Back Up Inspections From POSM Central

Use the Backup tab in the POSM Data Sync Tool to download inspections from POSM Central into a local POSM installation.

Backup direction

Backup moves inspection data from:

POSM Central → Local POSM

Use Upload for the opposite direction when you need to send local POSM inspections to POSM Central.

What Backup Does

The Backup workflow retrieves selected inspection data from POSM Central and writes it into the POSM database configured in the Data Sync Tool.

Depending on the inspection, Data Sync may retrieve and write:

Session information
Special fields
Observations
Images and other media
Inspection video
Additional reports
ScanCam information
Inclinometer information

Inspection media is downloaded to the appropriate local POSM media locations.

Check the configured POSM installation

Backup writes inspection data to the local POSM database configured in Data Sync.

Before beginning a backup, make sure Data Sync is connected to the POSM installation where you want the inspections to be downloaded.

Configure the POSM Data Sync Tool

Launch POSM Data Sync

Open the POSM Data Sync Tool.
Enter your POSM Central Username and Password.
Click Sign In.
Select the Backup tab.

The Backup tab displays inspections available from POSM Central.

Review the Backup Tab

The Backup tab provides controls for:

Search
Load More
Show backed up sessions
Select All
Refresh
Sync

The installed Data Sync Tool version is displayed in the lower-right corner of the application.

Find an Inspection

Use the Search field to locate inspection data in the Central session list.

The Backup tab displays columns including:

POSM Unique
Project Name
Template Name
Date
Asset Location
Asset ID
Start ID
End ID
Direction
Size
Status

Click a column heading to sort the displayed inspections.

Load More Inspections

The Backup tab may initially display only part of the available POSM Central inspection list.

Click Load More to retrieve additional inspections from POSM Central.

Continue using Load More when you need to browse inspections that are not currently displayed.

Refresh the Inspection List

Click Refresh to retrieve updated inspection information from POSM Central.

Use Refresh when the Central inspection list or synchronization status may have changed since the page was loaded.

Show Previously Backed-Up Sessions

Select Show backed up sessions when you want the list to include inspections that have already been backed up to the local POSM installation.

Previously backed-up inspections can be identified by their synchronization status.

Select Inspections to Back Up

You can back up one inspection, multiple inspections, or all currently available inspections.

Select Individual Inspections

Select the checkbox beside each inspection you want to download to the local POSM installation.

Select All Inspections

Select Select All to select all currently available inspections.

Confirm the selected inspections

Review the selected inspections before starting the synchronization, especially when using Select All.

Start the Backup

After selecting the desired inspections:

Review the selected sessions.
Click Sync.

Data Sync begins retrieving the selected inspection data from POSM Central.

Sync downloads the selected inspections

On the Backup tab, clicking Sync retrieves the selected inspection data from POSM Central and writes it to the configured local POSM installation.

Monitor Backup Progress

The Activity Log at the bottom of the application displays the progress of the backup.

The Activity Log contains:

Timestamp
Session ID
Message

During a backup, messages may indicate that Data Sync is:

Beginning the backup for a session
Retrieving session details from POSM Central
Determining the number of media files and observations to download
Downloading video and image files
Writing session information to the local database
Writing observations and media records
Writing additional reports
Writing ScanCam observations, when present
Writing inclinometer readings, when present
Committing changes to the local database
Synchronizing the session to the local database

While synchronization is running, Data Sync may display:

Syncing sessions from POSM Central, please wait...

The lower-right corner shows which selected inspection is currently being processed, such as:

Syncing 3 / 3

Use the Activity Log to follow the backup

The Activity Log shows which inspection is currently being processed and provides useful information if a synchronization does not complete.

Backup Complete

When Data Sync finishes processing the selected inspections, a completion message appears.

Review the message to confirm how many of the selected sessions were backed up successfully.

After the backup completes, the downloaded inspections are available in the configured local POSM installation.

Verify the Backed-Up Inspections

After completing a backup, open the local POSM application and verify the downloaded inspection data.

Check important inspection information such as:

Session information
Observations
Images
Video
Reports or supporting information, when applicable

Verify important backups

Confirm important inspection data in the local POSM application after the synchronization completes.

Backup Status

The Status column indicates the backup state of each inspection.

Statuses may include:

Not started
Backed up
Incomplete

A Backed up status indicates that the inspection has been synchronized to the configured local POSM installation.

If an inspection shows Incomplete, review the Activity Log for additional information.

Understand Data Sync Status

Back Up an Inspection Again

To locate inspections that have already been backed up:

Open the Backup tab.
Select Show backed up sessions.
Locate the desired inspection.
Review its current status.

Use the available synchronization controls when the inspection needs to be retrieved again.

If a Backup Does Not Complete

If a selected inspection does not back up successfully:

Review the Status column.
Review the Activity Log.
Note the affected inspection.
Review any error message displayed by Data Sync.
Try the operation again when appropriate.

You can also contact POSM Support at any time if you would like help investigating the synchronization problem.

Troubleshoot Data Sync

Contact POSM Support

Activity and Exception Logs

Data Sync maintains log files that can provide additional information about synchronization operations.

Information that can help POSM Support investigate a backup problem includes:

The affected inspection
The Data Sync Tool version
Activity log files
Exception log files
Any displayed error message
A screenshot of the problem, when available

You do not need to diagnose the problem

You can start a POSM Remote Support session or call POSM Support without determining the cause first.

The Data Sync logs can help the Support team investigate the issue with you.

POSM Data Sync Tool