Backup DAZ-System
Arjey
Posts: 39
Hi world
I tried "search forum" with "Backup DAZ system" and got all things, but nothing about making a backup...
So my question here: Is there an easy way to backup and restore my DAZ system after for example a SSD crash? - OK, forget the word "easy" - is there a way at all?
Actual: Last time I told the installation to install DAZ on D: - Obviously not the whole DAZ System was installed there, because after a crash of C: - my Windows system disk - and a new installation of DAZ, DAZ was not working . I know, this time DAZ was installed on C: because DC and DIM install DAZ on C:. When I installed DAZ the last time the option exists to choose the drive!
Now my library under D:/.../studio/ is still alive, but the newly installed DAZ-Studio ignore's that - even after I set the pathes in DAZ to this library.
In one of the dark corners of my brain I found the item "CMS-file" which organizes the flow between the system and the databases - or something like that. And I guess, this file was stored on the killed C: drive (remember: I ordered to install DAZ on D: )
How happy I would be, when there would be a lovely little menu-item in DAZ, what starts a reorganisation of this CMS-file - or anything else, what is neccessary to use the old library!!!
At least my work done with only DAZ purchases is more easily to recover: try to load one, DAZ tells me, that some parts have to be installed (again... remember theses parts ARE installed - on a library ignored by the new DAZ)
But what about items I bought somewhere else? - And what about parts I bought from DAZ , but didn't use yet - all in all several hundred, I guess.
See, when a regular SQL Database crashes, I recover a backup of this database, and everything is working fine. Not so in DAZ, or am I wrong?
Oh, wonderful - I just see, that installing "Liv Hair" leeds to a hang up of the system... -
Oh, wonderful - I tried to load a DAZ figure, DAZ installed it and now is not able to locate parts of it...
Is there someone out there, who can sent me a gun?
Or at least someone, who can tell me a functioning process of backing up and restoring a DAZ system after a crash...
I'm silently crying...
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Comments
How was the content on D: installed?
I assume you mean Daz Studio, but if you use an installer that is also a factor. Conentrating on Daz Studio for now:
Edit>Preferences (Daz Studio>Preferences for a Mac) has a Content tab and on that there is a Content Directory Manager button - the dialogue that opens can be used to set the location for the database, content directories, and the content installed through Daz Studio itself (Daz Connect). The database should be backed up only when nothing is using it - Daz Studio, Carrara, and iny installation applications closed and no longer showing in Task Manager's list of processes.
You can back-up your own metadata (files you created, edited categories) by opening the Content Library option menu (the lined or hamburger button in the top corner or right-click the tab), selecting Content DB Maintenance, and checking Export Metadata - this will place .dsx files in the Runtime/Support folder. After a disaster you can use Reimport Metadata from the same dialogue to reload custom and product data from a connected (via Content Directory Manager) content directory.
Create a system image, then you can restore your system very quickly and easily on a new disk after a disk crash. Just requires an extra disk for storing the image.
Just store your DAZ content and other heavy data which are independent of the system disk on another disk than the system disk otherwise the image may become very large.
Creating a system image... Remember? - I installed DAZ on D: that was possible in older days. But obviously not everything of the DAZ system was installed there - DAZ still used folders on C:
Following your suggestion then means, that I have to make an image from C: and D: - what I see as a little funny.
I cannot believe that it is difficult to write a routine for backing up and restoring the whole DAZ-System. At least the "normal" system - means the regulary used paths. At least the DAZ people should have all neccessary information to do so. But instead of them doing it, the users have to go through the breast into their eyes to be save in case of a crash.
As I mentioned before: There is a SQL Database in the background - Every other program is fine, when this database is restored after a crash - not so DAZ - may god know why...
This CMS file is somehow responsible as an interface between DAZ and the Database - why the hell there is no routine to rebuild this file when the Database with ALL installed products is still alive?
And I cannot believe, that a responsible programmer don't care about backing up the system he created. OK, perhaps I have to keep in mind, that above the programmer is a manager, who demands money not quality...
@Richard: As I mentioned - in earlier days it was possible to choose D: as installing drive. And so there is a folder on D: named DAZ 3D with the regular Studio folder in it - And meanswhile I'm afraid, that DC and before that DIM didn't care about the pathes created during installation, but created a new library and installed the new products there - somewhere on C:. That indeed would make it difficult to write a routine for backing up the DAZ system and all it's components. What a chaos...
It still is possible to install to a drive of your choice, other than things like the AppDaat folder which has never been movable.
I think your terminology is a bit off - it sounds as if the CMS file is the Database (which is actually mutlple files) and that can be backed up, as long as the applications using it are closed. There is the postgreSQL process, running multiple times usually, which is doing the work (the database engine) but that is just an installed application.
It is up to the system users/administrator to set up back ups - it isn't, and shouldn't be, down to each application to devise its own routine - that would be grossly inefficient and extremely hard to manage.
There are some programs that gather all the content in a scene for packaging.. perhaps the same thing that would gather the program folder and the folders from the app data folder etc and my daz 3d library?
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I just tried to reload one ancient duf file with 2v4 and 1 m4... everything but the hair was auto-adapted and apparently that folder was lost and it's not rebuild by new installs becauses it's specific to the scene that wrote it?
This is the only ancient file I tried to reopen.
Genesis and up seem to work fine, knock silicon.
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OTOH if I could get the hair to fit those heads.. they'd be pretty neat robots?
as for backing up... I paid $25 bucks for a dual dropin drive dock ... but besides being an external two bay drive... unplug it from the USB... put a drive in A another one (same size or larger) in B and push the clone button.
It's a bit by bit copy... will produce an indentical drive ... overrides system copy protections because the copy is not done by your system... it's a dumb read/write bit by bit.
You do have to have two drives .. but if you clone your C drive and then do periodically .. if the C drive goes ... just install the duped drive. Note you can not put that drive back in the system with the original drive because they will be indentical and systems don't allow that.
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If you can't do that.. but still back your program folder and your my 3d lib if they are on C... remember and I often forget to just copy the entire app data file it's usually only a couple of gigs so you don't have to deal with extracting the daz stuff.
It is probably a hidden file so you have to turn on things to let you see it and it's usually under user>(yourUserNameHere) but you can google for how to find it..
Why install programs on other disks than the system disk? It just create potential problems as you can see.