Archiving Tracks
This is a deprecated feature. Please, read more information in our deprecation schedule.
With the Archiving plugin you can export track data to files from SiteAdmin application. Define Export Rules to export removed data cleaned by Cleanup plugin, or to export all data from a specified date. This exported data can be imported back. Archiving is not intended for server backup. For a complete back up of your server, please read this guide.
Setup
- Go to Site Admin > Plugins.
- Upgrade your system or install the latest patches. Install the Archiving plugin.
- To use the Cleanup Export Rules feature, upgrade or install the Cleanup, too.
After this, new Archiving tab will be available in Site Admin.
Export Rules
Archiving is enabled by setting up Export Rules, available in Archiving > Export Rules.
Scheduled Export Rules
Scheduled Export Rules are used to set up exporting existing tracks from a specified date. Click on Add Rule in Scheduled Export Rules section to add a new rule.
Specify a unique name for the rule in the Name field. This rule will export tracks for users in applications in specified Application Tags. Track data is exported to CSV files. Check Compressed to compress data for each track to a ZIP file.
In Path, specify a path to an empty folder that will be the track archive folder maintained by this rule. You should not manually edit the contents of this folder.
Tracks from Export From Date and later will be exported. If a track was already exported but it was changed in the meantime, the existing file will be updated accordingly on the next export. We don’t want to export these modifications too often as updating many files can take a lot of time, so tracks considered recent at the time of export (those from both the current and the previous day) are not included.
Specify the time when to run the export in Daily Execution Time. Saving many tracks to files can put a heavy load on a server so pick a time of low system activity. Finally, specify the maximum time allowance for the export in Maximum Execution Time to further control its effect on overall system performance. If this time is exceeded or export is interrupted in any other way, it will resume from where it stopped on the next daily execution.
Cleanup Export Rules
If you have set up track cleanup, you may use the Cleanup Export Rules to export tracks eligible for cleanup to files before deleting them. Rule settings are the same as for Scheduled Export Rules, but you don’t need to specify when to run the export as it will be executed together with the cleanup at the time specified in SiteAdmin > Settings > Cleanup.
If you only wish to export the data on Cleanup if it is newer than a specific date, specify it in Export From Date. Be careful with this, though, as the data not covered by the rule will be permanently deleted.
Manual Export Rules
When creating this type of rule, you may define the end date for the export as well. After setting up this kind of rule, you may execute the export by clicking the Run button for that rule on the Export Rules page.
Import
To import archived tracks, navigate to Archiving > Import.
Here, you specify the path to a folder containing the track archive created by an Export Rule, as well as the period for which you want to import tracks. You can import tracks for a single user specified by username, or for all users available in the archive. If a user with a username present in the archive is not found, tracks for that username will be skipped.
Note that if you import tracks exported on cleanup, they will be removed again on next Cleanup. If you don’t want this to happen, make sure to edit the Cleanup settings accordingly first.
Archiving Reports
You can review the status of Archiving actions on Archiving > Archiving Reports page. Each executed import or export will be listed here. You may filter them by status and click on individual entries for details.
You may also set up an email for receiving notifications on failed imports or exports on this page.
Archiving to Amazon S3
If you have an Amazon Web Services account, you can export/import archive files directly to/from Amazon S3 storage.
When creating an export rule or importing archived data:
- choose Amazon S3 option for Destination/Source path
- Enter the required credentials, name of the S3 bucket, and path within the bucket under which the archive will be stored.
Note: the chosen bucket must support the V2 Authentication scheme. This means that you should choose one of the regions deployed before January 2014 when creating the bucket (e.g. Frankfurt is not supported).
Archiving in KML Format
It is possible to archive tracks in KML format. KML archives are intended to be used for creating large batches of track files customized for viewing in third party applications. They should not be used for backup as they may not contain complete data and cannot be imported back.
To create a rule that will export to KML files, select the KML format when you set up a rule. This will open up extended options for customizing the KML output.
- You may select variables that will be included in the description of each point in the track. Only selected variables will be included, and only in points in which they have a value.
- You may select a variable whose value will be used as a label for each point.
- You may select a boolean variable whose value will be used to set the marker color of each point (red for false, green for true).
- Or, if none of the above is selected, you will get the simple KML track like the one obtained by exporting the track points to KML from a VehicleTracker application.