How do you back up an Empower Personal database? - WKB257960

ENVIRONMENT

• Empower 3

ANSWER

From the Empower 3 Help Menus:

Backing up the Empower Personal database

Pro > Configure System > Configuration Manager > File > Backup Database > Backup Database Wizard 
System Administrators should schedule database backups according to their company protocols, the demands placed on the system by users (for example, the amount of data stored and processed), and the relative importance of user data. For instance, if your team is working on one or two projects, you might want to back up the database weekly and the projects daily. If you are working on many projects, it can be more efficient to back up the database daily.

When you back up the database, you have the option to include project raw data in the database backup. Including raw data files ensures that the backup contains all files needed to restore the database in the case of disaster recovery. 

During the database backup, message center online messages and messages that are stored in external tables are automatically backed up, whether or not you back up the projects.

Consider these backup guidelines:

Back up the database regularly to supplement project backup. 
Develop a standard backup protocol, and enforce it consistently. The entire database will be backed up, not just individual projects. 
Stop all Empower processes before backing up, and do not restart until backup is completed. 
Rotate through at least three sets of backup media, overwriting the oldest set with the latest backup. The three sets of backups assure you have at least one good copy should you lose data. For example, every evening perform backups using a drive that undergoes regular backups, and ask IT personnel to make DVDs of the database backups.

 
Recommendation: Before backing up the database, allow all acquisition, processing, or reporting tasks to run to completion, or terminate them. (Any Empower files that are in use cannot be backed up.) Save any unsaved data, and close all Empower applications.

Exception: If the System Administrator changes the SQLNET.AUTHENTICATION_SERVICES to NONE, the Database Backup wizard cannot shut down the database and an Oracle error is generated (ORA -01017 Invalid Username or Password Login Denied). 

To resolve the Oracle error:

Make the Empower Personal workstation part of the domain. 
In the C:\Empower\Oracle\Oracle19c\NETWORK\ADMIN\sqlnet.ora file, change SQLNET.AUTHENTICATION_SERVICES to (NTS). 
Rule: Do not remove the Administrator account from the ORA_DBA file. 

When the backup finishes, set SQLNET.AUTHENTICATION_SERVICES back to NONE. 
Prerequisite: In Windows Control Panel, disable UAC (User Account Control).

To back up the Empower Personal database:

Log on to the operating system as a local administrator. 
Open Empower, by right-clicking the Empower icon, and then selecting "Run as administrator". 
Log on to Empower with a user account that has the "Administrator" privilege. 
In the Backup Database wizard, browse to specify a directory large enough to contain all database files and project raw data files. 

Requirement: Ensure that the directory is empty—that it does not contain any other files and folders.

Recommendation: Leave the "Include Raw Data in Backup" check box selected. This ensures that your database backup contains database files and project raw data files. 

To change User Account Control settings: control panel > user account > change UAC settings > select "never notify"

If a list appears containing any users, acquisition servers, or applications that are currently running, close all Empower applications, and then click Update to refresh the list. 
When the backup process is complete, click Finish and restart your system. 
Result: Empower backs up the database files, raw data files, and message center external tables to the specified directory and creates a log file containing a list of the database files. Copy this backup to a DVD or external drive or arrange for its backup to be  part of normal disk backups.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION