Scheduling Local backup

Frankly I am surprised enterprise worked flawlessly using an external drive.  QB is notorious for not playing well with external drives.  Personally I think it has something to do with the wake up command QB has to first issue to access the drive, but who knows.

I back up to a computer local hard drive, and I have a script that runs to copy from the local drive to the external drive and to a google drive folder so it syncs to my account in the cloud

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

I am experiencing the same problem. We have 2 company files and both are having the issue. QB tech support tried helping and suggested running the Verify option to check the file. Ran on one of the files and found no problems and still will not back up. Only starts a tmp file. I have set time so I can actually watch the backup which runs, creates the tmp file and that's it. Whole process took about 5 seconds. We went from QB Enterprise 2016 to 2019. Have no issues running manually. This appears to have something to do with the 2019 Version. 

Hello there, @DennyB.

Allow me to step in and provide some information about the temporary file.

When running a backup file automatically, it'll always create a temporary file. To complete the process, you'll just need to wait until the temporary file will be converted into QBBackupTemp folder.

The purpose of the QBBackupTemp folder is to hold an area for QuickBooks file components during the QuickBooks Backup (.QBB) file preparation process. Once the backup is completed, this temporary folder should get deleted automatically.

For more information about running backup files, you can read these articles for your reference:

• Create Backup of the QuickBooks Desktop Company File.
• Set up Intuit Data Protect to Back up Files.

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any other questions about backup files. I'll be happy to help you out.

 That is not the case, I have it set for back up every night and I end up with nothing but temp files about 3kb for each night. Happening on both of our company QB files.  Manual backups work smoothly to the same folder with no tmp files left. It appears to be an issue with 2019 version. Never had an issues with 2016. 

I appreciate you getting back to us in the Community, @DennyB.

Allow me to step in and share some update about the issue you're having when scheduling backup copy in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

I’ve checked this on our end and found out that it is reported as an ongoing issue (INV-24197). We've escalated this to our engineers, and are diligently working for a resolution.

While we don't have a definite timeline for when this will be resolved, I highly suggest contacting our Phone Support team so they can add you on our list of affected users. You'll receive an email notification once we have an update and I'll surely get back to this post as well. You can check out this article for the detailed steps on how to reach them: Contact the QuickBooks Desktop Customer Support Team.

Thanks for your understanding and patience while we look into this. Please post again should you have any other questions. I'll be here to answer them. Take care!

Any update on a fix for this INV-24197? This is a serious problem.

Darin

Hi, dflannes.

Allow me to share some updates about the scheduled local backup issues in QuickBooks Desktop.

For now, the most recent update that I have is that our Engineering Team is actively working to determine why the scheduled local backup isn't working. We are still investigating this unexpected behavior.

In case you’re not yet added to the list of affected users, I'd suggest reaching out to our QuickBooks Desktop Support so they can get your account information. Any progress will be communicated via email.

To reach us, please follow these steps:

1. Within your QuickBooks Desktop, click Help at the top menu bar.
2. Click Contact us.
3. To route you to the correct support expert, we need to know what type of question you have. Give a brief description of your issue and click Continue.
4. We’ll provide you a few options. You choose which one is best for you

In the meantime, you can manually create a backup copy of your company file. You can get more details in this article: Create a backup of your company file.

Please extend your patience while we're working for the permanent fix. Don't hesitate to drop me a line if you have other concerns about creating a local backup in QuickBooks Desktop. Have a good one.

Hello,

I do have the same problem with our 5 company files.

This is a major concern, since backup is not taken properly. I only have a lot of 12 KB .tmp files...

Please let me know what is going on !

Currently, the issue is still investigated, vhubert.

We are continuously working around the clock to get this fix. In the meantime, you can still secure your company file by backing it up manually. 

I'd also recommend getting in touch with our Support Team. They'll be able to add your details to the notification lists. 

Below are the steps to reach out to them:

1. Click Help at the top.
2. Select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
3. Hit Contact Us.
4. Give a brief description of your issue and choose Continue.
5. Hit Talk to a Specialist or Start a Message. 

