What is not included in the backups?
The vault backup operation can be used to store your vault file data and metadata so that in the event of data loss, your document vault can be recovered from a backup. See Backing Up a Vault for instructions on backing up a document vault.
Data that is collected or generated by someone or something else than vault users and administrators is considered secondary data, and such data is not included in the backups as it is generally not needed for succesfully restoring a document vault.
Below is a categorization of secondary data that is not included in the vault backup files. Note that you generally do not need to worry about this type of data when considering backups as this data is always automatically generated by the M-Files system whenever needed. Below information is therefore mainly for your reference only.
Search indexes
M-Files generates and maintains indexes of your vault document contents and metadata by periodically going through the contents of the document vault. These indexes are used for locating objects when the M-Files search function is used.
Index data may be stored in the following locations on the M-Files server computer:
C:\Program Files\M-Files\Server Vaults\Indexes
C:\Program Files\M-Files\Server Vaults\<vault>\Indexes\
Usually, this type of data need not be preserved for backups or when migrating document vaults to a new server computer. However, in large vaults, where the index recreation can take a large amount of time, it is recommended to back up the index as well. For more information, refer to M-Files Backup Policy.
Image thumbnails
Image thumbnail files are generated by M-Files when the thumbnail view is used in M-Files Desktop. For more information on different view modes, see Customizing the User Interface of the classic M-Files Desktop.
Thumbnail data may be stored in the following locations on the M-Files server computer:
C:\Program Files\M-Files\Server Vaults\Thumbnails
C:\Program Files\M-Files\Server Vaults\<vault>\Thumbnails
This type of data need not be preserved for backups or when migrating document vaults to a new server computer.
Document preview files
Document preview data is generated by M-Files when documents are previewed in the Preview tab in the M-Files client.
Document preview data may be stored in the following folders on the M-Files server computer:
C:\Program Files\M-Files\Server Vaults\ViewerFiles
C:\Program Files\M-Files\Server Vaults\<vault>\ViewerFiles
This type of data need not be preserved for backups or when migrating document vaults to a new server computer.
Logs
M-Files creates log files in various locations on the M-Files server computer after certain processes are run. The log files generally have either the LOG or the TXT file extension. Log files are often used for troubleshooting purposes and may be requested by our customer support for further analysis of an issue.
This type of data need not be preserved for backups or when migrating document vaults to a new server computer.