Backing up your Help Desk Data

Backing up your Help Desk Data



Even with the best intentions, administrators and agents have seen incidents where they have either deleted important data or modified records, only to realize that it was by mistake. This is why it's so important to have a copy of your help desk data to fall back on at any time. With this in mind, Zoho Desk provides various options to download all your data periodically. You can even schedule a backup to take place at a specific time of your choice. These instant and scheduled data backups ensure that you always have recent data from your help desk account and are protected against any data loss.

Important:
  1. This feature is currently in the Beta stage. If you would like to access the Beta release, please send a request to support@zohodesk.com.
  2. Only the primary contact can create and download backups in Zoho Desk.

What Gets Backed Up?
When you create a backup, all the module data, including tickets, knowledge base, contacts, accounts, etc., are saved to the download file.
Here is the list of modules that will be backed up:
  1. Tickets
    1. Threads
    2. Comments
    3. Time Entries
    4. Attachments (via download link)
  2. Contacts
  3. Accounts
  4. Activities
    1. Tasks
    2. Calls
    3. Events
  5. Products
  6. KB Articles
  7. Agents
  8. Teams
  9. Departments

Note:
  1. Forum topics are not available for back up.

Backup Options
There are two main options in Zoho Desk to take backups of your data:  Instant and Scheduled. With the instant option, the backup starts immediately. With the Scheduled Backup, you have the following frequencies to choose from:
  1. Weekly - Backup will be taken every week on a specified day.
  2. Bi-weekly - Backup will be taken once every other week on a specified day.
  3. Every Month - Backup will be taken once every month on a specified date or day of a week.
  4. Quarterly - Backup will be taken once every three months on a specified date or day of a week.
Note that the backup file that you receive will be a single compressed file consisting of multiple CSV files belonging to various Zoho Desk modules.

Instant Backups
With instant backups, the backup process starts immediately, and a copy of your data is available soon for you to download.  You can either download all your data at once or download only those modified during a custom period. For example, a copy of the Q1 data alone.

To initiate an instant backup:
  1. Log in to your Zoho Desk account as the primary contact.
  2. Click the Setup icon (  ) in the top bar.
  3. Click Data Backup under Data Administration.



  4. Under Back up now choose one of the following:
    1. Full Backup - A copy of all the desk data will be available to download immediately.
    2. Custom Backup - Enter the Date modified after and Date modified until values to provide a time range. Only the data modified during this time range will be backed up.



  5. Click Download Now.
    A compressed file with the data will be available for download under the     Backup History section.

Notes:
  1. To access Backup History, go to Data Administration > Data Backup > Backup History.
  2. The backup file is available for download immediately or in some time based on the volume of data you have in your account.
  3. The download link will expire 7 days after the date of your backup.
  4. Once a full or custom backup is initiated, you cannot back up your data for the next 30 days.

Schedule Backups
Another efficient option for data backup is to schedule it. You can automate the process of data backup to occur at regular intervals. Keep in mind that your first scheduled backup will run as a full backup, then subsequent backups will only have new and modified data. Note that you can create only one scheduled backup in a month.

To initiate a scheduled backup:
  1. Log in to your Zoho Desk account as the primary contact.
  2. Click the Setup icon (  ) in the top bar.
  3. Click Data Backup under Data Administration.
  4. Click the Schedule backup option to configure the frequency of backups and the start date.
    There are four main schedules: weekly, bi-weekly, every month, and quarterly.



  5. Select one of the following backup frequencies from the Repeat Type drop-down list.
    1. Weekly or Bi-Weekly - For these options, select the day of the week when the backup should be performed. Additionally, specify when this automated backup should end.



    2. Every Month or Quarterly - For these options, specify the date or the day of the week when the backup should be performed. For example: First Wednesday of the month or quarter, or on the 10th of every month. Additionally, specify when this automated backup should end.



  6. Click Create Backup Schedule.

Notes:
  1. When the backup is in progress, the Logs tab shows the status as 'Backup Initiated' with the start date and time.
  2. When the backup is completed, the download link for the backup will be listed under the Backup History section, along with the file size and the number of days it is valid.

Downloading Backup File
Once the data backup is ready, the user with primary contact privileges can download it. The backup file is a ZIP file that includes a set of CSV files containing the help desk data. The file is available for 7 days from the backup date, after which it gets removed permanently from the Backup History section.

To download data backup:
  1. Click the Setup icon (  ) in the top bar.
  2. Click Data Backup under Data Administration.
  3. On the Data Backup page, under the Backup History section, click the Download icon (  ) corresponding to the backup file.
The ZIP file containing the backup will start downloading immediately. You can also delete a backup by clicking the Delete icon (  ) found adjacent to the required backup.

Stopping Scheduled Backup
When you have a data backup scheduled, you can choose to cancel it when the need arises. However, please keep in mind that you cannot stop a backup when it's currently running.

To stop a scheduled backup:
  1. Click the Setup icon (  ) in the top bar.
  2. Click Data Backup under Data Administration.
  3. On the Data Backup page, click Stop Backup under Next Backup Schedule.
  4. In the pop-up that appears, click Stop Backup.

Logs 
The chronological sequence of action performed pertaining to data backup will be listed here. They include:
  1. Configuration - Upon scheduling backup, the log will be updated with the configuration chosen by the user. For example, Full Backup Initiated.
  2. Backup Scheduled - When the backup is scheduled to be performed.
  3. Backup is ready to download - When the backup is ready for download.
  4. Download initiated - When the user downloads the backup.
  5. Stopping a scheduled backup



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