How can I get my network maps back?
ok, it’s possible I am on the way to finding my maps. After the upgrade, in the data folder under dude I had these two files. dude-db 5KB and dude-db.idx 1KB
I also found dude-db.idx.new 0KB and dude-db.dat.new (I don’t know if the new means anything)
I ran a scan with a data recovery program and found two deleted files. dude-db 2736KB and dude-db.idx 40KB
Now, these two files are larger. Does that mean this is where my maps are. Can I use these to get my stuff back?
Well I’ve copied and pasted those larger files into the data file and it’s has not gotten me anywhere except it’s failing to connect to server.
Any ideas?
Yes, all your maps were in those files for the beta 7 version not the beta 8. If you have a good copy of the older Dude install then restore that, start beta 7 and export the config to XML. Then install beta 8 with a clean config and import from the XML file you just created.
If you don’t have a good backup, you can try recovering the data files you found (save them off somewhere else), install a clean beta 7 (without letting it start up), copy in the recovered data files, and then start beta 7. If that works, then follow the steps above.
If your maps are complex or you have a big database, the upgrade seems to fail consistently. When the beta 7 came out, we had to rebuild all maps by hand because the upgrade failed and importing the older maps from XML failed as well. Seems this wasn’t fixed in beta 8 either. I suspect that the XML parser used is choking on all the data in the XML files. I hope they get this cleaned up in future versions.
Thank you for the reply. I hope I understand you here. I will attempt to follow your instructions. I don’t believe i have what you call a good backup. All I have is the 2 files I recovered. So I will install beta 7, and not let it start up after install. I will move my 2 files over, then start it up. Now, if I can get it working, this is where I create a good back up.
Hopefully I understood correctly. I will try it.
Brian
If all that doesn’t work, then you need to convince yourself that rebuilding the entire config in beta 8 from scratch will yield a much better set of maps this time around. 
Well, when I installed .8 i got most of the map, however the graphics were gone. I restored from the .7 XML backup and got tiny objects on the screens with no information. When i attempted to click on an object I got this:
3.0beta8 ACCESS VIOLATION at: 48861e
eip=48861e eflags=210246
edi=16de6f0 esi=1471008 ebp=22f850 esp=22f764
eax=0 ebx=22f95c ecx=16de6f0 edx=672d0007
log:
cw: 1407 411c39
backtrace:
47af7a
47b085
549e6b
549ee9
40c389
7e418734
7e418816
7e41b4c0
7e41b50c
7c90eae3
7e4196c7
43d99f
43dce3
568024
64ebda
modules:
400000 dude.exe
7c900000 ntdll
7e410000 USER32
[cropped for length]
And verified after a couple of restarts that it happens each time.
Fortunately, this is not my production unit. I keep that on 2.2 with a scheduled restart, since I feel stability outweighs newest features any day.
well, I cannot get it working. Anyone know what files are needed to recover maps?
if you have an export file from beta7 with the maps included and the upgrade process kills the maps, then send that export file to support@mikrotik.com and we will try to fix that problem. Better to zip or rar that file so it is smaller when you send it using email.
Nope, no export file.
Sorry for what I know sounds like a stupid question, but how complex is complex and how big is big?
Our XML export is 46.7 MB uncompressed, and I’m wondering if we should even try the upgrade from 7 to 8. The Dude stopped working three times just this morning, and we have it restarting hourly besides.
Our current game plan is to try a parallel install next week, and import a new, known-good XML export from version 7. We’re not a very big ISP, but we have hundreds of man-hours in our maps, and I would hate to have to start over.
Well it might not be just size in particular. Size foretells the complexity of the maps and increases the likelihood of exposing an upgrade/import bug, in my experience. You should go with the parallel route and don’t touch the b7 install. if the import fails, you have something to send to support that they can use to track down the bug(s). Remember though that the xml will contain passwords to your entire network, so think through security.
Thanks for the info and the security reminder!
To upgrade from 3.7 to 3.8 you need to install fonts under the files tab. This only works if you start with a fresh install of 3.8 where under settings (server configuration) the report tab shows at least one font to choose from. Import your backup and now you will need to add fonts under Files by clicking the Plus button and select font and typing in the file name of the font in the box. After this all the text will appear in your maps with that font.