACCESS with the "switches" to compact the database. The second line would be a copy command to copy the back-end to your "storage" directory.
----------------------------------------------------
Found a listing for the Access command line switches.
Found a Microsoft page on batch commands.
Wikipedia batch file page.
Found reference to the use of the AT command and the SCHTASKS command.

roverturf · Jul 22, 2008

ortaias, thanks for the batch file links. I'll use them in my backup utility.

tokoloshi · Aug 10, 2008

Server side admin stuff

One of the many reasons I prefer to use Access for what it is great at (UI & RAD) and why I stick to SQL Server at the back end.

With SQL Server (even the for free SQL Express) you can schedule backups of the entire database, the sections only that have changed since the last backup or the transactions that have been performed since the last differential backup.

Automatic backup of the back end - can it be done

Keith Nichols

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