Backups

As ITFlow will hold essential data about you and your clients, it is essential that you take (and test) regular backups, in addition to on-demand backups before performing updates.

Backups are likely best achieved by creating some sort of image/snapshot of the entire virtual machine running ITFlow. This allows you to easily capture the files & database.

ITFlow is split into three main areas - all of which need backing up:

• Files
• Database
• Master Encryption key

You should regularly take copies of the PHP files that power ITFlow. As updates are released, these files may reference new database fields. Your file backups should be taken at the same time as your database backup to prevent running into strange issues (e.g. pages failing to load).

Additionally, ITFlow stores any uploaded files in /uploads/. This includes images, PDFs, etc.

• Your MariaDB database will contain all information entered into ITFlow.
• Each database update will change the schema - restoring an older backup may fail or not work as intended as fields will have been added/removed
• It is essential that you back up the databse regularly, and perform an on-demand backup before and after performing updates.
  • You can take one-off database backups at /settings_backup.php - note these must be restored via the command line/phpMyAdmin - currently there is no built-in restore utility.

ITFlow allows you to store login credentials for assets, websites, etc. Usernames and passwords entered are encrypted in the database using a master encryption key. This key is never stored in plaintext on the disk or in the database. You'll need this key if you ever need to recover encrypted passwords from the database.

You can retrieve your key at /settings_backup.php. It should never change, so only needs to be backed up somewhere safe once.