LR Backup Plugin
The LR Backup plugin simplifies backing up your Lightroom environment. It does this by adding the ability to backup Lightroom's configuration files, and compress Lightroom's catalog backups, from within Lightroom itself. These tasks can occur automatically as the program starts or manually as required. Suggestions for using these capabilities can be found here.
Lightroom's configuration is stored in numerous files scattered around your hard drive. The configuration backup collates the various preference, preset, template, camera profile, lens profile, Camera Raw and other setting files used by Lightroom into a single compressed backup file. This can help you quickly find and restore your preferred Lightroom configuration when your system crashes, Lightroom preferences become corrupted, or you wish to move Lightroom to a different system.
While Lightroom already includes the capability to backup your catalog the resulting files can be quite large and quickly consume your available disk space. Fortunately these backups compress well, frequently reducing to 10% of their former size when zipped. The catalog backup compression feature helps you automate this process and conserve space for your image files or more frequent backups to further reduce the risk of lost work.
Automatic backup tasks are performed in the background as Lightroom starts. Regularity can be independently managed for each backup task so it is a simple matter to compress each catalog backup immediately at startup yet only backup your configuration once a week.
The plugin is compatible with Lightroom 2 and above.
Payment and Updates
The trial version does not execute automatic backup tasks at Lightroom startup and instead displays a notice to indicate when an automatic backup would have occurred. Donating to the plugin via the Photographer’s Toolbox will give you a registration code that will remove this notice. All future updates are free.
47 Responses to “LR Backup Plugin”
Accelerate Access to Lightroom Plugin Extras | The Photo Geek - June 4th, 2009
[...] Lightroom plugins add new menu items to the Lightroom user interface. Examples include my own Config Backup plugin, those from the prolific Jeffrey Friedl (the grandmaster of Lightroom plugin development) and [...]
I can’t for the life of me figure out how one would manually trigger a backup (i.e. without relying on the broken backup stuff currently in LR2). Hint?
what’s about presets?? i’ve a lot of them and it would be serious when they are not backed up. (i personally use a scheduled rar-skript for presets and catalog)
@Wade, The only official way to kick off the backup is to use Edit -> Catalog Settings -> Backup Catalog: Next time Lightroom starts only. Restart LR and then after backup completes, reset to the weekly (or whatever) setting again. i.e. the only official way is impractical.
In reality you might as well just write a script to check LR isn’t running, copy the catalog file to a subdirectory named using the same layout, and zip the result. That would be the only automatic way I can think of to perform the equivalent of the LR backup functionality without consuming too much space.
Does that answer your question?
PS Keep up the good work with those Lightroom Tuesdays!
@Sven, you’ve just beaten me to the punch. I have an update ready to publish that backs up presets etc. I just need to update the web page content (inc screenshots) to align with the change in functionality. Hoping to get it up on the site tonight.
Oh, too bad.
I was hoping this would do this.
BTW, I worked on the lightroom team and one of my pushes for 2.0 was to overhaul the backup – obviously it didn’t make it as other things took priority.
Hope they get to it this time…
Config Backup Plugin Updated… To Backup More Configuration Settings (Version 20090606.002) | The Photo Geek - June 13th, 2009
[...] recently released Config Backup plugin helps you backup your Lightroom configuration files and compress Lightroom generated catalog [...]
@Sven, the updated plugin is now referenced above and it backs up presets and other configuration details.
The Quick Way to Reclaim Disk Space and Backup Your Lightroom Configuration | The Photo Geek - June 13th, 2009
[...] Newer version(s) of this plugin are now available. Please visit the Config Backup plugin page to download the latest [...]
@Wade, there are no hooks provided by the SDK to trigger backups from a plugin, and to backup the database while open would be dangerous. The only other mechanisms available would be frowned upon by your former colleagues e.g. modifying the prefs file directly to trick the Lightroom backup mechanism to run at the next restart.
