Password Depot Enterprise Server 19 backs up your data automatically: every server backup contains the databases, the configuration file pwd_srv.cfg (users and settings), and the logs. Server databases – and therefore the backups as well – are encrypted with the super administrator's password. Independently of this, the Windows client creates backup files of its own (.bckd).
Setting up server backups
In the Server Manager, open Manage → Server settings → Backups:
Backup folder: The default is
C:\Program Files\AceBIT\Password Depot Server 19\Backups\.On every startup: creates a backup every time the server starts (enabled by default).
Create Backup every … hours (enabled by default; recommended: at least every 24 hours).
Limit number of stored backups to: 1 to 2,000 files.
Delete backup files older than: 1 to 72 months.
Log backup events to file: records every backup that is performed.
Changing the backup location
The server runs as a Windows service under the SYSTEM account; this account needs full write access to the target folder. We recommend a local directory on the server itself – if a network path is temporarily unavailable, the server resets the setting to the default folder \Backups\. If a remote location is unavoidable, use an absolute UNC path (FQDN, e.g. \\backupserver.domain.local\Backup\, or the IP address if necessary), not mapped drive letters. File system problems are logged in the Windows Event Viewer under Applications and Services Logs → Password Depot Server.
Client backups (Windows client)
Under Edit → Options → Save, you control the local backups: Create a backup copy on database saving and Create a backup copy on database opening – if the latter is enabled, a backup copy is created automatically each time a database is opened. The Number of stored backup copies can be 2 to 32. By default, they are stored in Documents\Password Depot\Backup; client backups are encrypted with the master password that was valid at the time they were created. To restore, open a backup via Home → Local backup and save it again as a .pswe/.pswd file via Database → Save as.
Restoring the complete server from a backup
Stop the server service PD_Service_19 (e.g., via Task Manager → Services).
Copy the whole content of the backup folder to
…\Password Depot Server 19.Restart the service – databases, users, and settings are available again.
Restoring individual folders or entries
Open the backed-up database locally in the Windows client (master password = super administrator's password) and transfer only the objects you need into the active database – via Tools → Export and Tools → Import, or by copying between two open databases.
Emergency access in case of server failure
If the server fails, the backup still gives you access to your passwords: copy the most recent server backup to a Windows client, take the required database from it, and open it locally. As the master password, enter the super administrator's password (the one valid at the time of the backup).
Note: Keep the super administrator's password in a safe place, separate from the server – without it, server backups cannot be read. After the super administrator's password has been changed, older backups remain encrypted with the old password.
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