Creating regular backups of your Home center configuration is strongly recommended. A backup allows you to restore your system to a previous state if configuration changes produce unexpected results or if you need to recover after a hardware or software issue.
For example, if you experiment with the layout of your zones and are not satisfied with the result, you can simply restore a previously created backup. Or, you are migrating from HIS v1 module to a HIS v2 module.
Creating a backup from the web interface
Create a backup from the Home center web interface.
- Open the Home center web interface.
- Go to Settings > Backup / Restore / Reset.
- Choose one of the available backup options:
- HC Backup: Creates a backup of the Home center configuration.
- HC Backup + System: Creates a backup of the Home center configuration, including the system settings such as the IP configuration and DDNS settings.
The backup is stored as a .zhc file. Do not modify the contents of this file, as doing so will corrupt the backup.
Important
Restoring an HC Backup + System also restores the saved network settings. If the backup is restored in a different network environment, the Home center may receive a different IP address than expected and become temporarily unreachable. If this happens, determine the restored IP address before attempting to reconnect to the Home center.
The backup is stored as a .zhc file. Do not modify the contents of this file, as doing so will corrupt the backup.
Creating a backup from the Home center Windows client
- Open the Home center Windows client.
- Go to Settings > Configuration.
- Click Create backup.
- Select the location where you want to save the backup file and click Save.
The backup is stored as a .zhc file. Do not modify the contents of this file, as doing so will corrupt the backup.
The content of this backup is the same as the HC Backup funtion from the web interface.
Restoring a backup from the web interface
- Open the Home Center web interface.
- Go to Settings > Backup / Restore / Reset.
- Use the button Choose file to select the .zhc backup file to restore
- Choose one of the available restore options:
- Restore HC Backup: Restores a backup containing only the Home center configuration.
- Restore HC + System Backup: Restores both the Home center configuration and the system settings, including the IP configuration and DDNS settings.
- Confirm the restore operation.
After the restore has completed, the Home center configuration is returned to the state captured in the selected backup.
Important
When restoring an HC + System Backup, the saved network configuration is also restored. As a result, the Home center may use a different IP address after the restore. If this occurs, reconnect to the Home center using the restored IP address.Example
A Home Center is backed up while using the LAN IP address 192.168.1.100. Later, the backup is restored on a network where the Home Center currently uses 192.168.0.100. If an HC + System Backup is restored, the saved network settings are also restored and the Home Center changes its IP address back to 192.168.1.100. Since this address is not valid on the current network, the Home center becomes unreachable. You may need to connect directly to a laptop and temporary configure the old LAN range to be able to reach Home center and reset its IP!
Restoring a backup from the Home center Windows client
- Open the Home Center Windows client.
- Go to Settings > Configuration.
- Click Restore backup.
- Browse to and select the required .zhc backup file.
- Confirm the restore operation.
After the restore has completed, the Home Center configuration is returned to the state captured in the selected backup.
Contents of a backup
The information included in a backup depends on the selected backup type.
| Item | HC Backup | HC Backup + System |
|---|---|---|
| Home automation controller configuration (Velbus or Luxom) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Zone configuration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Background images | ✓ | ✓ |
| Music configuration | ✓ | ✓ |
| IR commands | ✓ | ✓ |
| Email configuration | ✓ | ✓ |
| SMS configuration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Telegram configuration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Logging configuration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Logic functions | ✓ | ✓ |
| Modbus device configuration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Camera configuration (if available) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Access unit configuration (if available) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cloud access configuration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Velbus only: OLED display messages | ✓ | ✓ |
| Velbus only: Music for OLED displays | ✓ | ✓ |
| Velbus only: Time synchronisation settings | ✓ | ✓ |
| IP address configuration | – | ✓ |
| DDNS configuration | – | ✓ |
| Time zone | – | ✓ |
An HC Backup contains all Home center configuration and automation settings.
An HC Backup + System contains the same information as an HC Backup, with the addition of the system settings, including the IP address, DDNS configuration and time zone. Restoring this backup also restores these system settings.