Getting starting with Web Version: Select an existing backup ID in the storage

Support
#1

I’m a brand new user, and following the advice in this post have installed the Web Edition. I’ve set up a storage location (local hard disk), and want to create my first backup.

In the “Add a new backup” screen, I see directory, storage, and then “Backup ID”.

What is Backup ID? When I click the icon to the right of it, (a green icon that looks a bit like a list), it says “Select an existing backup ID in the storage”.

I don’t really know that that means, but since I don’t have any existing backups then surely I won’t have any existing IDs.

I tried typing random characters into the “Backup ID” box but unsurprisingly that didn’t work.

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#2

You can type whatever you want but it has to be unique…

I think in the earlier GUI version, it auto filled the backup (repository) ID based on the format MACHINENAME-USERNAME-DIRECTORYNAME, where directory name was the last directory in the hierarchy i.e. C:\User\Bob would end up being BOB and the resulting ID would be BOB-PC-BOB-BOB.

Personally, I use machinename-full_path e.g. dolores-c_users_droolio

So long as it’s unique, uses only alphanumeric, underscore or dash and doesn’t have spaces, you can use whatever you want.

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#3

Thank you! IMHO, this is a real speedbump in the UX. It’s unintuitive to say the least. At the very least, some suggestions could be offered on that screen to give people a bit of guidance for what to input.

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#4

On a related note - what does having two or more backups with the same backup ID do? In the computer world, typically an ID is a unique identifier.

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#5

That can be useful when you need to restore the backup to a different location: Restore to a different folder or computer

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#6

I tested having Backup A with ID “testing” and Backup B with ID “testing” and it seemed that the latest “testing” revision only had files from Backup B.

#7

This is how it is supposed to work. When you use the same Backup ID, Duplicacy will treat them as from the same source directory.

#8

Am I correct that “Backup ID” in the Web Edition is, in fact, what is labeled as the “Snapshot ID” in the CLI? Is there a reason for the mismatched nomenclature I’m overlooking?

#9

This is correct. For web GUI users I wanted to avoid terms such as snapshot or repository but apparently this may create confusion for those who are familiar with the CLI nomenclature like you…

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