Will be interesting to see what they do with backups during LR3. I’m half hoping they borrow ideas or code from this plugin because they can take them further given they aren’t hampered by the limitations of the SDK.
I figured as much. I hope they get to an on demand backup – I’ll sit while they close and back it up. No sweat.
Of course, I’m out of the loop now
Thank you! This is very useful and will save me a ton of disk space.
I’ll make a post about it on my blog and reference your blog. There’s a lot more information here I have not read yet.
Have you found any utility to the Lightroom “test integrity of this catalog” option when backing up? Does it do anything useful? Does it repair the catalog if it finds errors?
Thanks again from Bangkok, Thailand.
@Ian, glad you find it useful.
I use the “test integrity” option but haven’t looked too deeply into how it works. When making backups you should verify their integrity before relying upon them. I expect this option makes sure it is still a valid sqlite3 database and might do some LR specific checks to confirm the structure looks OK. I’d be surprised if it repairs issues. Relaunch and Optimise is more likely to tackle that requirement, and it takes a fair amount of time to run.
Zálohovanie Lightroom: Config Backup Plugin | Digital Lightroom | adobe, adobe lightroom, lightroom templates, lightroom tutorials, lightroom presets, lightroom download - June 21st, 2009
[...] Photo Geek z rovnomenného blogu je autorom šikovného pluginu pre Photoshop Lightroom, ktorý zabezpečí zálohovanie nastavení tohto programu. Zálohujú sa teda všetky presets, šablóny pre úpravu, tlač a export fotografií, zoznamy kľúčových slov, šablóny webových galérií. Dobrá správa – plugin pre Lightroom je k dispozícii zadarmo. [...]
Lightroom Database Backups « Bkkphotographer's Blog - July 4th, 2009
[...] Config Backup Plugin | The Photo Geek. I quote from the web site: The Config Backup plugin helps speed up and simplify backing up and compressing Lightroom files. It adds two new menu items to the File menu’s Plug-in Extras sub-menu. [...]
A boa da semana - 27 de junho a 4 de julho | Cento e Uma - July 5th, 2009
[...] Plugin para backup no Photoshop Lightroom. O tutorial é em inglês, mas tem figuras! lol [...]
I suppose that backups are not platform interchangeable. From Lightroom on OS X to Lightroom on Vista for instance. Am I correct here?
I guess Lightroom on Vista has no clue what a .plist file is …
Thank you for any clarification!
Thomas
@Thomas, Correct the preferences file backup won’t be interchangeable between platforms. It looks like the .plist preference files are a Mac platform specific feature. I expect it would be difficult to build a translator between the two, and Adobe would be unlikely to support you if you were running Lightroom over a converted preference file. As it is one of the possible resolutions suggested for problems is “delete your preferences file”…
The rest of the backup (presets, etc) should be interchangeable but you will need to unpack the zip in a temporary location, then carefully move the unzipped backup’s content into the correct location for that platform, directory by directory. Preference file directory structure varies across platforms.
All I get are “Error: Failed to create backup (return=1)” results for both backup and compress attempts. I’ve “browsed” to ID valid directories for each, and there’s plenty of disk space. Any suggestions?
Lightroom Brasil » Backup Plug-in: Presets e afins. - July 8th, 2009
[...] nisto, o pessoal da The Photo Geek criou este plugin, muito simples e de grande ultilidade. Vale a pena seu [...]
@TW, what OS are you running this under? I’d assume this is a configuration problem but sounds strange because that return code implies a successful backup file test (with some warnings). Did you check whether the backup file was, in fact, created? If it was created could you open it OK using your normal zip application?
Using WinXp SP3, LR works fine, as do all other plugins. No, no backup files have been created, and box on your plugin’s screen is empty when the error message appears (in red type). Any ideas?
@TW, I’ve sent you an email requesting certain info. I’ll look into this offline as this might be a bit difficult to debug via blog comments.
Does Config Backup work with LR 64bit on Vista 64bit?
