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My computer died

Bring the whole business back on a replacement computer from your latest backup file and your recovery key.

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Checked against Pop Street Dispatch 0.1.0

Situation #

The computer that ran Dispatch no longer starts, its disk failed, or it was lost. You hold a backup file (.psdbackup) on a USB drive, a network drive or a bucket, and you hold your recovery key on paper.

What keeps working #

  • Drivers keep their queued work on their phones. It sends again when the server returns, and each item posts once.
  • Your backup files stay safe on the drive you chose, encrypted. Nobody can read them without your recovery key.

Steps #

  1. Take calls on paper while you rebuild: pickup address, phone number and time.
  2. Install Pop Street Dispatch on the replacement computer. Do not create a business account there.
  3. Connect the drive that holds the backup files. Pick the newest file by the time in its name, for example pop-street-dispatch-20261031T020000-nightly.psdbackup.
  4. Find your recovery key: nine groups of four letters and numbers. If you cannot find it, open "Lost recovery key".
  5. Restore the file. Use either way:
    • Setup wizard: it sends the file and the recovery key to POST /setup/restore on this computer and shows the progress.
    • Command line: run dispatch-server restore <file> --data-dir <data folder> and type the recovery key when asked.
  6. Read the result. It lists the rows and photos restored and gives a reset-password command for each owner.
  7. Run each reset-password command. Each person gets a one-time password and chooses their own at sign-in.
  8. Start the server. Owners and managers set up their authenticator apps again. Make a new signing secret for each webhook endpoint and new integration keys.
  9. The licence state came along in the file. If the server asks for the licence key again, enter it.
  10. Point phones and office computers at the replacement computer's address, or give it the old address.

How to confirm it worked #

  • GET /health answers ok: true.
  • The owner signs in and the board shows the calls you expect.
  • Open a call with photos: the photos open.
  • GET /backup/status shows no last_error. Choose the backup folder again if the new computer sees the drive under another path.

Afterwards #

  1. Anything entered after the backup time is missing. Enter your paper calls and ask drivers to send their queued work.
  2. Choose the backup folder with PATCH /backup/settings and make a file now with POST /backup/archives.
  3. Keep your recovery key unchanged. The restored data answers to the same key you wrote down for the old computer.
  4. Keep the old drive's backup files until a week of normal work has passed.