How to Backup & Restore a CQC installation

[Sergio D]

Overview:
This thread will detail how to backup an existing CQC installation and how to restore a CQC installation.

Backing up a CQC Installation:
All the files required by a CQC installation are stored in one folder in the "CQC" folder located in the "program files" directory. Typically, you would only back-up the master server. That will contain all the images, templates and programming logic. If you have secondary servers, then you would want to back-up the CQC folder in those installations as well. There is really no need to back-up "Interface Viewer" installations.

The steps for creating the back-up are as follows:

1. Stop the CQC service. Some files in the CQC folder are locked by the CQC service and you will not be able to copy them until you stop the CQC service. Click on "Start -> Run". Then type "Services.msc" without the quotes. This will start the service manager. Click on "CQC Application Shell" and select "Stop" to stop the service.
   
   
   
2. Now the CQC folder is not locked and can be copied to any location you want. The CQC folder can be found in the "Program Files" directory. The "Program Files" directory is usually found in the C: drive.

Back-up Tip:
I suggest that you also have a backup of the CQC installation program that matches the version of the CQC you just backed up. The restore process will require that you re-run the installer to complete the restore process. The restore process will require that you use the same or a later (more current) version of CQC. If you decide to use a more current version of CQC, the installation will be upgraded and require that you check your work in case there are breaking changes with the newer release of CQC.


Restoring a CQC Installation:
Restoring a CQC installation is very straight forward. It's pretty much doing the opposite of the steps to back-up a CQC installation. We are basically going to copy the backed up CQC folder into the "Program Files" directory and rerun the CQC installer to make CQC program work with our previously backed up CQC folder.

The steps for restoring CQC are as follows:

1. If you already have CQC installed you will need to stop the CQC service. If you don't stop the CQC service, you will not be a able to delete the current CQC folder. Follow step (1) in the backing up CQC section of this thread.
   
2. If you already have a current CQC installation, then you will need to delete or rename the current CQC folder in the "Program Files" directory.
   
3. Copy the back-up CQC folder to the "Program Files" directory.
   
4. Run the CQC installation program. The CQC installation program should show a screen asking you if you want to upgrade. If you get a screen telling you that no installation was found, then the CQC folder was copied into an incorrect location. The CQC installer looks for the "Bin" directory found in the "CQC" folder. You will have the option to manually point to an existing CQC "Bin" folder if the installer can't find the current installation. You can select this option and try to find the CQC "Bin" folder. Once you have the upgrade option, go ahead and click next and complete the re-installation. Note, it will be called an upgrade even if you are using the exact same version number. Upgrade simply reinstalls CQC but keeps the existing CQC programming intact.
   
5. You should be able to start CQC once the installation is completed.