FAQs | SQL Database Exports

This living document provides answers for common questions regarding recurring and one-time Penelope database exports.

Updated over a week ago

Q: How long will it take to prepare a backup?

It takes about 4-5 business days to process a backup request.

Q: What file type will the backup be?

One-time and recurring database backups are both in SQL format.

Q: Can we receive the backup in a non-SQL format?

Yes, we can do a .csv file format from reports, but it would need to be re-scoped and include TS hours. This is a billable service.

Q: Can we pick the time that the backup is run?

Yes, you may choose the time for recurring backups. However, you cannot choose a time for one-time backups.

Q: Where are my attachments?

Attachments for one-time backups are provided in a separate .zip folder in the S3 bucket along with the database backup.

Note: The recurring backup is only a backup of the database and does not include attachments. There are no options for having attachments zipped up for recurring backups.

Q: Can you help me extract my data from the SQL file?

We can help troubleshoot actually accessing the file itself from our AWS. However, we cannot assist with downloading Postgres or using Postgres to extract the data from the .gz file.

Q: I'm unable to download the .zip file on my Mac. What do I do?

You may need to download another app to access zipped files on a Mac. Our recommended tool is The Unarchiver.

Q: How long do you keep database backups for?

We store the database backup for 14 days and attachments for 30 days after it's created.

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