Backups & safety
Keep a copy of your data and restore it if you ever need to.
Your school's data is valuable, so keep a copy. Ovium can make backups you can download and store safely, and restore from one if you ever need to.
Why backups matter
A backup is a snapshot of your data at a point in time. If something is deleted by mistake, or you move to a new host, a recent backup means you lose little or nothing. Treat it like a spare key — you hope not to need it, but you are glad it exists.
Making a backup
Open the backups area
From the platform/settings area, open Backups.
Create a backup
Start a backup. Ovium prepares a file containing your data.
Download and store it
Download the file and keep it somewhere safe — a cloud drive or a separate computer, not only on the server.
Scheduling automatic backups
Rather than remembering to do it, set backups to run on a schedule so a fresh copy is made regularly without you lifting a finger. Check now and then that recent backups are present.
Keep more than one backup. A single copy can itself be lost or corrupted; a handful from different dates is much safer.
Restoring
Restoring returns your data to the state captured in a backup. Because it replaces current data, treat restore as a deliberate recovery step, not an everyday action.
Restoring overwrites what is there now. Make a fresh backup before you restore an old one, so you can get back either way.
Good habits
Back up before big changes (a bulk import, promotions at year end, or a host move), keep copies off the server, and occasionally confirm a backup file actually opens. A little routine here saves a lot of worry later.