Backup, restore and Nexto support

Nobody in an exchange office enjoys thinking about this part. Backups feel like pure overhead, right up to the morning a machine dies, someone runs a bulk correction the wrong way round, or a balance changes and nobody can say who changed it.

This episode is the safety net under everything else in the course: what Nexto backs up on its own, what you should do on top of that, what a restore really costs, and the three routes to help when something is wrong. It follows tasks and document review, which catches mistakes while they are small. This one is about the accidents you cannot catch.

We hope you never need it. Ten minutes now is what makes that true.

What you will learn

• Where the automatic nightly backups live and what is kept
• How to take a manual backup before a risky job, and download it
• Why one copy must sit somewhere other than the server, and how cloud backup does that for you
• How to export everything you hold as one raw JSON file
• What a restore does to every voucher booked after that point
• How to answer "why did this number change?" from the activity log
• The three support routes, and exactly how limited temporary access is

Backups

What runs without you

The backups page lists the copies Nexto has taken. A backup runs every night, at an hour you choose, and the last few copies are kept. There is nothing for anyone on the team to remember and no daily habit to build. Open the page now and then, just to confirm the list is growing and the dates look right.

Take a manual backup before a big job

Automatic covers ordinary days. Before anything big — closing a period, a bulk correction, an important settings change — take a manual backup yourself first. It is one button, "Create backup". The new file appears in the list with its date and size, and you can download it from the same row.

It costs a few seconds, and it is the difference between undoing a bad afternoon and living with it.

Get one copy off the server

This is the most important sentence in the episode: a backup that only sits on the same machine as the software goes down with that machine.

There are two ways to fix that. Download one of the copies every now and then and keep it somewhere else. Or, better, turn on cloud backup — Dropbox, Google Drive or WebDAV — so the copies leave the server by themselves. You set it up once and then stop thinking about it.

Your data, as raw data

Backups are for restoring into Nexto. The Raw data card is for something else: getting your data out in a form any other program can read.

Everything you hold in the software — accounts, vouchers, customers, settings — is downloaded as one complete JSON file. It is raw and readable, not a locked format. The file is protected with a password you choose yourself, and that password exists only to protect your own data on its way out; it is not a limit. The password is yours and so is the data.

Restoring, and what it costs

Any copy can be brought back, but understand what that means first: a restore is not a merge. Everything returns to the moment that backup was taken, and every voucher booked after it disappears.

So the rule is simple. Before you restore, take a backup of the current state as well. Then, if the copy you restored turns out to be the wrong one, you still have a way back.

When something looks wrong

Start with the activity log

Before you contact anyone, there is a page that answers most questions by itself: the activity log. For every voucher it shows who changed it and when, and exactly which field changed, with the old value and the new value next to each other.

"Why did this number change?" usually ends right here, in under a minute, without a phone call.

Route one: the report-a-problem button

If there really is a problem, there are three routes, in order. The first is the report-a-problem button in the top bar.

Unlike a plain message, it also sends the state of the page you were on: where you were, the software version, the errors the page itself saw. You do not have to explain or reproduce anything.

Route two: the tracking code on an error page

If what you hit was an error page, it carries a tracking code. Send that code. With it, support finds exactly that error, not something that looks like it.

Route three: temporary access

If Nexto support does need to look at the installation itself, you grant a temporary access from the settings page. Its default is deliberately narrow.

Read-only: support books nothing and edits nothing, and does not see your profit and loss. You decide how long it lasts; one hour is the usual suggestion, and it expires on its own.

Two tick boxes widen it, and only you tick them: "See P&L" and "Allow create/edit". Tick them only if you have decided support needs to see more or to fix something.

You never hand over your own password for any of this. Everything done under that access is recorded in the same activity log, and you can cut the access at any moment with one button in that same card.

The settings doctor

One quiet helper works in the background: the settings doctor checks every hour for settings that are incomplete and rings the owner's bell with a warning. Read that warning rather than dismissing it; it is usually a setting that will cause a wrong number later.

Tips and warnings

• Take a manual backup before closing a period, before a bulk correction and before any settings change that touches many documents at once.
• Never restore without backing up the current state first. A restore erases every voucher booked after the copy was taken.
• A backup that has never left the server is only half a backup. Download a copy or switch on cloud backup.
• Check the activity log before you report a problem. Most "the number changed by itself" questions are answered there, with a name and a timestamp.
• Use the report-a-problem button rather than a plain message; it carries the page state, the version and the errors with it.
• Leave temporary access read-only and short unless support has told you exactly why it needs more. Nexto support never asks for your password.

Where to go next

The previous episode, tasks and document review, covers the routine that keeps small mistakes from becoming large ones. Next comes Nexto services and plans, which explains the optional inquiries and how the plans differ. Two related episodes are worth having read: users, permissions and two-step sign-in, because the activity log is only useful when each colleague has their own user, and FX revaluation and closing the period, the job you should always take a manual backup before.

FAQ

How often does Nexto back up my data?

Every night, at an hour you choose, and the last few copies are kept. It runs automatically, so nobody on the team has to remember it. You can also create a manual backup at any time with one button.

What happens to today's work if I restore an old backup?

Everything returns to the moment that backup was taken, and every voucher booked after it disappears. That is why you should take a backup of the current state before restoring anything.

Can I get my data out of Nexto?

Yes. The Raw data card downloads everything you hold — accounts, vouchers, customers and settings — as one complete JSON file, raw and readable, usable in another program. It is protected with a password you choose yourself.

How do I find out who changed a voucher?

Open the activity log. For each voucher it shows who made the change and when, which field was changed, and the old and new value side by side.

What can Nexto support see with temporary access?

By default, read-only: support cannot book or edit anything, and cannot see your profit and loss. You set how long the access lasts, it expires on its own, and you can revoke it with one button. Only you can widen it by ticking "See P&L" or "Allow create/edit".

Where should I keep a copy of the backup?

Somewhere other than the server the software runs on. Download a copy yourself, or turn on cloud backup to Dropbox, Google Drive or WebDAV so copies leave the server automatically.