Managing Equipment

Equipment represents the devices OT Backup can work with — PLCs, robot controllers, file-based targets and other automation assets. This page explains how to create, edit and delete equipment from the Equipment page.

flowchart LR
  A[Equipment page] --> B[Add Equipment]
  A --> C[Edit existing equipment]
  A --> D[Archive equipment]
  A --> E[View Archived Only]
  E --> F[Restore equipment]
  A --> G[Permanently delete]
  E --> G
  B --> H[Equipment form]
  C --> H
  H --> I[Save]

Before you start

• You need the matching permission for the action you want to perform.
• If the equipment should run backups or restores automatically, make sure the required Equipment Type, Agent, storage and adapter setup already exist. See Adapters for device-specific requirements.

Actions you do not have access to are hidden from the Equipment page, row menus and dialogs. If a button or menu item described here is missing, ask an administrator to grant the corresponding claim.

Create equipment

1. Open Equipment from the navigation menu.

   

2. Select Add Equipment in the top-right corner.

3. The New equipment dialog opens. Fill in the main fields:

   

   Field	Purpose
   Name	The equipment name shown throughout OT Backup. This is the identifier users select when backing up and restoring.
   Equipment Type	Optional template that supplies the default Upload-only Backup setting and backup/restore sequences.
   Upload-only Backup	Makes this equipment upload-only. Backups are supplied as files instead of being created by a backup sequence.
   Description	Free-text description of the device.
   Address	Network address, hostname, path or other target address used by the adapter.
   Select Agent	The TEE agent that should execute jobs for this equipment.
   Backup Sequence	The configured steps used when OT Backup takes a new backup. See Configuring Backup and Restore Sequences.
   Restore Sequence	The configured steps used when OT Backup restores a backup. See Configuring Backup and Restore Sequences.

4. In Configuration, choose or edit the sequences. For the full workflow, see Configuring Backup and Restore Sequences.

   • Add Backup Sequence / Edit Backup Sequence — defines how a backup is taken.
   • Add Restore Sequence / Edit Restore Sequence — defines how a restore is performed.

   If you choose an Equipment Type after editing sequences, OT Backup may ask:

   The equipment type '…' will overwrite the existing sequence. Are you sure you want to continue?

   Choose Yes only if you want the equipment type's default sequences to replace the current ones.

5. Expand optional sections when needed:

   Section	What it controls
   Location	Where the equipment belongs in the site/location hierarchy.
   Schedule	When recurring backups should run.
   Metadata	Extra key/value information used for filtering, integration or reporting.
   Links	External URLs for documentation, manuals, or other web resources attached to the equipment.

6. Select Save. OT Backup shows Equipment added. and the new row appears in the Equipment table.

Upload-only Backup equipment

Select Upload-only Backup for equipment whose backup files are collected outside OT Backup and then uploaded for storage. In this context, Upload-only Backup means upload-only equipment; it does not simply mean a backup job started manually by a user.

When you select an Equipment Type, the equipment inherits that type's Upload-only Backup setting. You can change the checkbox for the individual equipment. If its value differs from the selected type, the form and equipment details show (Modified from Type) beside it.

While Upload-only Backup is selected:

• Backup and restore sequence fields are hidden, and their add/edit actions are disabled. Existing or inherited sequence configuration is not deleted and becomes available again if Upload-only Backup is cleared.
• The Schedule section is disabled and automated backups do not run for the equipment.
• Upload-only Backup becomes the main backup action. Make new backup is disabled because OT Backup cannot run a backup sequence for this equipment.
• Upload-only equipment cannot be included in Backup Selected. Upload its backup separately.
• Restore actions are unavailable. Uploaded backups can still be viewed, downloaded, tagged and deleted.

To add a backup, save the equipment first, then choose Upload-only Backup from its row menu or Upload-only Backup from the equipment dialog. Select the backup file, add optional tags and a comment, then select Make Backup. If comments are required in Configuration → Settings → Backup, a comment must be entered before the button becomes available.

For the complete upload workflow, see Creating a Backup.

Edit equipment

You can open the edit form in two ways:

1. From the Equipment page, select the pencil icon in the row, or
2. Open the row's More options menu (the ⋮ icon) and choose Edit.

The equipment dialog opens with the existing values.

Update the fields you need and select Save. OT Backup shows Equipment updated.

Note: The Name is read-only when editing existing equipment. If the name is wrong, create a new equipment entry with the correct name and remove the old one when it is no longer needed.

If you try to close the dialog with unsaved changes, OT Backup asks:

You have unsaved changes that will be lost if you close this dialog. Are you sure?

Choose Yes to discard the changes or No to return to the form.

Mark equipment as work in progress

Equipment can be marked as WIP when someone is actively working on it. This is useful before manual changes or troubleshooting.

• From the equipment row's More options menu, choose Mark as wip.
• From the edit/details dialog, open More options and choose Mark as wip.
• To clear it, choose Unmark as wip.

When marking equipment as WIP, enter the reason in the prompt. WIP equipment shows the warning indicator in the table and causes backup/restore confirmation prompts before work continues.

Archive equipment

Archiving equipment safely hides it from normal users without permanently deleting its historical data or backups. Scheduled backups stop running for archived equipment.

Archive one equipment item

1. On the Equipment page, open the row's More options menu (the ⋮ icon) and choose Archive.

2. Confirm the prompt:

   Are you sure you want to archive equipment '…'?

3. OT Backup shows Equipment archived and removes the row from the default view.

Archive several equipment items

1. Tick the checkbox on each active equipment row you want to archive.

2. Open the n items selected menu at the top of the list and choose Archive Selected.

3. Confirm the prompt:

   Are you sure you want to archive the n selected equipment?

4. OT Backup shows Archived n equipment!

View and restore archived equipment

Archived equipment is hidden by default. Authorized users can view and restore archived equipment back to an active state.

1. On the Equipment page, toggle the Archived Only switch in the filter bar.
2. The grid updates to show only archived equipment. These rows display an archive icon in the Status column.
3. Open the row's More options menu (the ⋮ icon) and choose Restore.
4. Confirm the prompt. OT Backup restores the equipment and reactivates its schedules.

Note: Archived equipment opens in a read-only details view. Operational actions such as editing, making new backups, or marking as WIP are hidden until the equipment is restored.

Permanently delete equipment

Permanently deleting equipment removes the equipment database entry, its metadata, all linked jobs, and attempts to physically delete all linked backup storage files. This action is irreversible.

Note: To prevent accidental data loss, permanent deletion can only be performed on one equipment at a time (there is no bulk permanent delete). It can be applied to both active and archived equipment.

1. Open the equipment row's More options menu and choose Delete Permanently. You can also delete from the equipment details dialog's More options menu.
2. A confirmation prompt appears. You must type DELETE to confirm your intent.
3. OT Backup will remove the domain data and attempt to delete the physical backup files.

If OT Backup successfully removes the database entries but fails to delete some of the physical backup files from storage, a warning will appear containing the failure count and the failing storage paths so you can clean them up manually.

Troubleshooting

See Also

• Creating a Backup
• Restoring a Backup
• Adapters