Issue:
Backing up your Renaissance Learning browser-based
application database.
Resolution:
Renaissance Learning browser-based applications use a SQL
Server database. If you use the full version of SQL Server, you may already be
familiar with the tools included to back up your database. If you are
unfamiliar with the tools used with the full version of SQL Server, or if you
are using Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (MSDE) or SQL Server 2005 Express
Edition, this article will give you the steps you need to back up your
database.
In addition to backing up your database, we recommend
backing up some content files that are not stored in the database. We have separated the steps below into Step
1: Database Backup and Step 2: Content Files.
Step 1: Database Backup
If you are using the Standard or Enterprise version of SQL
Server 2000:
You can back up the database manually using SQL Server
Enterprise Manager.
Click on Start à Programs à Microsoft SQL Server à Enterprise Manager.
1)
Expand the SQL Server Group and locate
<SERVER\RenaissanceDB>, replacing <SERVER\RenaissanceDB> with the
name of the instance you are using for your Renaissance Learning software.
2) Expand the Databases folder and locate the
RenaissanceServer database.
3) Right-click on the RenaissanceServer
database, click on “All Tasks” and choose “Backup Database”.
4)
Leave the “Name” as is.
5)
Under “Backup”, click “Database - complete”.
6)
If a backup is listed under “Destination”, select it and
click [Remove], then click [Add]. If a backup destination is not listed, just
click [Add].
7)
Under “File Name”, click the browse button. Navigate to a location where you would like
to save the backup, and type a name in the “File name” field. Click [OK], then
[OK] again.
8)
Under “Overwrite”, keep the default of “Append to media”.
9)
Click on the “Options” tab and place a checkmark in front of
“Verify backup upon completion”.
(Verifying the backup will ensure that the file has been created and is
readable.)
10)
Click on [OK] and the backup process will start. Once completed,
you will receive an alert indicating that it completed successfully. Click
[OK]. You may now close Enterprise Manager.
If you are using the Standard or Enterprise version of SQL
Server 2005, or SQL Server 2005 Express Edition with Management Studio Express:
You can back up the database manually using SQL Server
Management Studio.
Click on Start à Programs à Microsoft SQL Server 2005 à SQL
Server Management Studio (or SQL Server Management Studio Express).
1)
Connect to <SERVER\RenaissanceDB> using Object
Explorer, replacing <SERVER\RenaissanceDB> with the name of the instance
you are using for your Renaissance Learning software.
2) Expand the Databases folder and locate the
RenaissanceServer database.
3) Right-click on the RenaissanceServer
database, click on “Tasks” and choose “Back Up…".
4) Be sure the “Backup type” is “Full” and
“Backup component” is “Database”.
5)
Leave the “Name” as is.
6)
Under Destination, select “Back up to: Disk”.
7)
If a backup is listed under “Destination”, select it and
click [Remove], then click [Add]. If a backup destination is not listed, just
click [Add].
8)
Under “File Name”, click the browse button. Navigate to a location where you would like
to save the backup, and type a name in the “File name” field. Click [OK], then
[OK] again.
9)
Click on the “Options” page (on the left). Keep all defaults
except place a checkmark in front of “Verify backup when finished”. (Verifying the backup will ensure that the
file has been created and is readable.)
10)
Click on [OK] and the backup process will start. Once
completed, you will receive an alert indicating that it completed successfully.
Click [OK]. You may now close Management Studio.
If you are using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine
(MSDE) or SQL Server 2005 Express Edition without Management Studio Express:
1)
Click HERE
to download the Backup_Utility program. Save the file to the desktop of your
server and decompress to create Backup_Utility.exe.
2)
Double-click on Backup_Utility.exe.
3)
The fields under the “Instance” section will be
automatically filled in for you. In most cases the information that is entered
is correct. Click the [Browse] button, navigate to the location where you want
to create the backup file, and type the file name. Click the [Save] button. If
you type the name of an existing file, you will be alerted the existing file
will be overwritten. Click [No] if you don’t want to overwrite the existing
file and type a new file name. (Note: If you don’t select a location,
the utility will create the backup in the c:\Winnt\System32 or
c:\Windows\System 32 directory if there is enough space on the c: drive of the
server.)
4)
Click
the [Backup] button.*
5)
A
command window will open and will show the progress of the backup. When you see
the message, “BACKUP DATABASE successfully processed…" and “Press any key
to continue…", press any key to exit the command window.
6)
Click
the [Exit] button.
*If you see the message, “An error has occurred while
establishing a connection to the server”, click [OK] and exit the utility. Open
SQL Server Service Manager in the task bar and check the instance name used for
Renaissance Place. Also verify the instance is running. Repeat steps 2 through
6 above, typing the instance name in the Server field exactly as it appeared in
Service Manager.
*If you see the message, “Login failed for user ‘sa’” (or
some other user name), be sure you didn’t change the User and Password fields
when running the utility. These are the SQL Server system administrator user
name and password, NOT the ones you would use to log into your server or
Renaissance Place. If you did change these fields, click [OK] on the error and
exit the utility. Repeat steps 2 through 6 above but leave the User and Password
fields with the default entries. If you still get an error, contact Renaissance
Learning Technical Support for assistance in determining the SQL Server system
administrator user name and password.
Step 2: Content
Files
Depending on the application(s) you have installed and
content you are using, there are additional files that should be backed
up. Please follow the guide below and
copy the appropriate files to a backup location.
Note: C:\Program Files\Renaissance Learning\
represents your program location. If
you chose to install to a non-default location, please replace C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\ with the location where you installed Renaissance
Place.
Accelerated
Math
C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\Accelerated Math Content Service\LPEBooks
C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\Accelerated Math Content Service\SupportFiles
C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\OnlineManagement\AM\Documents folder (Note: If you
are copying files from one server to another, do not copy the Common folder
that’s inside of the C:\Program Files\Renaissance
Learning\OnlineManagement\AM\Documents folder – the installer will reinstall
files into that folder.)
C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\OnlineManagement\AM\ObjectiveExample.
Accelerated
Reader
C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\OnlineManagement\AR\Content\RecVoice (this is only
necessary if you own voice quizzes)
English in
a Flash
C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\OnlineManagement\ESL\Student\ (The Student folder
contains folders inside of it for each library: Library 1 is in a folder named
“E01_1.0” and Library 2 is in a folder named “E02_1.0”)
C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\OnlineManagement\ESL\Docs\Activities
C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\OnlineManagement\ESL\ Docs\AR_Books
C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\OnlineManagement\ESL\ Docs\Chapter Guides
Fluent
Reader
C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\OnlineManagement\FR\Content\Audio
C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\OnlineManagement\FR\Content\Images
C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\OnlineManagement\FR\Content\PDFs
C:\Program
Files\Renaissance Learning\OnlineManagement\FR\StudentAudio
MathFacts
in a Flash
All
content is stored in the database and installed with the application.
STAR Early
Literacy
All
content is stored in the database and installed with the applications.
STAR Math
All
content is stored in the database and installed with the applications.
STAR
Reading
All
content is stored in the database and installed with the applications.
We strongly
recommend moving the backup file and the copy of your physical files to a
location other than your server’s hard drive on a regular basis.
If you need
assistance in backing up, or need to restore your database, please contact
Renaissance Learning Technical Support at support@renlearn.com.
