How to restore from Backup Folder

[silvergull]

G'day,

How do I recover a particular KUID after a System Crash from the Backup Folder.

After all these years, I have never needed to recover from a Trainz backup, blushing.

silvergull

Michael

 

[pware]

Have not had to do this for years - but a Google search soon found it in the Trainz Knowledge base at https://support.trainzportal.com/in...or-restoring-a-backup-version-of-your-content

Short steps:

• Take a manual backup onto disk/usb etc prior to initiating these steps
• Navigate to the backup folder in your local data folder
• Find the most recent backup (or one dated around the time you think you are looking for) and drag the folder into Content Manager
• Submit the Asset (since it will be Open for Edit when you import it)
• Right-click and Edit In Surveyor to check on your newly installed backup is the one you are after

Steps in More Detail:

• Make a manual backup onto disk/usb etc prior to initiating these steps
• Navigate to the backup folder in your local data folder (the path can be found looking in the Install tab of Launcher > Trainz Settings)
• The top level has the last 7 days activity in YY-MM-DD folders (this could be 1 day or weeks apart)
• Inside each daily activity folder is the list of backuped up content for that day
• The folder organisation is controlled by your Windows Settings
• If you know the time of the backup you are looking for, sort by time, or if you know the KUID, sort by Name
• Note that some backup files are "randomized" names, so you will need to search by date and time
• The backup folder contains copies of your own edits and files you have downloaded (anything that was updaed in the database)
• When you find a file that you suspect may be the one that you wish to restore, then drag the folder from the Windows Explorer folder into Content Manager
• An install log will be generated that looks something like the following:

; TrainzWorkerBatch
; Will install from path: C:/Users/New/AppData/Local/N3V Games/TANE/80276/backups/16-03-04/kuid 39601 100131 abc
; TrainzWorkerBatch
; TADInstallAssetFromPath
! Asset <kuid:39601:100131> is already installed.
+ <kuid:39601:100131> opened for edit
; Wrote <kuid:39601:100131> to disk
; Skipped commit for <kuid:39601:100131>
+ Installed asset <kuid:39601:100131>

• Click Submit Edits to submit the item to the database
• Click Edit in Surveyor to check on your newly installed backup to ensure it is the one you are after
• If this version is still corrupt, then you will need to go through the folders looking for an older version that is saved prior to the corruption occurring.

Handling TZARC folders:

• Sometimes the item you want to restore will be saved in tzarc format
• In this case, find the .tzarc folder in your backup folder (it will have a name like kuid2 438196 1187 1.tzarc)
• This could be a builtin item or 3rd party item
• We now need to drag or copy the .tzarc file using Windows Explorer into your "local" Folder that is in the same directory as your "backups" folder (this is the important part - you cannot drag a .tzarc file into Content Manager)
• Then click Launcher > Developer > Rebuild Database
• Once the repair has finished, review the restored version to check everything is restored correctly

 

[silvergull]

G'day pware,

Thanks for the info, saved a lot of heartache.


silvergull

 

[pware]

There is now a page on the Trainz Wiki dealing with making and restoring backups in Trainz. The page can be found at http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/How_to_Manage_Backups

 

[JCitron]

This utility is helpful for handling the tzarc files.

TZarchiver

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/vvmm/software-f56/

Drag the .tzarc file into one side and you can view the inside and extract the contents to a folder in the same location as the original is located. With that, I recommend copying the .tzarc you want to extract to another location and run the utility from there. With the extracted data now in a folder, you simply drag the folder, or use File-Import folder in Content Manager. There's no need then to do a database repair.

 

[boleyd]

Wouldn't it just be easier, and more responsible, for N3V to code a simple process in Visual Basic?

Usually, when a customer is doing the backup it is a stressful situation. A mistake can really cause more angst.
A tool protects the customer from themselves and makes them a valuable marketing advocate.

 

[boleyd]

Today I discovered that a route I had spent time on completely disappeared. The only backup is the builtinn backup process. I followed the Wiki instructons but when it came to draggin the selected folder to the Content Manager the Content Manage would not allow it and showed a circle with a line diagonally through the circle.

Wiki Instruction:
Step 3: Restore the Backup To Trainz

1. open Content Manager
2. drag and drop the selected backup folder from Windows File Explorer into Content Manager
3. the item will be shown in Content Manager as Open for Edit. Select the item and Submit it.

I can see no way to use this process. Perhaps someone who has had success can help...

 

[pware]

I can see no way to use this process. Perhaps someone who has had success can help...

Just a few days ago I followed those steps exactly and it worked perfectly. Could it be that CM decided that the selected backup was faulty or somehow incompatible?

The Trainz Knowledge Base at https://support.trainzportal.com/ind...f-your-content has additional troubleshooting instructions including how to extract the backup from the tzarc file.

 

[JCitron]

Wouldn't it just be easier, and more responsible, for N3V to code a simple process in Visual Basic?

Usually, when a customer is doing the backup it is a stressful situation. A mistake can really cause more angst.
A tool protects the customer from themselves and makes them a valuable marketing advocate.

Yes and definitely!

But that would be too easy and take the Geekpower away. (snark)

 

[pware]

Usually, when a customer is doing the backup it is a stressful situation. A mistake can really cause more angst.
A tool protects the customer from themselves and makes them a valuable marketing advocate.

Making backups should be a part of everyone's normal routine and certainly not something that is stressful. I make manual backups of all my important files (not just Trainz) whenever I make a change to those files. There are software tools that will monitor nominated folders and files and perform backups automatically whenever a change has been detected.

