Many of our customers use a test environment to test new functionality, layout, or simply see how certain features of the program work.
This is a copy of the live environment, the environment that is used on a daily basis.
Certain functionalities are disabled in the test environment so that this does not affect the regular work. Think of the communication with the on-board computer and importing files.
So, how exactly is such a test environment created?
First, go to the Backup Tasks screen, which can be accessed via either of the two methods below:
- F11 -> Backupjobs
- Main Files -> Settings -> System -> Backupjobs
Always contact Art Systems first before overwriting the test environment! We regularly create and test our work in the test environment.
¶ Backup Tasks
A backup job backs up the system first, as the name suggests.
This backup is then 'restored' as the test environment.
In general, a backup task with the name Test or Testsystem has already been set up during the implementation of Transpas.
If not, a new line can be created in the upper part of the screen.
- Enter the name for the task at Description. For example Test environment.
- At Backup folder, enter the full file path of the folder to which the backup should be written.
- To create a test environment it is not necessary to fill in Compress backupfile(s) or Compression application.
¶ Backupjob
A number of fields can be filled in on the Backup job tab, at the bottom left of the Backup jobs screen.
For example, enter TEST at Company name prefix and a number of exclamation marks at Company name postfix. In this way it will also be clear in the bar at the top of the screen which environment is currently open.
Set the following fields to Yes:
- Restore backup
- Delete files after restore
In addition, check all the checkmarks under the header Restored system.
¶ Databases
On the right side of the screen is the Databases tab.
Copy the settings in the images below.
After restore procedures
Below After restore procedures you can put code which should be executed after performing a backup.
In the example above a query has been added which empties de appserver instances when the production environment is backupped to the test environment.
When Active is set to yes, this code is executed, otherwise it will not.
¶ Companies
To make it even more clear when opening the test environment that it concerns a different environment, a different color can be set per company.
Create a new line and choose the first company.
Save the line and then double click on the Toolbar color field. A window opens in which a color can be selected.
Choose a color here that stands out and is different from the usual color of the company. For example, yellow or pink.
Repeat this for all companies.
¶ Path replacement
If necessary, a replacement of file paths can be entered here.
For example:
In this example, every occurrence of \Documents\ within filepaths will be replaced with \TESTDocuments\.
¶ Execute
Before overwriting the test environment, always contact Art Systems first! We regularly create and test our work in the test environment.
When all settings as described above have been set correctly, the backup task can be performed.
This can be done with the green play button or with the lightning bolt, both found at the top of the screen.
The time this takes depends on the size of the database. For larger databases, this can take more than an hour. The Transpas instance from which this is performed will not be usable during that time. Open up a new Transpas instance to continue working, or wait until Transpas responds again.
When clicking in the screen, a message from Windows will be shown that the program is not responding. Please wait patiently.
As soon as the backup is complete, Transpas will respond again and display a message that the backup was successful.
¶ Additional settings
A number of additional settings are briefly explained below.
¶ Backupjob
Backup
| Server Name | The SQL Server instance name can be entered here if the backup is to be taken from another server |
| Username | Here a username can be entered that is used to log in to the server that is entered under Server name. If no username is entered here, Windows Authentication is used |
| Password | A password for the above user. Leave blank when using Windows Authentication |
| Enable SQL Server compression | Should SQL Server's built-in compression be used? This will make the backup file smaller but the backup job will take longer |
| Compress backupfile(s) | Does the resulting backup file need to be compressed? If yes, the file will be saved as .zip. This causes the backup job to take longer. This option cannot be used in combination with Restore Backup = Yes |
| Compression application | For when Compress backupfile(s) = Yes |
Move backup files
Move files to another folder after the backup has been completed.
| Source folder | Optional. Overwrites Backup folder when filled |
| Target folder | Overwrites Restore folder en Backup folder |
¶ Databases
| Databasename | Source databasename. Usually $ADMIN and $DD |
| Restore as | Target databasename |
| Copy-only backup | Default Yes. More information |
| Differential backup | Default No. When Yes, a backup of only the difference compared to the last backup will be made |
| Shrink database | Shrinks the database before creating a backup |
| Shrink restored db | Shrinks the database after restore |
| Truncate restored tables | Empty all tables after restore |