Backing up a station using Platform Administration

The Platform Administration view performs a complete backup of the connected controller, saved as a .dist file on your PC. The backup dist contains the entire station folder, the specific NRE config used by the platform, license(s), certificate(s), pointers to the appropriate NRE core, Java VM, modules, OS and the TCP/IP configuration of the host.

You are working in Workbench and are connected to the Supervisor or remote controller.
  1. Expand the Platform node in the Nav tree or double-click Platform.
    The contents of the Nav Container View opens in the tree or in the main view.
  2. Double-click the Platform Administration.
    The Platform Administration view opens.
  3. Click the Backup button.
    If the station is running, Workbench asks you to confirm that you intend to connect to the station to back it up.

    You can perform a backup with a station running on the target host, or when no station is running.

  4. If you choose to stop the station, click No, double-click the Application Director, select the station, click Stop, then go back and click Platform Administration > Backup.
    If no station is running on the controller, the platform daemon performs its own offline backup or you may log in as a station user.

    If the station is running, Workbench uses the station’s BackupService to perform an online backup.

    In either case, the File Chooser window opens.

    The Current Path defaults to ~backup and the File name property defaults to the current station. The ~ in the path name represents the path to a folder under the file system’s Workbench User Home. For example: C:\Users\<user>\<Niagara version>\tridium\backups where:

    • <user> is your user folder.

    • <Niagara version> is your installed version.

  5. Navigate to a target location to save the backup file, rename it if desired, and click Save.
    By default, the backup function automatically creates (if not already present) a backups subdirectory under your Workbench User Home. The default file name for a backup file uses a format of: backup_stationName_YYMMDD_HHMM.dist

    If the station is running, the system performs a Fox Backup job and a notification popup opens in the lower right of your display when the backup is done. This job is recorded in the station’s BackupService and is visible in that component’s Backup Manager view. Details are also available by accessing the job in the station’s Job Service Manager.

    If you perform an offline backup (no station running), the platform daemon provides another progress window during the backup to the .dist file.



    Upon completion, you can click Close to return to the Platform Administration view, or click Details to see another popup with a log of actions performed in the backup.



If needed, you can restore a backup .dist using the platform Distribution File Installer view. When restoring the backup, you can select to restore these settings, or retain the TCP/IP settings currently in use by the target host.