Moving to a new server

The whole instance: through a backup

This moves everything (every account, location, file and setting) and is the same procedure as recovering from a lost server:

1. On the old server, take a backup and let it finish, and print the recovery kit.
2. On the new server, install Kept with the kit’s keys in .env and the same backup target, but don’t start Kept yet.
3. Restore the latest backup into the new, empty database.
4. Point the old address at the new server (DNS, or your proxy), keep KEPT_PUBLIC_URL the same, and start Kept. Labels and QR codes keep working because the address hasn’t changed.
5. Stop the old server once the new one is checked, and keep its disk until the new one has had a good backup and a restore drill.

If the address does change, labels already printed still carry the old one: point the old hostname at the new server too, and list it among the instance’s former hostnames: Kept then redirects a visit under the old name to the same page at the new address.

One location at a time: through an export

An owner exports a location, with its files and, if they choose, its secret values under a passphrase; on the new server they import it into a new location. This moves one household without the rest of the instance, and works between two instances that run different versions, as long as the new one is not older than the old one (an older Kept may refuse an export from a newer one).

1. On the old server, in Settings → Export, export the location. Choose whether to include secret values; if you do, set a passphrase. Exports are made over HTTPS only, and stay ready to download for 7 days.
2. On the new server, sign in, open Settings → Import, and choose the Kept export (the ZIP). Kept checks it first and shows what it will add before anything is written; give the passphrase to bring the secret values back.
3. The import makes a new location with the things, places, files, condition reports and their history. Printed labels keep working: a label’s short code is kept when it is free on the new server, and re-issued when it isn’t, in which case scanning the old label still opens the thing.
4. Invite the people who shared the location; the import lists them, but doesn’t invite anyone by itself.