Backup, restore, setup profiles and factory reset

What a backup zip contains, how import works, what a setup profile carries (and what it deliberately leaves out), and what factory reset does and does not touch.

Settings › System › Download backup produces a zip with:

• the brain's ops database (settings, inventory, roster, journals, history, alerts, rules, bindings),
• a manifest of settings and inventory,
• the Pi's environment file (contains device API keys — keep the zip private),
• the Zigbee2MQTT data (pairings and network keys).

Take one before every update and before any Zigbee change. Import backup zip restores it in place and restarts the brain.

A setup profile is a JSON export of the kit's configuration meant for sharing or for a second kit: zones, targets, stage rail, automation rules, alert preferences, device roles and placements, fixtures. It carries no secrets (no API keys, no camera credentials, no Wi-Fi passwords) and no history. Import shows a diff of what would change and applies only on confirm. If the profile shortens a journal's retention so that existing entries would be deleted, the dialog says how many per journal and the brain refuses to apply anything until that is confirmed too — download those journals first from Journals & storage if you want a copy.

Settings › System › Reset › Factory-reset brain data: type the AP SSID to confirm. The brain writes a backup zip and a database copy first, drops its tables, and restarts into first-boot state (setup wizard, empty roster). It does not:

• touch device firmware or the hub's own stored targets and Wi-Fi,
• change the Pi's hotspot or network config,

It does erase camera frames, timelapses and journal photos: they belong to the wiped tables and are not in the backup zip, so copy the media folder off the Pi first if you want to keep them.

The hub portal's own Factory reset fleet config is a separate action for the fleet's Wi-Fi and pairing.

Reset this browser's preferences clears only this browser's appearance, units, home, chart and alert-delivery choices.

Guide contents  ·  Maintenance & updates  ·  Troubleshooting  ·  Digital Stealth Care

DSC-Brain user guide · Backup, restore, setup profiles and factory reset · this page is edited on the site; the Notion original was retired after the mirror