Backing up school data: what, how often, and where

If student and absence records are lost they are almost impossible to rebuild. Backups are not hard, but a few details are usually learned the hard way.

What to back up

ClassBan keeps its data in a SQLite file. In WAL mode (which ClassBan uses) there are two companion files with -wal and -shm suffixes. Copying only the main file can miss the latest changes. ClassBan's backup button zips all three, with the date in the file name.

You can also export students and absences as CSV/Excel. It does not replace the database backup, but any spreadsheet tool can open it if the app itself dies.

How often

Match the interval to the amount of data you can afford to lose. If absences are recorded daily and losing a day is unacceptable, back up daily. For a small school: one backup at the end of each working day and one before any risky operation such as year-end promotion or bulk deletion.

Where

A backup on the same computer only protects against software mistakes, not disk failure or theft. The well-known 3-2-1 rule: three copies, on two kinds of media, one off-site. In a school: the live system, a USB or external drive, and a third copy elsewhere, for example the principal's home computer. Backups containing student data must be protected like the database itself; a lost USB stick is a data leak.

What ClassBan does not have yet

ClassBan has a backup download and a "wipe all data" button (which recreates the owner account) but no restore button. Restoring is manual: close the app, replace the database files, reopen. That is on the to-do list.

A backup you have not tested is not a backup

Once or twice a year, open a backup on another computer and check the data is really there.

Checklist

All three SQLite files (or the full zip); interval matched to acceptable loss; at least one off-site copy; backups kept from unauthorized people; restore tested yearly.