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Alternate Procedure: Use RSYNC to transfer/backup data.

The benefits of using RSYNC over the FTP scripts are:

  • RSYNC is a cross-platform standard, common in current IT environments.
  • Performance, Security and Reliability

In the case of a hardware failure or catastrophic event, it is easy for valuable data to be lost from a computer. The system controller for the RI 7100A Tester is highly reliable, but even it can be stopped by a faulty disk drive or a bad power supply. Making regular backups of critical files will reduce the risk of such a failure. Backups used to require special equipment and media, such as expensive and delicate tape drives. Now the easiest backup media is the network to which your RI 7100A controller is attached.

If you are looking for regular FTP transfers of the test data, see Moving Test Data via FTP from RI Tester to Server.

You can improve your system's security by downloading the attached script file, RiBackup.Cmd, to your hard disk. This program is very basic. It uses the built-in "ZIP" utility (InfoZip) to create a compressed archive file that holds all of the critical files in the directory D:\RiApps. It then uses "ftp" (file transfer protocol) to transfer the zip file to another computer for safekeeping. Of course, this requires a properly set-up TCP/IP network and a valid login for the computer used to store the file (I'll refer to this computer as the "server").

ATTENTION: Always transfer .ZIP files with FTP in BINARY mode. ASCII mode will corrupt .zip files because of the line feed conversion (ln -> ln+rf). To put the standard FTP client into binary mode enter the command binary before starting the file transfer.

Install the Script

Copy BOTH files below into a directory on the RI Test System and run the program RiBackInst.Cmd from an open OS/2 Command window. It requests a name for the tester -- use a unique name for the tester and do not include any spaces or punctuation characters that would not be suitable for a filename (e.g. \, :). If you have more than one Roos Instruments tester in your facility, choose unique names for each tester backed up. It allows you to use a common FTP server without the backup files colliding on server.

The installation script creates two icons, one for a "full" backup and another for an "diff" backup. The full backup stores files in a file of the name <system>.zip, where <system> is the system name you chose on installation. The diff backup backs up only files which changed after the file date of the last full backup. In other words, if you did a full backup on Jan 1, 2004 and a diff backup on some later date, the diff backup would only save files whose modification date is later than Jan 1, 2004. The diff backup file is named <system>-diff.zip, where <system> is the name you chose on installation.

Customize the Script

After downloading the file, you must edit it with a text editor to customize if for your facility.

/* CUSTOMIZE THE SERVER LOGON */

server = 'bigserv' /* IP address or name */
logon = 'user' /* FTP logon name */
pw = 'password' /* FTP logon password */

/* CUSTOMIZE THE EXCLUDED FILES */

exclude.0 = 3
exclude.1 = '*.zip'
exclude.2 = '*.??2'
exclude.3 = 'testdata\*'

/* END OF CUSTOMIZE SECTION

Change the first three lines to reflect the destination and login used for your backup server. The 'server' field may be either a dotted address or a name. The backup will be placed in the default directory for this logon. If there is no FTP server, leave the server field blank, i.e. server = '', and the FTP transfer will be skipped.

The 'exclude' variable lists file in the RI System Software directory that do NOT require backup. By default, we exclude any "ZIP" files, any files that end in ??2 (e.g. testplan.dt2), and the directory RiApps\Testdata. These files are not needed for the tester to operate, so they are left out to save time and backup space. If you have other subdirectories of RiApps to exclude, you can extend the list by adding entries (e.g. "exclude.4") and specifying them as we have done with "testdata". Don't forget to increase the value of "exclude.0" to include any items you have added.

RiBackInst.cmdRiBackup.Cmd

Please contact RI Support prior to restoring RI System Software so that we may learn the symptoms and possibly the cause that requires a system restore. Sometimes the symptoms could be solved quicker and more reliably than recovering from the last known backup.


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