Backing up the Content Manager
Peter Wade
Posts: 1,639
Does anyone know how to backup the categories database in the new CMS by just copying files without running the metadata export?
There is something seriously wrong with my computer. I can run it in safe mode and copy files to a USB hard drive but I can't use it in normal mode and Daz Studio won't start in safe mode. I've managed to backup my Daz Studio library, Poser runtimes, Carrara and Bryce content and I'd like to save my categories as well since I've spent a lot of time setting them up. I don't know if this is a hardware fault or just Windows getting corrupted but I'm almost out of ways to attempt a recovery without wiping out the contents of the hard drive.
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Sorry to hear about that, I hope you can fix it without resorting to a reinstall. I haven't looked at DS database in quite some time, but they used to be in (C:\?)ProgramData\DAZ 3D\Content Management Service\databases. I do not know if it's the whole database or not.Please note that ProgramData is a hidden folder.
If you're using the PostgreSQL CMS they should be in C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D\cms
Thank you for that information. I will backup all of the Dazv directory in AppData\Roaming and try and sort out what needs to be put back when I have fixed or replaced my computer
I haven't fot that. All I've got for the CMS in ProgramData is a .json file that is too small to be the database, but I'll back it up in case I need it.
I think the problem is beyond any restore. I've run hardware diagnostics and they report a fault on the hard drive, although it does boot in safe mode and I have copied loads of files from it without any problems so I don't know what is going on here. I think Dell have an address you can send technical queries to. I'll have to see if they are willing to provide technical advice for a PC that is years out of warranty.
I am using PostgreSQL, and in that folder, I have the JSON (cmscfg.json) file which is only 1K, but also a folder called 'ContentCluster'.
It is over 500 MB on my system, and it contains 1,197 Files, 20 Folders, so you should seem to be missing a lot of data. My old CMS stuff was kept in C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\Content Management Service\databases but I think most people have it in Program Data. It is still there, but I ran the program in DIM to transfer it over to PostgreSQL.
The old UserData file that I had saved of the Categories that I had created and saved was called UserData_1.dsx, and it was saved in
C:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library\Runtime\Support
If you could find that, you may be able to use it to get your own categories back.
If copying the files that make up the database be sure that the actual database program (valentina or postgres) is not running.
My computer seems to have done it differently for some reason. My ContentCluster directory is in AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D\cms and there is another .json file there with the same name as the one in Program Data. I don't know why, I didn't do anything to configure the CMS, just went with the defaults. I'm backing the whole lot up and hoping to sort it out later.
I've got a UserData_1.dsx and also a UserData_2.dsx from my last export that I'll keep as a last resort. I haven't tried to restore this on the new CMS. I did it frequently with the old Valentine database but the new one has never failed on me so far.
I hope it all works for you, it is really hateful losing data.
I had a HDD die on me just before I got this PC about 3 years ago. I had a fair bit of warning, and I managed to get everything that was really necessary saved to external HDDs, but I still missed some things that I thought I had backed up. I am well over it now of course, but it did rankle a bit at the time.
I've tested out exporting and re-importing user data between Valentina and PostgreSQL and it works both ways (assuming the Valentina database wasn't corrupt when you exported user data).
Thank you all for your help. I've got my computer working again with the content and the categories both restored.
This interests me a lot. How do you go from PostgresSQL back to Valentina? I think the official line from Daz is that once you go to Postgress you can't go back.
I'm interested in this because I use Carrara, and Carrara can only use the Valentina database. Until now my Carrara categories have been frozen at the point when I switched databases but if I can transfer back then I can keep Carrara up to date.
If you uninstall PostgreSQL with DIM, everything reverts back to Valentina. So Export User Data in PostgreSQL, uninstall PostgreSQL, Re-import Metadata in Valentina (reset the database first if you think it might have corruption), then reinstall PostgreSQL.
Thank you for the info. I was hoping for a less extreme way of doing it rather than de-installing and re-installing. I think I'll wait until I've done a lot of changes before trying it.