Theatre Manager consists of two (2) components, the program and the database. Depending on the purpose of the backup, you may need to save one or both. For example, if you are:

• Upgrading to a new version, you must back up the database using the supplied batch file for Macintosh (backupTM.php) or Windows (backupTM.bat). We recommend that you save at least one copy of an older version of the program as well until the upgrade is complete.
• Doing daily backups, you need only backup the database files.
• Doing a year-end backup or point-in-time image of the system, you must backup both the program and the database. Why? If you only back up the data files to a device like a Zip or CD drive and you want to look at them some time in the future, there is no guarantee that a future version of the program could read the database and produce the same results. This is prudent practice for all important data like accounting files, word documents, graphics files, etc.

Saving a Database

If the backups processes were created, you should have at least one recent backup. To create another one, simply follow the instructions and run the appropriate backup script on the database server machine.

1. On the mac, this generally means opening terminal and typing

   php  /Users/Shared/backupTM.php

   Refer to the installation instructions regarding backups

2. On the PC, it going to C:/BoxOffice directory and running the 'BackupTM.bat' file by double clicking on it. Refer to the installation instructions regarding backups

In either case, make sure there is a new backup in the 'Backups' directory that has 'yyyymmdd_mmhhss' as part of the file name where the date is in the last few minutes at the most.

Saving the Program

Backup Strategies

There is a good discussion of backup strategies and decent backup devices on the internet. Please read about why you should do backups and how often. We recommend upwards of 20 to 30 backup generations.