Seeing some strange behavior. Had a directory of 58 backups done by LR, after compression I have two compressed files.
The config backup directory is another issue. I create one or not but when plug-in runs there is one that is set with an unknown owner, and I can’t access it, but gets deleted along with contents if there were any when LR is exited.
Cliff
Inside Lightroom » Blog Archive » Monday Plug-in roundup - July 13th, 2009
[...] a reminder from Lightroom Killer Tips about The Photo Geek’s Catalog and Preset Backup [...]
@Cliff, I’m pretty sure Sean (one of the first users of the plugin) is using 64bit Vista because we originally thought one of his issues related to that. Its working OK for him so I believe it should work OK on Vista 64 bit.
The issues you are describing haven’t been reported before. Out of curiosity are you using LR2.4? There have been some reports of issues with plugins installed using this version. Can you please try uninstalling and reinstalling the plugin to see if that helps? I know it sounds trite but it really did help one of my colleagues when plugins misbehaved soon after installation.
UPDATE: It has been confirmed that some Config Backup users are successfully backing up with 64-bit Vista and 64-bit Lightroom (2.3). Will keep looking into the issue though.
Lightroom Config Backup Plugin « Very Moving… - July 14th, 2009
[...] Config Backup Plugin | The Photo Geek. [...]
@Cliff, Just confirming the results of our testing. The plugin functions properly on Vista and Lightroom 64 bit. I will be improving directory validation in the dialog, to prevent users from setting the compressed directory to be a child of the directory being backed up. Also will be adding some “plain English” error codes so users can now what the zip program was complaining about.
Hello,
Fisrt of all THANKS for your great plugin.
I have a question “How can I change the config base directory, as my \Adobe\Lightroom is not on C:???”
Thanks for your help read you soon
Greatings from Switzerland
Phil
@Philippe, The plugin asks Lightroom where its configuration base directory is so there shouldn’t be a need to configure this. Lightroom should know where it is reading its configuration from. Are you saying this isn’t working on your system? Are you storing your presets with your catalog or using the default setting (storing presets centrally)?
Lightroom 2.5 BSOD « Bkkphotographer's Blog - December 6th, 2009
[...] had a backup of the file in a ZIP archive stored by my Config Backup plugin (http://www.thephotogeek.com/lightroom/config-backup/). I restored that file and everything was back to normal. It seems that Jeff Friedl stores plugin [...]
Wordpress Blog Services - Lightroom 2.5 BSOD - December 7th, 2009
[...] had a backup of the file in a ZIP archive stored by my Config Backup plugin (http://www.thephotogeek.com/lightroom/config-backup/). I restored that file and everything was back to normal. It seems that Jeff Friedl stores plugin [...]
Lightroom functionaliteit uitbreiden met plug-ins | DigitaleFotografieTips.nl - February 11th, 2010
[...] een handige applicatie om iets te bereiken buiten Lightroom om. Twee in het oog springende zijn de Config Backup plug-in die je in staat stelt de Lightroom voorkeuren en de Catalogus te backuppen. Preview Extractions kan [...]
Version 1.04 of the plugin has been released. It includes the ability to automatically schedule backups and compression of backups. The configuration backups have also been extended to include Camera Raw settings that Lightroom relies upon, including camera profiles and lens correction profiles. It also resolves an issue that caused LR3′s preferences file not to be backed up on OS X, so is a highly recommended upgrade on this platform.
LR Backup sounds perfect but I didn’t see instructions on how to restore everything when my drive crashes and I’ve just re-installed Lightroom. I’m on Windows 7 64bit.
Thanks,
Tom
@Tom, I have a draft post written on how I’ve setup LR Backup for my own usage and expect to have that out this week. The restore one will be written after that.
