Moving Projects

	Product(s):	Promis.e, Bentley Substation
	Version(s):	through 08.11.13.140
	Environment:	N/A
	Area:	Project Management
	Subarea:	Backup and Restore Project

Background

It is sometimes necessary or desired to move projects or the project database from one computer to another.

Common situations include:

Moving Promis.e or Bentley Substation to a new workstation in a single user environment.
Moving the projects from a “standalone” workstation to a network server(s) to enable the sharing of projects in a multi-user environment. Check with the IT department to ensure that the proper machine has been chosen to host the SQL Server.
Moving projects from a network configuration to a local configuration so work can be done away from the network.
Moving the database from one server to another.

Please note that after moving from a local setup to a network setup you may notice a decrease in performance. Promis.e and Bentley Substation require a consistent 35 megabits per second transfer rate, and what is actually achieved by the network is not the same as the equipment ratings of the network.

Steps to Accomplish

Method 1

The most reliable way to "move" the SQL project data, and the method Bentley Technical Support analysts are most able to support, is the following process:

On the source machine(s), backup all the projects to be moved using Project Manager while the existing configuration is still valid (before moving or changing anything). Projects are backed up individually, and each project backup results in a .PRJ archive file.
Install SQL Server on the destination machine (if applicable and not already existing) and create a new project database on it. See Creating and Updating the Project Database. When moving to a different workstation in a single-user environment, the "destination machine" would be the new workstation and this step may have already been completed.
Specify the new server name and database name in the Project Database area of the Setup dialog. When moving to a different workstation in a single-user environment, this is done on the Setup dialog on the new machine, and this step may have already been completed.
Restore the project backup files (.PRJ files) created in step 1. This will extract the project folders to the paths you specify and inserts the project data into the database to which the software is currently connected.

Note: Backing up projects does not delete them. Therefore it is possible to end up with instances of the same project on multiple machines and users unknowingly working on different instances. It is up to the user to implement or enforce some method of control to avoid this situation.

Method 2

This method requires some familiarity with the administration of SQL Server, and involves backing up and restoring the SQL project database(s). It should be performed while there are no users using Promis.e/Bentley Substation. SQL Server Management Studio is included with some Promis.e and Bentley Substation packages, otherwise see Install SQL Server Management Studio. SQL Server Management Studio can be installed on a machine other than the source and destination servers, but you will need access to the servers' hard drives in order to retrieve and copy the database backup file.

Backup the critical projects using Project Manager while the existing configuration is still valid (before moving anything). Projects are backed up individually, and each project backup results in a .PRJ archive file. These backups could be restored into a new database if moving the database is not successful.
Backup the SQL project database(s) on the source server using SQL Server Management Studio. This will result in a .BAK file. Determine the database to backup and the server that hosts it by looking at the Setup > Project Database dialog.
Backup the project folders now, just in case. This way the backup of the project folders will be synchronized with the backup of the database.
Install SQL Server on the destination machine (if not already existing).
On the destination machine Restore the backup (.BAK) created in step 2, again using SQL Server Management Studio.
Create the login(s) that will be used to connect to the destination SQL Server and associate the login(s) with the database. This step is necessary because the login is associated with the server, not the database, so transferring the database does not transfer the login. If using Windows Authentication, each connecting user would need to be setup; if using SQL Server Authentication, a generic login can be created and used by all users, see the Creating an SQL Server Login article. The script in the article should be executed for each project database being moved.
Move the project folders to the new location, if applicable.
On the Project Database area of the Setup dialog of each workstation, set the configuration to use new SQL server and/or database, and the appropriate login information.
Ensure the projects affected by the move are accessible to users.
Decommission the old database/server.

Alternatively, instead of backing up and restoring the SQL database in steps 2 and 4, the database (.MDF) and transaction log files (.LDF) can be moved to the new server machine and "attached" to the new SQL Server. SQL Server Management Studio is still required for this task. Note: A database named "promise" would have two related files: promise.mdf and promise_log.ldf. Both are required. These files are typically found in the SQL Server DATA folder.