Backup, Restore, and Import

Owned by Terrah Jones (Deactivated)
Last updated: Jan 23, 2024 by Tom Garbelotti
8 min read

 

This documentation will walk you through how to backup a CCLE site, restore a site, and to import content from one CCLE site to another (content migration).

When a course is taught every year, the instructor may wish to create a course page identical to one from the past. Fortunately, the new site does not need to be created from scratch but can be populated by material from past years. Even if an instructor wishes to modify materials, importing can provide a good base to work from, which will ultimately result in less work.  

Note: Importing a course from a past quarter will not change settings such as due dates, so these will need manual modification.

While these tasks are often carried out by RITCs and Humanities Technology staff, those with administrative permissions for a course (i.e. Instructors) can carry out these tasks themselves if they feel comfortable doing so.

To migrate materials from sites taught in the Spring of 2012 or earlier, you will need to contact the Teaching Resource Center Coordinator or CCLE Home Support.



Backing Up A Site

Any site can be backed up to an archival file. This is particularly useful for administrators that may need to perform complex site modifications. It is always good to have a course backup that can be used to restore materials in case something goes wrong.

Here are the steps needed to backup a site:

  1. Go to the site you would like to backup.

  2. In the Admin Panel, click the Backup option under “Settings & Backup.”

  3. You will now be presented with a sequence of four (4) pages, the first of which is “Backup Settings.” The default options are usually fine. Click Next.

    1. Note: These settings will determine what type of data you back up. For example, if you have quizzes that rely on a question bank, you must make sure that “Include question bank” is selected. Otherwise, you will still be able to select the quizzes on the next page, but it will not back up in the end.

  4. In the second settings page, “Schema Settings,” you can see each individual item in the course and determine whether it will be backed up. By default, every item should be selected (assuming default Backup Settings were used), but it is wise to scan the list and make sure everything looks correct. Click Next.

  5. The third page is “Confirmation and Review.” At the top, beside “Filename,” you have the option to change the name of the backup file. By default, the filename contains the course short code as well as the date and time in which the backup was performed. If you are happy with the way things appear, click Perform Backup.

  6. The system will then create an .mbz backup file, which may take some time.

Accessing a Backup File and Restoring a Site

You may be wondering, where did the backup we created above go? By default, course backups are stored in an area associated with the particular course. These can be downloaded to your computer and uploaded to your personal user backup area if desired. Via the “Restore” page, we can either download that file, or use it to restore a course.

  1. Ensure you are in the correct CCLE course; this may be the course whose backup you want to download OR the course into which you want to restore the backup.

  2. In the Admin Panel, find the Restore option under Settings & Backup and click.

  3. In “Restore,” there is an “Import a backup file” section where you can drag and drop a locally saved backup file, a “Course Backup Area” comprising a list of files specifically associated to the course, and a list of files in the “User Private Backup Area.”

  1. Beside each backup file are the options to either download the backup file (.mbz) to a local drive or to use it to restore the course.

    1. Note: Under each section is a Manage backup files button.  This allows you to either delete files in the section or upload files from a local drive.

  2. When the Restore procedure is started, either through providing a file or using one of the files already saved in the Course or User area, a number of settings pages are generated. These are very similar to the options encountered when backing up a site.

  3. The option pages are as follows:

    1. Confirm: Allows the user to look at general settings as well as the details of the course being imported

  1. Destination:  Here, you can Restore into this course, Restore as a new course, or Restore into an existing course.  Most often, it is the first option that will be used.

  2. Settings: Here, you can de-select several elements of a backup course file such as activities, blocks, or calendar events.

  3. Schema: This option presents specifics of the course to be implemented. You must select a “Site Type.” Details such as “Course name” and “short name” are pulled from the backup. At the bottom of this page are the individual elements being imported.

  4. Review: This is your final chance to review settings before beginning the process. 

  1. Voila! Once you have completed these steps, CCLE will take some time to process the restore and confirm its completion. 

Importing Materials

It is possible to import prior content from a previous course (after Spring 2012) into the current quarter’s course. Instructors may only import from courses they have previously taught. Should they wish to import from courses that they have not taught, they will need to contact the Teaching Resource Center. To begin, we need an important piece of information: course short name. 

  1. Locate the CCLE site title from the previous instance of the course (i.e. 14S-JAPAN8-1).  This can be copied by going to the previous course’s CCLE site and copying the ending of its web address. For example, Fall 2016 Classics 30 would be 16F-CLASSIC30-1.



Before Importing

As mentioned above, be sure to know the CCLE short name for the course from which you would like to import materials.

For courses after Spring 2012: You can either “Browse by” the Instructor or Subject Area. 

For browsing by “Instructor,” be sure to select the term in which the course was offered from the pulldown menu (the default is the current term). For browsing by “Subject Area,” choose the correct quarter from the drop down menu at the top of the page, and then search for the subject area. Find the name of the course and the appropriate section, locate the course short name or copy it from the end of the URL, and then follow the steps below.

Before importing, there is one important thing that must be checked. The site into which you import must have at least as many sections as the old site. New CCLE sites during the academic year are automatically given 10 sections, 1 per week. Usually, instructors do not create more sections, but you must double check this.

If the former course does have more than 10 sections, an import will result in lost material. You must add a number of empty sections to match the number of sections in the old course. For example, if the previous course had 13 sections, you must add three sections to the current course site. For instruction on modifying sections, see Add/Modify Sections in (2.1.0) Site Layout and Aesthetics.

Steps for Importing

  1. Go to the current term’s site into which you wish to import the former site’s materials.

  2. Go to the Admin Panel on the lower left side or upper right (orange button with black gear). Once there, under the “Settings & Backup” section, click Import.  

  3. You will be presented with a search bar and a list of radio button results under “Find a course to import data from.” Paste the course short name into the search box and click Search. The desired course should now appear in your list as the only option.

  4. Click the radio button to the left of the site's name. Be certain that you have selected the correct course, because the names can be very similar. Click Continue.

  1. On the next screen, titled “Import settings,” leave everything checked and click Next.

  2. On the next screen, use the checkboxes to select the items that you wish to import. Most are selected by default, but you should make sure that “Announcements” and “Discussion Forum” are unchecked and then click Next.

  3. The next screen is a confirmation screen. If everything that needs importing is selected (green check ✓ is Yes, red x is No), click Perform import. Should you need to make changes, you can click Previous to go back.

a.)    Note: If something you have selected on the previous page is showing up

         with a red x, then the item will not import because it does not meet the

         criteria that you selected in “Backup Settings.”

 

Depending on how many associated files you are importing, it may take a few minutes for the import to finish. Once completed, a confirmation message will appear that states "Import complete. Click continue to return to the course."



Final Note: Not all settings are carried over after importing. Make sure you check the following settings in the new site and adjust anything needed:

  • Self-enrollment (and any custom messages in self-enrollment setup)

  • Respondus browser settings

  • Activity Completion Tracking

  • Course comments on site main page

  • Dates for assignments

  • Quiz settings (particularly open and close dates)

  • Turnitin activities do not carry over via import. Due to the fact that each Turnitin assignment has a unique ID on Turnitin servers, assignments must be newly built in the current quarter’s site. Although the assignment may appear to have been copied correctly, your students will encounter errors when trying to submit documents.

  • Glossaries do not carry over via import. The sections or placeholders for the glossaries will import, but when you actually open them, it will show that there are zero terms. You must go to the original course glossary → edit settings→ export entries. This will download the glossary terms as an .xml file. You can then upload it to the new course glossary via edit settings → import entries. You can then drag and drop the file or browse for it.