Backup Course

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Overview

You can save your course at any stage of development by using the Backup Course function. You are allowed to store 1 backup (per course). Thus, if you've already created a backup in the past you'll need to delete it from the server before you can create another one.

Again, after you create a backup, we recommend that you download it to your computer for safekeeping (in case of an emergency). Please remove it from the server to conserve disk space once downloaded. CTI removes user created backups each month from the server, so you cannot store backups on the server indefinitely. Please download them and remove them yourself.

CTI maintains copies of end of term backups but it is up to you to create your own copy for redundancy. You may only want a copy of your grade book, depending on your class. See the step Backup Grade Book below.

Restoring Course Backups: In accordance with Records Management policies, Blackboard course backups are retained by CTI for one year to facilitate grade challenges and incompletes. Designers and instructors cannot restore their own courses. Contact cti@uidaho.edu to have courses restored.

Backup Your Course

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 1. Backup Grade Book

If you used the Blackboard Grade Book tool it's a good idea to keep a record of the grades locally on your computer. These instructions guide you in downloading a text file of your Grade Book which you may open in Microsoft Excel for future reference.
 
  • Under the Teach Tab, click on Grade Book.
  • Click on Export to Spreadsheet.

  • Make sure the following settings are set, then click Export.
    • Members to Export: All Members
    • Export Format: Comma-Delimited

  • Save the file to a location on your hard drive where you can find it.
  • Win XP Note: If you have Service Pack 2 installed the download may initially give a warning at the top of the browser. It is safe to allow the download.

  2. Backup Course

  • Go to the Manage Course tool under the Teach or Build tabs.
  • Click on Backup.

  • Click on Back Up Course
     
    Note:     Depending on the size of the course, this may take some time.

Step 3
Download Course Backup (Optional)

It's a good idea to keep a local copy of your course so that if there are grade challenges, or other unforeseen circumstances in the future, we can restore your course. While the CTI keeps a copy of all course backup files for one year, you may wish to keep a local copy longer, and have your own redundant copy.

Note: Backups can not be opened locally on your computer. They must be restored to a Blackboard CE server. Contact cti@uidaho.edu if you need to have a course restored from a backup. This is one of the reasons why it's a good idea to download your Grade Book separately. If you would like to download your Files in the Manage Files area of your course, see the File Manager Tutorial.

  • Under the Build Tab, click on Manage Course
  • Click on Backup

  • Click on the ActionLinks ActionLinks icon, and select Save as File
  • Click OK

  • Under the Build tab, go to the File Manager Tool
  • Click on the ActionLinks icon next to the backup file and select Download

  • Restoring Course Backups: In accordance with Records Management policies, Blackboard course backups are retained by CTI for one year to facilitate grade challenges and incompletes. Contact cti@uidaho.edu to have courses restored. Designers and instructors cannot restore their own courses.
     

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