Back up and restore

Applies to Workletto 1.x.

A backup is one file with everything your app holds. You can download it whenever you like, and restore it into a new install to move to another host or to recover after a failure. What to do in each case is in Recover from a problem.

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Download a backup

1. Open Manage, then Security & data. Only admins see it.
2. Under Backup, click Download backup.

You get a file named backup- and the date, ending in .jsonl.gz. Every download is recorded in Manage → History (“Ada created a backup”), because the file holds your team’s scrambled passwords. See See who changed what.

What is in the file

People, clients, projects and their members, tasks, time, expenses and receipts, timesheets, invoices and their lines, online payments, the organization’s settings, logo, email and Stripe settings, and the history.

What is not in the file

• Sessions. Everyone signs in again after a restore.
• Password reset links and sign-in verifications. They are short-lived.

Keep it safe

The file holds your clients’ details, your invoices and every person’s password, stored only as the scrambled hash the app keeps. Store it somewhere only you can open, and don’t email it or leave it in a shared folder.

Restore into a new install

A restore works only on an install that hasn’t been set up yet: it can’t be mixed into an app that already has an organization.

1. Install the app on its new host as usual, with a SETUP_CODE. See Install Workletto.
2. Open the app. On the setup screen, below the form, click Restoring from another install? Restore a backup.
3. Enter the setup code, choose the backup file (.gz) and click Restore. A large backup can take a minute.
4. When it says “Restored”, go to the sign-in page. Everyone signs in with the email and password they used before.

It is all or nothing: if the file is damaged or cut short, nothing is restored and the setup screen is still there. The screen shows what is wrong, for example that the file isn’t a backup from this app.

A backup from a newer version

A backup made by a newer version of the app than the one you installed is refused: “This backup comes from a newer version of the app. Update this install first, then restore.” Update the new install, then restore.

The email password and the Stripe key

Your email password and your Stripe key are in the backup in encrypted form. They are encrypted with the app’s secret setting, BETTER_AUTH_SECRET.

• If the new install has the same BETTER_AUTH_SECRET, they keep working.
• If it has another one, they can’t be read. The Email page asks you to enter the password again, and the Payments page says the saved key can’t be read and asks you to connect Stripe again. Nothing else is affected.