Upgrading from SQL Backup 4, 5 or 6

Upgrading from SQL Backup version 5 or 6

If you are upgrading from SQL Backup version 5 or 6, you do not need to import SQL Servers that you previously registered. Your servers will be added automatically to the SQL Backup 7 Registered SQL Servers pane.

If you have not yet installed the SQL Backup 7 server components on a registered SQL Server, is displayed to the right of the SQL Server name in the Registered SQL Servers pane. You can click the icon to upgrade the components, as described in Installing or upgrading on a SQL Server instance.

If you have already upgraded the SQL Backup GUI, the same icon may be shown in various locations when you are working with a SQL Server instance that still has version 5 or 6 server components installed. This indicates that certain features are unavailable until you upgrade the server components to version 7.

Once you have upgraded, you must activate the SQL Server. If you have purchased a support contract, you can use the same license key as you used in version 5 or 6 (SQL Backup will remember this for you). Otherwise, you can use a trial version of SQL Backup 7 for 14 days, but then you must purchase a license.

The scripts and jobs you created using version 5 or 6 are supported in version 7, and will work in the same way.

Upgrading the activity cache

The activity cache speeds up the display of backup and restore history in SQL Backup by storing a copy of the backup and restore history for your registered SQL Servers.

The cache data is located on the same computer as the SQL Backup graphical user interface, in C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Local Settings\Application Data\Red Gate\SQL Backup\Server Data by default.

When you start the graphical user interface for the first time, you may be prompted to upgrade the activity cache. This will only happen if an activity cache from SQL Backup version 5 or 6 is found on your computer.

This may take several minutes, but happens only once.

Backup file format - SQL Backup version 5 only

Version 6 of SQL Backup introduced changes to the backup file format, and these have been maintained in version 7. When you upgrade the SQL Backup server components from version 5 to version 7, SQL Backup creates new backup files in the new format. The backup file extension is unchanged (.sqb).

• SQL Backup 7 is fully compatible with files created by earlier SQL Backup versions. You can work with any SQL Backup backup file version using SQL Backup 7.
• SQL Backup 5 (version 5.4 and earlier) cannot be used to restore a version 7 (or 6) backup file. To restore a version 7 (or 6) backup file to a server that has not been upgraded, you must first convert the backup file.

Upgrading from SQL Backup version 4

If you are upgrading SQL Backup from version 4, you can import all your registered SQL Servers into SQL Backup 7; you do not have to register them all again. For details, see Adding SQL Server instances.

When you register a SQL Server, if you have not yet installed the SQL Backup 7 server components on it, is displayed to the right of the SQL Server name in the Registered SQL Servers pane. You can click the icon to upgrade the components, as described in Installing or upgrading the server components using the GUI.

You must then activate the SQL Server. If you have purchased a support contract, you can use the same license key as you used in version 4 (SQL Backup will remember this for you). Otherwise, you can use a trial version of SQL Backup 7 for 14 days, but then you must purchase a license.

If you do not upgrade the server components, SQL Backup retrieves the details of activities and jobs on these SQL Servers when you first start SQL Backup. The information is displayed in the Time Line, the Activity History, and the Jobs tab. However, this information cannot be refreshed while SQL Backup is running.

Any options you set in version 4 are imported into version 7. However, note that backup alerts are no longer available; instead you can now use the Time Line or create a report of backup activity to see overdue backups. For more information about the options available, see File management options.

The scripts and jobs you created using version 4 are supported in version 7, and will work in the same way.

If you saved any backup settings in version 4, you can use them in version 7. However, in version 7 they are called templates.

Some features are restricted for activities and jobs from a previous version of SQL Backup. For example, you cannot display the properties of a backup performed by SQL Backup version 4.