> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://wiki.inels.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://wiki.inels.com/inels-harmony/administration/keeping-it-running.md).

# Keeping it running

Backups, updates, server health, logs and security — the maintenance half of the job.

Once the hotel is live, this is everything you will need occasionally and be very glad to have.

## Backups

A backup holds the entire configuration — rooms, devices, zones, automations, users, guests and bookings.

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

#### Settings → Backup → Get backup file

{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Save it somewhere that is not the Harmony server

A backup living only on the machine it protects is not a backup.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Name it with the date

`harmony-grandpalace-2026-09-25.sql` — so you can tell three of them apart in a hurry.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

**Take one:** at the end of initial setup, before any update, before a large change, and on a schedule the hotel agrees to.

{% hint style="danger" %}
**Restoring replaces everything.** Every booking, guest and configuration change made since that backup is discarded, and there is no undo. Take a fresh backup *first* — even of a broken system — then type `REPLACE_ALL_DATA` to confirm.
{% endhint %}

**Factory reset** empties the database completely and returns Harmony to a fresh install. It asks you to type `FACTORY_RESET`. Use it when repurposing a server, never as a troubleshooting step.

<details>

<summary>What a backup does and does not contain</summary>

**In it:** hotel settings, floors, rooms, room types, gateways, devices, zones, readers, automations, users, guests, bookings, cards, housekeeping history and integration settings.

**Not in it:** the Harmony software itself, the server's operating system, the configuration held inside gateways and locks, and files outside the database.

So rebuilding a server means: install Harmony, then restore the backup.

</details>

## Software updates

Updates are published to Harmony Cloud and installed from **Licensing → Firmware update**.

**Before you update:** read the release notes, take your own backup, pick a quiet time, and tell reception and housekeeping — all services restart, so the front desk cannot work for a few minutes.

Choose a version, click **Update firmware**, confirm, and wait. Harmony backs up automatically, downloads, applies any database changes and restarts everything. **Leave the page open and do not reboot the server.**

**Afterwards, verify:** the version shown is the new one, all gateways are online, room cards show live values, and a test booking can be created, checked in and checked out.

{% hint style="info" %}
**How often?** Security fixes promptly. Features the hotel asked for at the next quiet period. Everything else once or twice a year.
{% endhint %}

## Server health

**Server** is the quickest way to tell "Harmony is broken" from "one part of Harmony is broken".

| Process            | Responsible for                            | If it is down…                     |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------- |
| Administration app | The :81 app and its API                    | You could not be reading this page |
| Reception app      | The :82 app                                | Reception cannot take bookings     |
| Housekeeping app   | The :83 app                                | Cleaners cannot see tasks          |
| Automation rules   | Running your IF/THEN rules                 | Service buttons raise nothing      |
| Syslog collector   | Turning device messages into notifications | Alerts stop appearing              |
| Gateway drivers    | Talking to BUS, eLAN and API units         | Room cards go blank                |

**Refresh** re-reads the state. **Restart apps** restarts the applications — under a minute, but anyone working in Reception loses their session.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Restarting is not a diagnosis.** If the same process is down again ten minutes later, read the Logs instead of restarting repeatedly.
{% endhint %}

## Logs and Events

Two pages, two different questions.

| Page       | Answers                                  | Columns                              |
| ---------- | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| **Logs**   | "Why did the software behave like that?" | Timestamp, level, component, message |
| **Events** | "What happened in the hotel, and when?"  | Timestamp, event type                |

Events is the operational history: buttons pressed, cards presented, booking statuses changing, automations firing. It answers "the guest says they pressed Butler and nobody came" and "who checked this booking out?".

Both pages **Export** to a file and **Clear** permanently.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Export before you clear.** Clearing cannot be undone, and if the hotel keeps records of access or response times, that file is the record.
{% endhint %}

## Security

The five things that matter most:

1. **Change the default password.** `admin@hotel.local` / `harmony` is identical on every installation.
2. **One account per person** — shared logins make the history useless and cannot be revoked individually.
3. **Give the smallest role that works.** A receptionist does not need Admin.
4. **Deactivate leavers the day they leave.**
5. **Keep Harmony off the public internet.** It is designed for the hotel's own network. If remote access is genuinely needed, put it behind a VPN — not a port forward.

**Settings → Security** additionally restricts which machines may reach the apps, by IP address: one list for Reception, one for Administration.

{% hint style="danger" %}
**You can lock yourself out.** Add the address you are working from *before* you add anyone else's, and confirm you still have access from a second browser tab before you leave. And only use this feature if those machines have fixed addresses — a DHCP lease change silently locks the front desk out.
{% endhint %}

## Guest data

Names, addresses, phone numbers and stay history are personal data under GDPR and comparable laws. Collect only what the hotel needs, agree a retention period, and keep backups somewhere access-controlled — a backup file contains every guest record in plain form.