Settings/preferences backup utility

[shakey.oberon]

I would like the ability to save all user preferences and settings, custom actions, toolbars, keymaps, everything, as one easy to move file (zip file or folder or something)

This would help me to:

1. Recover reaper to the exact state I left it, in the event of a reinstall

2. Easily move my settings between computers and keep everything in sync

Obviously some system settings will be irrelevant on other machines, but these are easily changed.

Reaper's customisations are so extensive now that this tool is very necessary for people who work on multiple machines


vote here:

http://forum.cockos.com/project.php?issueid=1473

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by shakey.oberon

I would like the ability to save all user preferences and settings, custom actions, toolbars, keymaps, everything, as one easy to move file (zip file or folder or something)

This would help me to:

1. Recover reaper to the exact state I left it, in the event of a reinstall

2. Easily move my settings between computers and keep everything in sync

Obviously some system settings will be irrelevant on other machines, but these are easily changed.

Reaper's customisations are so extensive now that this tool is very necessary for people who work on multiple machines


vote here:

http://forum.cockos.com/project.php?issueid=1473

I have a "backup reaper settings" .bat file the does every bit of this minus the zip file which of course is only a right-click away if I need it.

Karbo

[shakey.oberon]

how? and could you post it?

[MatticusFinch]

Yes please, a way to easily migrate settings/prefs would be great. Mostly so I could explore other people's settings

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by shakey.oberon

how? and could you post it?

Sure, I'll try to get it up tomorrow. It basically just copies the files/folders to a backup folder and only the ones that have changed get copied. Creates the folder if it doesn't exist if I remember correctly.. You can make a copy and edit the copy to reverse the direction of backup and turn it to sort of a restore. Should work anyway..

EDIT: Meant to add that the script along with the portable version of Reaper would likely make moving between machines pretty handy as well. IE: Put it on a USB drive, run the script which updates the portable version with your machine settings. Just an idea...

Karbo

[Fabian]

It's all in the .ini files, isn't it? Just copy those in whatever way you like... On XP they are in Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\REAPER.

And you can even move those files to Reaper's own dir for easier access (but beware if there are multiple users on the same machine machine sharing Reaper).

[JHughes]

How about a way to save plugins with each project?

When I save a mix to a thumb drive, etc, and bring it to another machine, it would be great if the plugs used in that project were copied too.

[DarkStar]

In most cases that would not work - plugins need to be authorised / licensed / installed, some need additonal files, ...

[shakey.oberon]

but what about moving reaper from xp to 7 or vista, where is the documents and settings folder kept for reaper, I can't find it in 7

[shakey.oberon]

Originally Posted by DarkStar

In most cases that would not work - plugins need to be authorised / licensed / installed, some need additonal files, ...

This is true, you will have to keep your plugins in sync manually, this thread is just about settings and customisations

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by Fabian

It's all in the .ini files, isn't it? Just copy those in whatever way you like... On XP they are in Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\REAPER.

And you can even move those files to Reaper's own dir for easier access (but beware if there are multiple users on the same machine machine sharing Reaper).

The easy path for the above is Start > Run %AppData%\Reaper IIRC. Which is what I would use in the script, this avoids having to change the script to match <user> etc... I'll get some preliminary scripts written when I get home this evening.

Karbo

[shakey.oberon]

cheers, but will it work from xp to 7?

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by shakey.oberon

cheers, but will it work from xp to 7?

It should... %AppData% is a system variable for XP, Vista and Win7 IIRC. Just type Start > Run > %AppData% to confirm...

[JHughes]

Originally Posted by DarkStar

In most cases that would not work - plugins need to be authorised / licensed / installed, some need additonal files, ...

It would be an option of course. It would work for me because I only use free plugs. It might be easier than carrying my whole VST folder around.

[karbomusic]

It's pretty simple, maybe too simple but it should easily backup most Reaper settings. This is a simple xcopy batch file, open it up in any text editor to view the commands. Remember that you must change the destination path in the script(s) to your desired destination! It also does not ask when overwriting so use with care and at your own risk. There could easily be a location I missed so please notify me if you find one so I can update the script:

Here is what it looks like:



Basic Info

~ Destination folder is auto created
~ Only files that have been modified since the last copy are copied on subsequent runs (remove the /d to change this)
~ Empty directories are created in the destination (remove /e to change)
~ No prompts are given to the user when overwriting (remove the /y to change)
~ The script currently ignores errors so the copy can continue with the remaining files (/c)
~ If the source file is Read-Only so will be the destination (/k)
~ Copies all subdirectories (/s)
~ Script assumes that Reaper is installed in your Program Files Directory. If it is installed somewhere else you will need to edit the source path, replacing %PROGRAMFILES% with the path to the directory where you installed Reaper.
~ Can be scheduled as a task in Windows.
~ Logs a record of each file copied to a text file.


