Backup and restore of z-wave network

[logbuilder]

My z-wave network is controlled by a Aeon gen5 z-stick. It has run perfectly for several years. I really like being able to take the stick to the device when pairing. Especially nice for hardwired devices. My only concern is being able to restore to a new stick should my current one fail. From what I have experienced and also from research, it seems that HS3 does not support restoring the network to this stick and I will have to recreate the network from scratch. That makes me uncomfortable and would much prefer a proper backup/restore solution.

I ran across this chart and am wondering if it is accurate. It clearly indicates the z-stick may not be restored. It also indicates the HS Smartstick+ does support this. Does the Smartstick+ really support backup and restore??

[Charles_cz]

Here is a little Google for you. :-)

How to use Z-Stick Gen5 backup software (Backup, and Restore)

[logbuilder]

Oh my goodness! How did I miss this? Have you used it and confirmed it works? I'll be running it on Win10.

Thanks!!

[zwolfpack]

Aeotec provides a backup/restore utility: https://aeotec.freshdesk.com/support...p-and-restore-

HS3 supports backup/restore for SmartStick+.

That chart is out of date in that HS no longer supports restore to ZWave.me UZB. Since this is what's used in the EU & AU Z-Net, those don't support restore either.

I've done research using the ZWave.me ZMESerialUpdater, which provides similar function as the Aeotec tool but runs on Linux. I've decoded how the *.ZWave file maps back to the device NVM, and have successfully restored data backed up from my production Z-Net to a ZWave.me Razberry device (which HS won't restore to). I've been meaning to get back to this so I can post more details. I'm thinking that these same methods may apply to the Aeotec as well.

[RoChess]

Aeotec also provides info on how to obtain the extremley powerful Silicon Labs PC Controller tool (Zensys Tools) that if memory serves me can also do backup/restore and works on other USB Z-Wave controllers as well such as SmartStick+. It tends to always be best to stick with the backup/restore methods provided by the respective manufacture though.

https://aeotec.freshdesk.com/support...tool-download-

Userguide available @ https://www.silabs.com/documents/log...User-Guide.pdf

[logbuilder]

Thanks all!

I've just ordered a new gen5 z-stick as a backup for my two different z-wave network locations. This has been a nagging concern for a while knowing that if one of the locations had a hard fail on the z-stick that I was in for some significant rework. When it arrives, I'll back up one stick and then restore to the new stick and test to make sure it works. I'm hoping that HS3 won't know the z-wave network is any different. Is that a reasonable expectation?

[RoChess]

Whenever I backup SmartStick+ (or HomeSeer does it auto) the resulting Z-Wave network file is extremely simplistic in nature.

Everything HomeSeer cares about should be in that file (data/Z-Wave folder), and this will all transfer over to the "backup" controller. The main key is to ensure that it runs on the same COM port for USB controllers, and same IP for network ones. Now for network ones, such as a Z-Net you can add both MAC addresses to your static DHCP reservation list, and for USB devices you can just unplug primary one, insert secondary one, adjust COM port, and then unplug it again to put primary in. Windows device manager will list the "hidden" backup device entry and will use that to ensure it immediately is assigned the same COM port if you have to go through a disaster recovery on hardware. Both USB controllers trying to claim the same COM port is recipe for disaster, so be sure to mark everything appropriately.

I've done a few backup/restores on my primary SmartStick+ without issues and even with manipulation of the data, and next month plan to test full disaster recovery with replacement of HS3 system and a backup SmartStick+ which I plan to keep up-to-date whenever I will add devices in the future. The key is to also backup the HomeSeer folder in the event the storage totally fails, but there are awesome plugins available to do that (including to networked drives).

I'm not that worried about downtime caused by having to unplug primary one and replacing it manually with backup one, as long as I can bring everything back in a short time.