I'll also make sure to keep an eye on it and will keep this thread posted once there are updates. 

Drop by again if you need additional assistance. 

@MikiD / @FritzF Any update on this since January? It's been well over a year since the issue was acknowledged at had case # INV-24197 assigned... I'm left wondering if this is really being worked on by your engineers or not... it worked in previous QB versions so shouldn't take over a year to compare the code changes & push a fix out.

We are running Enterprise 19 on terminal server with multiple QuickBooks company files, currently I'm having to manually open each one daily and run a local back up & that gets automatically uploaded to cloud later in the day.

Really looking forward to the possibility of QB backups actually running automatically again.

Hello there, @lburr.

I understand the hassle that this caused you. I know that this is not the kind of experience you expect us to deliver. 

Right now, our engineers are all hands on deck working together for a fix to sort everything out with regards to this. Please know that this issue is being treated at utmost urgency.

Moreover, I don’t want to leave you empty-handed, you'll want to visit our Community Help Articles hub in case you need some related articles in managing your account.

I appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue working toward a resolution. Have a great day.

Hello @MirriamM,

Thanks for the quick reply, you are correct that this is not the experience we expect or deserve as we've been an Enterprise customer for around 10 years.

What I have a hard time understanding is how your engineers have been "all hands on deck" working on this specific issue for over a year and haven't been able to make any progress... surely they'd have been able to find some workaround by now if they were really working on it?

I had a chat session earlier today and was told that the automatic backup feature is broken in Enterprise 20 as well with no timeline for a fix or workaround, but we could try the Intuit Data Protect as that is set up a little different than the automatic backup inside QuickBooks desktop and supposedly IDP still works.

At the end of that conversation I began to feel like someone decided that rather than fix the issue it would be better to push IDP to increase revenue? Maybe I'm seeing it wrong, but that's what it seems like.

Manual backups still work, at least so far... hopefully they don't break as well. At this point our IT admin team have been given QB admin credentials to all company files so we can log in, run the manual backups, then log out. Yes I know this is a security risk, but the risk of running with no backups is worse.

So I did some more searching and found out how to get QuickBooks automatic backup working... sorry it's long winded but the link below got my backups working. My setup is QuickBooks Enterprise 19 on Windows Server 2019:

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/install/scheduled-backups-are-not-working-in-windo...

Basically, when you set up automatic backups in QuickBooks it adds a task to the Windows Task Scheduler but fails to set them up correctly.

After setting up automatic backups in QuickBooks for each company file, I opened the Windows Tasks and found the tasks were configured for "Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000"... but we're running Windows Server 2019. Here's the task that QuickBooks set up:

Make sure you're logged in as the Windows administrator account, then change the task configuration to the correct version, in my case "Windows Server 2019". I set the automatic backup to a few minutes out, it now creates a .tmp file - at least it creates a file now, shows I'm on the right track.

I reopened the Windows task and checked the "Do not store password" box so it only had access to local resources. I had to enter the Windows admin password when I set up the automatic tasks, but checking the box here allowed my backups start saving correctly. Here's my final settings:

On a side note... QuickBooks restricts the backup schedule to 10 minute increments, but you can go to the Triggers tab in the task and adjust it to whatever time you want.

One variable remaining, the company file I was testing was open when the automatic backup schedule ran... the other company files are closed so we'll see if those scheduled backups run correctly when the file is closed.

@MirriamM see my post above with the screenshots, last night all automatic backups ran properly after I corrected the two Task Scheduler settings for each scheduled backup.

Just so it's clear, the Windows Server 2019 configuration options in the drop down list are:

• Windows Server 2019 (the Windows version being used - what I changed each task to)
• Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008
• Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000 (what QuickBooks chooses by default)

I don't know why QuickBooks uses the oldest option, hopefully the developers can use these notes to get a fix pushed out. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

several questions here. Running QB Enterprise 18 On Server 2012 R2 and QB Data files are on another server 2012R2

1)  Is there a limit to the number of company files that cab be set up for the Automatic Backup?

