Southland Backup Support Questions
Why is the Windows installer showing an unknown publisher warning?
Southland generates a secure, unique Windows installer for each backup client. Due to the high cost of maintaining a code signing certificate, Southland has decided to leave the installer unsigned for the interim. This does not compromise the security of the installer or your system. The installer is provided to you over a secure connection and is encrypted with a password that is provided to you in private, mitigating any possibility of tampering.
The installation finished, what do I need to do next?
Open the Southland Backup Admin Console, it should work almost immediately after installation. The VPN will automatically connect to the server and will retry continuously if it cannot reach the server. You can start adding backup locations in the Backup tab, and you will need to set a backup schedule. You can manually run a backup from the Dashboard.
I can't pull up the Admin Console, what do I do?
Ensure you are connected to the internet and your computer is allowed to reach TCP port 22 if you are behind an outbound firewall. Ensure you are using a web browser made in 2017 or later (Chrome, Firefox or Edge). Check the VPN log file located in the install directory for details and contact us if needed (typical log location: C:\Program Files\SouthlandBackup\support\helpers\var\log\SouthlandVPN.log).
When selecting Restore, I cannot see the file date and size, how are they shown?
In the Restore screen, hover over the icon beside the Restore checkbox, the server will lookup the date and size and display it. Due to how the server is designed, it is resource intensive to lookup each date and size in advance.
How do I turn off the backup notifications?
Run the Southland Backup Notification Toggle to turn them off, run it again to turn them back on.
How do I know the backup client and VPN are working?
Open Windows 'Services' and look for the Bacula File Daemon and SouthlandVPN service and ensure they are 'Running'. You can use the Southland Backup Restart icon to reload the services.
My computer failed, how do I get my data back?
Download and install the backup client again and it will contain your encryption key that will allow you to restore and decrypt the data from the server. If you generated the encryption key locally on your computer instead of using the included key with the installer, then you will need to restore the key yourself from where you stored it (if you do not have that key anymore, then you cannot restore your data).
My files are restored, where are they located?
By default, Southland Backup restores the data to the same drive under the directory prefix of '_SLB_'. For example, restoring C:\Users\Frontdesk\Documents would put the data into C:\_SLB_Users\Frontdesk\Documents. If in-place restoration is required, you can enable it in Settings and the restored data will overwrite any existing data (this is not recommended).