The short restoration description is the files are in a zip and need to be manually restored (unzipped) to the correct location for your operating system. I’m resisting the temptation to automate this because in some cases you might only have a partial corruption (e.g. accidentally corrupted a bunch of presets but not the whole configuration) and restoring the complete backup would not be advisable. As you’ve suggested I need to write up some guidance to help people understand what they should do when it all goes “pear shaped” and they need to rely upon the backups. Thanks for the reminder!
I have installed the plugin and Run Manual Backup. The Config files have been backed up fine, but when trying to compress Lightroom’s catalog backups nothing changes. The Backup Directory is set to the right place, and below it correctly states the number and size of backups it has found there.
The Compressed Directory is set to a new empty folder, but then when I click OK the status briefly changes to “Compressing backup of ()” before closing. The compressed folder remains empty.
Am I missing something?
[Running LR 3.4 on Win XP]
When I click on File/Plugin Extras/1-click Configuration Backup, the backup failed to run. Using LR3.4, Vista Home. The following is from the log file:
Plug-in error log for plug-in at: C:\Users\Don\Documents\3rd Party Software\Lightroom\Plugins\config-backup-20090606_002\config-backup.lrplugin
**** Error 1
An error occurred while attempting to run one of the plug-in’s scripts.
bad argument #1 to ‘pathComponents’ (string expected, got nil)
**** Error 2
The plug-in encountered an error when performing the menu item “&1-Click Configuration Backup”.
bad argument #1 to ‘pathComponents’ (string expected, got nil)
Thanks for the help.
@Don, You are running an older version of the plugin. The plugin has received significant updates in the past month or so and it would be advisable to try that before investing too much time with this issue. The 1-Click Configuration Backup menu option no longer exists as the whole process can be configured to automatically run at startup.
@Brian, That briefly changing status indicates your backup files do not follow the standard layout. The backup folders must exist directly below the Backup Directory nominated. If there are any intervening directories it will not work as the code currently stands. I’ll need to add some more error checks in that portion of the code to explain what is happening in this set of circumstances.
@Matt – the backups are as created by LR by default – in the Backup Directory the backup folders are then in the format ‘yyyy-mm-dd hhmm’ with the backup .lrcat in each folder. As I noted above , the plugin is recognising that they are there.
Matt – I just installed this plugin and ran a manual backup. I notice that the paths are not being updated in the UI even thought I have made my own selections. The browse button does take me to the folder I previously choose. LR 3.4, MacOS 10.6.7, LR Backup 1.05.
I have a slightly unusual setup with my Mac “Users” on a separate disk. I use a symbolic link at /Users -> /Volumes/DataDisk/Users make this work. That hasn’t caused any problems for a long time (10.1 days) but might be contributing here.
@Louie, Thanks for reporting your experiences. I’ll have a look into this issue and see if I can reproduce it.
@Brian, I’ll need to look into this. The catalog detection and compression functionality are related but not identical, so it is possible that the detection code isn’t quite as rigorous in checking the backup layouts are 100% as expected. If there are an opportunities for differing results I’ll close them down as it is a nuisance when trying to debug issues like this.
For those using an older version of the plugin, or who have auto-update disabled, please note that a new version of TPG-LR-Backup was released earlier this week. Most of the improvements are around robustness and detection (and provide guidance for resolving) of issues with plugin configuration. Hopefully it has resolved a number of the issues discussed above!
Matt, I installed the latest TPG-LR-Backup on my iMac, OSX Snow Leopard. The backup works for the LR Configuration files but appears to not backup the LR Catalogue(s). I wonder if I’m doing something wrong? The Catalogue files are in the default LR location on my hard drive.
@Phil, Apologies for the delay in replying. The plugin compresses your existing catalogue backups rather than creating a backup itself. If you go into either the automatic or manual backup menu item you will find a field for specifying where the catalog backups created by Lightroom live. Once you set this up correctly the manual backup dialog (and I think the automatic one as well) will show you how many backups it found there, to give you some assurance the plugin configuration is OK. Next time the compress catalog backup function is executed the backups created by Lightroom will be compressed and moved to the location your specified.
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