2)  Can i schedule multiple backups for the same time?

3)  Do I have to have QB running for the backups to kick in?

Hi there, scraig1024. 

Thanks for stopping by the Community this afternoon. I'm happy to provide you with feedback on the backup process in QBDT. Below is the process you can follow for setting up automatic backup. You shouldn't encounter any issues with running multiple backups at the same time and I recommend keeping the product running throughout. Follow along below:

Step 1: Create a backup company file:

Backup company files save everything currently in your company file. This includes your accounting data, templates, letters, logos, images, and related files (QuickBooks Statement Writer, Cash Flow Projector, Business Planner, and Loan Manager). However, it doesn't back up your payroll forms. We'll show you how to do that later on.

There are two ways to back up your data. You can either back up your data automatically or do them manually.

Schedule automatic backups:

Instead of manually backing up your company file, let QuickBooks do it automatically.

1. In QuickBooks, go to the File menu and select Switch to Single-user Mode.
2. Go to the File menu again and hover over Back up Company. Then select Create Local Backup.
3. In the window, select Local Backup and then Next.
4. In the Local Backup Only section, select Browse and select where you want to save your backup company file.
5. Set the number of backups you want to keep. This is optional.

   Tip: No need to pencil it in on your calendar. Use the options in the Online and Local Backup section to set backu reminders.

6. In the Online and Local Backup section, select Complete verification. This runs a test to make sure your backup file is in good shape before you save.
7. When you're ready, select OK.
8. Select Save it now and schedule future backups and then Next. Or if you don't want to save a backup now, select Only schedule future backups.
   
   
    
9. Select the Save backup copy automatically when I close my company file checkbox. Then select the number of times between backups.
10. To create a schedule, select New. Fill out the data fields to create a backup schedule. You can set a specific time or day of the week.
    
    
     
11. After you set your schedule, select OK. QuickBooks asks you to enter your Windows sign-in password. This gives QuickBooks permission to run the scheduled backup.
12. When you're ready to create your backup, select Finish.

QuickBooks creates a backup and schedules your future backups at the same time. When it's done, you get a confirmation message.

Next steps: Restore your backup:

Now you have a backup company file you can use to restore your company file. This file has a .qbb extension at the end of the file name.

Important: If you keep your backup company files on an external device or a hosting service like Box, you'll need to move them to your local hard drive first before you restore.

Should you encounter any issues and want to backup your files manually, you can find the steps to do so as well as the ones provided above in the following link: Back up your QBDT file. 

If you have any other questions, feel free to post them here whenever you need help. Thank you and have a lovely Thursday. 

Thank you for your response, but that is not the questions I asked.  I have already set up the backups as described.  The backups did not work.  My questions were as follows:

1) Is there a limit to the number of company files that cab be set up for the Automatic Backup?

2) Can i schedule multiple backups for the same time?

3) Do I have to have QB running for the backups to kick in?

Thank you  I re read the first paragraph.

Good day, Jason!

Thanks for joining us here. Let me share details on how to fix this error.

Yes, QuickBooks Desktop also uses Task Scheduler when you set up a backup and we need to ensure that it is set to Windows 10. Here's how to check it:

1. From the Windows Start menu, type "Task" and choose Task Scheduler.
2. Locate the task set up with the Company file name and click it.
3. Select Properties. Find the "Configure for" and change to Windows 10.
4. Click OK to save it.

In addition, our engineers are working already to have a permanent fix. If you haven't yet, you'll want to reach to them so your info will be added to the case.

1. Go to: https://help.quickbooks.intuit.com/en_US/contact.
2. Select your QuickBooks product and version.
3. On the Contact Us page and enter INV-24197.
4. Choose a way to connect with them.

In the meantime, you'll want to manually make your daily backups. You also want to upgrade so you can use the Online Backup. Check these links for more details:

• QuickBooks Desktop service discontinuation policy and upgrade information

• Set up Intuit Data Protect to back up files

Need more references in using QuickBooks Desktop? Visit this link: QBDT Articles.

Post again here if you have more concerns. Have a great day!