The problem with Trainz is that those changes occur inside a database and only those updated/edited/added database records (assets) need to be backed up, not the entire 60GB+ of data. So a backup tool would most likely have to be built into the Trainz code like the current automatic backup system. A simple external VB addon may not be sufficient.

With Trainz I use a manual backup system where I create .cdp backups of the assets I have edited - mostly, but not only, routes and sessions. I find this to be satisfactory and I have gotten into the habit of performing a backup whenever I exit Surveyor.

 

[boleyd]

Pware: "I have gotten into the habit of performing a backup whenever I exit Surveyor."

Perhaps that is the answer. Rather than using the existing auto-system it should be simple to code in the closing routine a Yes/NO to backup the current route file. Keep it simple and do not attempt to customize it with a lot of WHAT/IF junk for special situations. Copy the route, in CDP format, to a specific folder within the N3V folder. NO OPTIONS. It is important to always keep backup processes rigid and devoid of frills.

Now there may be problems I am unaware of. But the payed time for someone to research a flow-chart, and which file to save, should not be too difficult.

 

[JCitron]

Pware: "I have gotten into the habit of performing a backup whenever I exit Surveyor."

Perhaps that is the answer. Rather than using the existing auto-system it should be simple to code in the closing routine a Yes/NO to backup the current route file. Keep it simple and do not attempt to customize it with a lot of WHAT/IF junk for special situations. Copy the route, in CDP format, to a specific folder within the N3V folder. NO OPTIONS. It is important to always keep backup processes rigid and devoid of frills.

Now there may be problems I am unaware of. But the payed time for someone to research a flow-chart, and which file to save, should not be too difficult.

I do the same along with larger full backups of my data to an external drive. Knocking on wood, meaning my head and not my table, this has been a savior more than once as my backups have come to the rescue.

I agree keeping this in the KISS mode is best. The route or session.cdp file can be saved to the current backups folder. The files need a name-date-timestamp so that they can be reverted to.

Way back in the ancient times, I used 3d Studio- R4 for DOS. This program had a + button next to the file/project open dialog box. This was to open up the file and create a backup version in case things didn't go as planned. On the Varityper system, opening up any previously created file automatically created a backup, and there was a dialog box simply asked whether to delete the previous version. Since these files were time-tracked rather than file-name-tracked, there could be multiple iterations of the same file with only the date and time differentiating between them.

 

[lewisner]

So , briefly. Yesterday at 16.26 I had to shut down my PC in a hurry so I clicked Save and Exit my route then shut my PC down.
Today when I tried to open my route I was given the option to Use or Revert Changes. I selected Use and found I had lost about 2 days intensive and complicated work.
In the backups there is a Save at 16.26. If I use this backup will it be the route intact with all the work I did up to exiting it ? The previous backup is at 13.17.

 

[JCitron]

So , briefly. Yesterday at 16.26 I had to shut down my PC in a hurry so I clicked Save and Exit my route then shut my PC down.
Today when I tried to open my route I was given the option to Use or Revert Changes. I selected Use and found I had lost about 2 days intensive and complicated work.
In the backups there is a Save at 16.26. If I use this backup will it be the route intact with all the work I did up to exiting it ? The previous backup is at 13.17.

I would be concerned about opening up that backup from 16.26. It's possible that the write didn't complete if you shut the PC down quickly.

If you are willing to experiment, save the currently installed route to a cdp first. Delete that route and restore the 16.26 version and see if it's intact. It may be fine but there's no way of knowing unless you check.

 

[lewisner]

I would be concerned about opening up that backup from 16.26. It's possible that the write didn't complete if you shut the PC down quickly.

If you are willing to experiment, save the currently installed route to a cdp first. Delete that route and restore the 16.26 version and see if it's intact. It may be fine but there's no way of knowing unless you check.

It wasn't intact , it was the same as the Use Changes version ie 2 days work gone. The 13.17 backup has disappeared from the list and the next available is 22.17 the previous night meaning that "if" it works I "only" lose a days hard work. I want to love this game but I feel it's an abusive relationship.

 

[JCitron]

It wasn't intact , it was the same as the Use Changes version ie 2 days work gone. The 13.17 backup has disappeared from the list and the next available is 22.17 the previous night meaning that "if" it works I "only" lose a days hard work. I want to love this game but I feel it's an abusive relationship.

Yeah, we're abused by our spouse, meaning Trainz, as always!

I wish there was an easier way to manage the backups. An interface that read the .tzarc files and converted the name file names to something meaningful and allowed us to scan through a list of possible files restore would be really helpful. Going one step further with a restore this file button after clicking on the file would complete the utility.

Unfortunately, I'm not a programmer and can't even fathom where to begin although I understand the concepts of programming from the few courses, I took decades ago because I had to in order to meet degree requirements.

 

[lewisner]

Yeah, we're abused by our spouse, meaning Trainz, as always!

I wish there was an easier way to manage the backups. An interface that read the .tzarc files and converted the name file names to something meaningful and allowed us to scan through a list of possible files restore would be really helpful. Going one step further with a restore this file button after clicking on the file would complete the utility.

Unfortunately, I'm not a programmer and can't even fathom where to begin although I understand the concepts of programming from the few courses, I took decades ago because I had to in order to meet degree requirements.

Well I have the route back minus 3 hours work but I'm plugging on with it.