The backup information in this article is up to date as of April 11, 2014. This applies to the latest versions of each product unless otherwise specified.
Using a tasked schedule, you can configure it to routinely backup the data and make it available to your normal server backup sets.
An AuthAnvil backup file stores all of your user, token, and logging information in a format that can be easily imported back into the database.
Note: Backups also include all of your encryption keys, and the file itself is not protected in any way, so it can easily be accessed and modified.
Important: Access to your backups should be locked down. You will want your backups stored securely and their access controlled.
Below is a step by step guide on how to backup AuthAnvil Two-Factor Auth & Password Server.
Create a new Scheduled Task
Start > Task Scheduler
Select Create Task
Enter the Name of the backup task. Example: AuthAnvil Backup
Choose "Run whether user is logged on or not" & "Run with highest privileges". We recommend using "System" as well to prevent issues with the Administrator password being changed.
Note: You can apply multiple actions to a task so we can configure this for each product.
Select the Triggers tab.
Note: We always recommend running daily backups so your users and data are always up to date.
Once you select OK you will be returned to to the Create Task window and will be able to Select the Actions tab, choose New.
Note: If you are going to configure this for Both products you will have to create two separate actions.
Under Program/Script Enter the following or browse to the product location.
For 2FA: C:\Program Files\Scorpion Software\AuthAnvil\AuthAnvilTools\aabackup.exe
For PWS: C:\Program Files\Scorpion Software\AuthAnvil Password Server\Tools\BackupTool\AAPSBackup.exe
Add arguments as follows.
For 2FA: SQLServername (By default this is ServerName\AuthAnvil).
For PWS (v2.0 and later): No arguments are needed. The backup script will automatically detect the SQL connection and your default install location.
You can specify in the "Start in" field the folder location where you want to run the backup. We recommend creating a folder on the C drive as "c:\AuthAnvil_Backups\".
You may be prompted for Administrator Credentials at this point. Use the appropriate Local or Domain credentials for your network.
You should now see the Task listed.
To test this Task you can Right-click on it and select Run. Then check in the folder the backup task is run from for the backup files.
At this point, the scheduled task will be creating a backup file in the directory defined by the "Start in" field'.
You should configure your backup software to include that folder in the nightly backup set, to ensure you properly back it up. To make sure that your backups stay uncompromised, encrypt or otherwise protect them and keep them in a safe place; somewhere that you can audit access to. Don’t forget, one backup copy is never enough, and test your restores from time to time.
Configuring Automatic old file removal
If you would like to also remove backups on a scheduled base you could modify the task to include the following method.
In a notepad, editor create a new file and save it as Delete Old Backups.bat
Into the file add the following
REM Remove files backup older than 7 days
forfiles /p "C:\AuthAnvil_Backups" /s /m *.* /c "cmd /c Del @path" /d -7
- Change “C:\AuthAnvil_Backups” to the directory to which you are saving the files you want to delete on a schedule.
Note that the -40 refers to the day after which all files should be deleted so change the -7 if required. - Save the file and double click it to test.
- Add to the scheduled task if desired.
Questions?
If you have any questions or need some help, we would be happy to assist. Open a case at help.scorpionsoft.com or send an email to support@scorpionsoft.com.