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Which SourceSafe files to backup ?

Newsgroups: microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion
Date: 1999/08/14

I do periodic backup of my VSS on Backup Tapes in case anything happens with the hard drive. But as time goes by, my VSS tree is getting increasingly BIG!

Is there any way to selectively backup the essential files that will allow me to do a full restore of my VSS instead of blindly backing up the entire VSS tree? Could someone describe a backup/restore procedure that streamlines this process?

Which SourceSafe files to backup ?

You should let VSS handle all of this for you rather than picking and choosing. Just goto Administrator and archive the whole database in one step. Restoration is a one step process also. The archive files are not that big in most cases, and if they are, weigh the value of the data against the cost of losing it.

Which SourceSafe files to backup ?

Check the command-line archiver ssarc.

From the help (administrator, utilities)

'Using SSARC, you can:

Archive files, projects, or the entire database into a special compressed file, and then restore it later with history, shared links, and all version information intact. When you archive something from a Visual SourceSafe database using this utility, you can choose to have the object automatically deleted from the database.
Archive specific versions of a file. For example, you could archive all versions of your code prior to version 3.1, effectively freeing up the space those versions use in the database. You can then restore them to the database later if needed.
Archive a file, project, or project tree from one database, and restore it into a different database.
Move files and projects between databases in wide-area Visual SourceSafe installations.

Some things SSARC cannot do:

You cannot leave holes in the archive history.
You cannot move selected versions of a file or project between Visual SourceSafe databases.
You cannot save or restore new versions of a file or project.
You cannot save and restore rights, checkout information, and initialization file settings.

Do not use SSARC as a substitution for making regular back ups of your database.'

But as the help says, you can use it to clean off and archive old versions, reducing the size of your databases.