File Descriptions


** BackupReaperSettingsA.bat **
Copies the files to the specified location and prints a record of all files copied to a text file called ReaBackup.txt

** BackupReaperSettingsB.bat **
The exact same copy routine except the text file with the report isn't created.

** BackupReaperSettingsC.bat **
The exact same copy routine except the entire Reaper install directory is copied.

See README.TXT for additional details

Script can be downloaded below:

http://karywall.net/posts/reaperforums/BackupReaper.zip

If there are some features missing I will add them when I have time, however, xcopy is a little limited so some of the fancier options just aren't available. Let me know if this was anywhere close to what was needed and any bugs I haven't noticed while testing.


Karbo

[bullshark]

Cockos own pathsync can do that for you also.

http://www.cockos.com/pathsync/

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by bullshark

Cockos own pathsync can do that for you also.

http://www.cockos.com/pathsync/

Now you coulda posted that before I went to all the trouble.. Of course there are a boat load of applications that do the sync thing as well where this is more of a one-click and go type of thing which I sort of prefer for this type of backup.

Karbo

[bullshark]

Originally Posted by karbomusic

Now you coulda posted that before I went to all the trouble..

And rob you of the fun? No way!

Beside, having an example of how to write a bat file is useful for so many things. Teach a man to fish and all that...

[Diogenes]

"bat" files... I haven't thought about those in YEARS. The tech support guys from this work related company swore up and down that I couldn't install different versions of their software on the same machine and have them peacefully co-exist. BAT files to the rescue! LOL... I ended up making three versions run on my workstation. We still had three versions running out in the plant and I needed to support them all...

Geez... that's been years ago... I've forgotten all those screwy commands now.

D

[airon]

Nice effort Karbomusic.

In fact, I'll be using your script or some other solution that you inspired by posting your script in the first place.

[Fabian]

When using XCOPY, don't forget this very useful flag.

  /EXCLUDE:file1[+file2][+file3]...
               Specifies a list of files containing strings.  Each string
               should be in a separate line in the files.  When any of the
               strings match any part of the absolute path of the file to be
               copied, that file will be excluded from being copied.  For
               example, specifying a string like \obj\ or .obj will exclude
               all files underneath the directory obj or all files with the
               .obj extension respectively.

I use it to avoiding backing up (among other things) the .reapeaks files. No use backing up those, only takes time and space.

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by Fabian

When using XCOPY, don't forget this very useful flag.

  /EXCLUDE:file1[+file2][+file3]...
               Specifies a list of files containing strings.  Each string
               should be in a separate line in the files.  When any of the
               strings match any part of the absolute path of the file to be
               copied, that file will be excluded from being copied.  For
               example, specifying a string like \obj\ or .obj will exclude
               all files underneath the directory obj or all files with the
               .obj extension respectively.

I use it to avoiding backing up (among other things) the .reapeaks files. No use backing up those, only takes time and space.

That is a good one, especially for something like peaks. For those who don't know already for paths that have spaces in them put quotes around the entire path. That goes for the /Exclude switch as well as well as the files being copied. I actually backup my audio drive and projects this way as I prefer to have a backup folder with the files rather than some proprietary backup file which if corrpted causes ALL the backed up files inside it to be inaccessible.


Karbo

[shakey.oberon]

All good stuff, but this should really be a one click thing built into reaper, this is all a bit technical for some people

[shakey.oberon]

A user profile system would be best, so you could take your settings round to a friends house, without mucking up his setup

[bullshark]

Originally Posted by shakey.oberon

A user profile system would be best, so you could take your settings round to a friends house, without mucking up his setup

In the meantime, you can make use of different users in Window itself. So here, for instance, I have a user profile for guest(the account is even suggested with default Window install), they can muck about all they want without changing anything to my own profile and options, including the ones in Reaper.

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by shakey.oberon

A user profile system would be best, so you could take your settings round to a friends house, without mucking up his setup

You just need to change the target path FYI. There is no need to edit user profile info when going from one machine to the other, its coded to build the src path automatically. :-)

Doing it from inside reaper would require the same IIRC since Reaper for the most part would not know where you want to save the files. As far as the AppData path it should be the same inside and outside of reaper being that it is a "special" folder.

I probably included too much information in the original post. Just replace the target path and you should be good to go. Its much less complicated than I made it look. I use it all the time if that helps any and I only edited it once when I set it up

Karbo