Backups and updates

Back up the right things

Your identity, desktop files and Tutor service have different responsibilities. A backup of one does not automatically restore the others.

Save your identity before you need it

When creating an institutional identity in Tutor ACP, choose a backup phrase and save the encrypted file on a safe storage device separate from the computer. Keep the phrase separately. The application reads the written file to confirm it, then marks the identity Backed up.

This file contains the encrypted active and recovery keys. After confirmation, the private recovery key is removed from the active vault. Share only the two public keys with an administrator.

On another device, use Restore backup to keep the same identity. Use rotation or recovery only when deliberately replacing keys: this revokes the old keys and sessions. Save the replacement identity backup before completing the operation, and keep both backups until reconnection succeeds.

Update Tutor ACP without starting over

1. Confirm you have your encrypted identity backup and its phrase.
2. Close Tutor and preserve a private copy of its application data directory if you need to retain local conversations.
3. Read the latest client release notes, download Tutor ACP 0.0.1 and follow its upgrade instructions.
4. Reopen Tutor, check the selected account and institution, and resume a known course.

Check the release notes for the version you install and follow any required migration steps. A software update alone is not a reason to generate a new identity or replace your recovery keys.

The application-data folder is named fr.aguiovanna.tutor. Its workspace.json files keep conversations and settings; the identity vault is separate. Close Tutor before copying its data.

The Windows vault is protected for the Windows user who created it. Copying that vault to another Windows account does not make it a portable identity backup: use the encrypted export.

Back up a local or hobby Tutor service

Stop every client or service using the profile, then copy the entire profile directory to a private backup. The default directories are ~/.tutor-mcp/local and ~/.tutor-mcp/hobby; use your configured data directory if it is different.

Keep runtime.db, keys.json and any WAL/SHM files together. Do not copy only the main database file while it is open. Restore the original database and original keys into an empty private directory, with the correct operating-system owner.

Keep the previous binary and a matching backup before upgrading. Schema rollback is not automatic. If an existing encrypted database refuses to start because its key is missing, restore that original key rather than generating a replacement.

See Local installation and Hobby hosting for their configuration paths.

Let the operator protect the institution

Institution operators back up PostgreSQL together with the recoverable signing and encryption keys, and test restoration in an isolated environment. Members retain their own identity exports; those do not replace a server backup.

Follow the release’s migration instructions before restarting the API and worker. In the institution profile, run the migrator and reapply the delivered PostgreSQL runtime roles after a schema upgrade.

A new course version and a software upgrade do not automatically publish existing personal programmes or silently move enrolled learners onto a different course version.

Continue with Institution deployment for the operator workflow, or Troubleshooting if a restore or reconnect fails.

Keep going.