How to Set Up Automatic Backups for Cabinet Vision

Contributed by Planit Technical Consultant Jim Mitchell.

Are you worried you are going to forget to back up your Cabinet Vision data and lose countless hours of work and customization? We have discussed the importance of data protection and how backing up your data can save you from some chilling worst-case scenarios. The good news is that Cabinet Vision can help you set up automatic backups to protect your data.

The Cabinet Vision Back-Up Utility works with the Windows Task Scheduler to automate your backups. You can set it up so the task executes automatically at set intervals – so you can set it and forget it!

Preparing to set up automatic backups in Cabinet Vision

There are a few things to consider before creating your automatic backup schedule:

1. Do you have any other server or workstation backups scheduled? If you have a NAS (Network Attached Storage) or cloud-based backup scheduled, you will want to schedule your Cabinet Vision backup before this, so this data is included. That way, the Cabinet Vision data is included with your other backup schedule following a corresponding timestamp. Learn more about data backups in the 3-2-1 of Data Backups.
2. Your backups should happen after business hours, and all users must close out Cabinet Vision at the end of their day. This is important for two reasons; a) it is best practice to avoid creating scheduled events during business hours, and b) Cabinet Vision needs to be closed out on every workstation to obtain a proper full backup.
3. Where does your data live? For Standalone configurations in which you store your Cabinet Vision data on a workstation, your backup schedule can be created on the workstation. For Network configurations where data resides on a dedicated server, your backup schedule should be created on the server.

Configuration

Start by using the Windows key + r on the keyboard to launch the run command – alternatively, you can use the Windows search bar in Windows and higher by typing “run.”

STEP 1:

Launch the Windows Task Scheduler by typing – taskschd.msc

STEP 2:

Select “Action” on the top left toolbar with the Task Scheduler open and select “Create Basic Task….”

STEP 3:

With the basic task window open, we can start by naming and describing the task being created.

STEP 4:

Following, we are prompted to provide a “Trigger.” A trigger will determine how often or by what action we would like the scheduled task to take place.

STEP 5:

Next, we set a start and timed occurrence for the trigger we have created. When selecting a timed event, consideration should be taken not to overlap other scheduled tasks such as cloud or offsite backups. In this case, the Cabinet Vision Backup Utility should be run prior, so the backup makes the next offsite backup.

STEP 6:

Now we create our action – in this case, we are launching an application.

STEP 7:

Next, we select which program or script we would like to run. You can type its path manually, making sure to enclose it in quotations, or use the Browse button to locate the CVBackup.exe – typically located C:\Cabinet Vision\CV_Version\CVBackup.exe

We can now add our arguments – /g suppresses the backup prompt.
/p suppress the prompt for exceeding backup settings, such as over
100MBs of backups created.
/d to delete previous backups – might be necessary depending on the frequency of backup and other methods of backups the customer might have

Once this is complete, we can Finish and proceed to test out the new scheduled task.

STEP 8:

We can now see our task and test it by right-clicking on the task and selecting “Run.”

Switches that are available against cvbackup.exe:
/e Create email (will automatically create a mail message and attach a zip file for email)
Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Hexagon\CABINET VISION\CV 2021\CVBackup.exe /e
/d Delete backups (useful option when you are just emailing)
Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Hexagon\CABINET VISION\CV 2021\CVBackup.exe /e /d
/g Suppress GUI (Silent backup that uses last settings)
Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Hexagon\CABINET VISION\CV 2021\CVBackup.exe /g
/p Suppress prompt when you have exceeded backup settings (useful option to use with /g)
Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Hexagon\CABINET VISION\CV 2021\CVBackup.exe /g /p
/r Make files read only
Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Hexagon\CABINET VISION\CV 2021\CVBackup.exe /r
/z Creates a Zip file of the Backup
Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Hexagon\CABINET VISION\CV 2021\CVBackup.exe /z