Backing up
your
B
ACKING UP YOUR
W
EB
CT
C
OURSE
This document provides WebCT designers with a step-by-step guide to
creating archive backups of the WebCT courses for which they have
responsibility. Please refer to the “WebCT Archival Policy” document and the
C&ITS website for further information on the server backup policy.
Introduction - Why create a Course Backup?
WebCT Course Designers should ensure that their courses are frequently
backed-up. This will ensure that vital Course and Student information is
retained for archiving purposes. Course material is the Designer’s
responsibility, and backing-up will save time having to re-write the Course. It is
recommended that a “clean” back-up be taken (one where the Course
has been designed but no students added) as well as periodic backups
throughout and at the end of the Course.
WebCT contains a built-in process for backing up a course and the following
instructions provide a step-by-step guide to its use.
1) Creating the backup
2) Downloading the backup from the server to a PC
3) Deleting older backups from the server
1) How to create a WebCT Course Backup
Login to WebCT, and go to the course you want to backup. (NB If you already have 3 or more backup files in this WebCT course, you will need to download and then delete at least some of the existing backup files before you can create a new one as the system has now been set to allow no more than 3 backup files per course to exist on the server. See Parts 2 and 3, later in this document for instructions on how to do download and delete backup files. When you have 2 or fewer existing backup files, you will be able to create a new one as described in the following steps.)
1. Click to open the
Control Panel (on
the top-left of the course screen)
2. Click on Expanded Control Panel.
3. From the Manage Course menu, click on Backup Course
4. In the Backup Courses screen, click on Create
Backup as displayed in the Actions Menu on
the right-hand side of the screen.
5. Type a short, informative description for the backup e.g. “June 05 backup” then click the
6. Click on Continue to
return to the Backup Courses screen
7. WebCT will then create the backup and will list it as shown:
Up to 3 of these backup “zip” files per course can be kept on the server. It is strongly recommended that copies of all backups should be downloaded to your local PC’s hard disk drive and/or CD, as described below. (NB Do not attempt to unzip these backup files other than via the WebCT Course Restore options as described in the companion document
“Re-using your WebCT course content”).
2) How to Download a WebCT Course Backup to your PC
Login to WebCT, and go to the course you want to Download. (NB You will need to have created a Backup file, as previously described, to be able to Download it to a PC. If you have already done so and are in the Backup Course Screen already, you can skip ahead to step 4.)
1. Click to open the
Control Panel (on
the top-left of the course screen)
2. Click on Expanded Control Panel.
3. From the Manage Course menu, click on Backup Course
5. Click on Download in the Actions Menu
6. Click on the Save button in the File Download dialog box.
7. Choose the location into which you want to save your backup file (e.g. a folder in My Documents called “WebCT Backup-files” as in this example; or you may prefer to copy straight to a CD)
8. According to the settings on your PC, the Download Complete dialog may or may not appear. Just click on
Close if it does.
CD) before deleting older backups from the server. Do not delete a backup file from the server, unless you have already downloaded a copy to your local PC or are absolutely confident that you will not need this backup file again.
Login to WebCT, and go to the appropriate course. (NB If you have already downloaded and are in the Backup Courses Screen, you may skip ahead to Step 4 in the instructions below).
1. Click to open the
Control Panel (on
the top-left of the course screen)
2. Click on Expanded Control Panel.
3. From the Manage Course menu, click on Backup Course 4. Select the backup file to be
deleted by clicking on the radio button to the left of the filename (NB ensure you have already downloaded a copy to PC, if required)
5. In the Actions menu, on the Right-hand side of the screen, click on Delete.
6. Confirm the delete action by clicking the OK button.
