Transfer campaign data to new computer

[TheeEnlitened1]

I recently got a new computer. Following what I read here, I moved the campaign files from the AppData library on Computer 1 to Computer 2. However, when I load the campaign on Computer 2 in FGU, none of the characters or assets in the folder actually appear in FGU. The db.xml file seems to have the character data (this is most important to me, as I can readd images and NPCs relatively quickly), but I cannot figure out how to get the information from that file to appear in a character selection window or interpret all of the stats to manually recreate character sheets. Any recommendations?

[LordEntrails]

Can you please post screen shots of both FG Data/Campaign folders with details (dates, file sizes) shown?

[Zacchaeus]

It isn’t clear from what you said what you actually moved. You want to copy the folder with your campaign name on it from the campaigns folder in computer 1 and place it into the campaigns folder in computer 2. Is that what you did?

[TheeEnlitened1]

Thanks, folks. I managed to get it to work.

Initially I copied the full campaign folder and all of its contents, including the subfolders (e.g. images), as well as the xml, lua and html files. When I put them into the matching location on Computer 2, booted FGU and tried to load a campaign (after update), it did not show any campaigns to load.

I then tried instead to create a campaign via the normal FGU process, as I would for a new one, using the same name as before. I opened up that new campaign's folder and dropped everything from the old one into it, replacing the contents of the new with the old. However, while opening the db.xml files in Notepad showed me data that seemed to match my old campaign, I could not get anything to show when I opened windows, such as Characters in FGU. It appeared as a campaign with no content.

Immediately after my post, as I began to review all xml files did I notice that there were db.backup, db.session and db.script files in which the campaign data was missing. They were all dated as modified after the transfer (I assume every time I tried to open up the campaign). I realized the system understood my campaign had once existed, but these more recent files were telling FGU I had deleted all those characters and assets. As soon as I found the latest file that still had campaign data and deleted all the script, session and backup files dated afterwards, the campaign booted up just like it had the last time I used it on Computer 1.

Short version: Not sure why, but the initial transfer of the full campaign folder to a new computer did not cause FGU on that new computer to recognize that a campaign already existed. Dumping the old files into a new campaign folder instead just caused FGU to think between sessions I had erased everything.

For anyone who might face that initial transfer issue, any recommendations for how to proceed if they come looking in the forums like I did before they dig themselves into a hole, like I also did?

[mah25]

I'm having a similar problem. I copied the entire campaign directory from one computer to another computer, selected the campaign, but it does not load any of the data. The assets are available, but no PCs, custom NPCs, encounters or etc. Is there a lock file or anything in the campaign directory?

[LordEntrails]

I'm having a similar problem. I copied the entire campaign directory from one computer to another computer, selected the campaign, but it does not load any of the data. The assets are available, but no PCs, custom NPCs, encounters or etc. Is there a lock file or anything in the campaign directory?
No lock file. Can you screen shot your campaign directory with details shown? Also be aware that if you have modules from the forums or the DMsGuild, those will also have to be copied to FGU.

[mah25]

Thanks for the quick reply. I was able to figure out the problem. The db.xml file was missing, but the old db.session.yyyymmdd.xml were there, so I copied renamed the most recent one db.xml. I think the issue may have been copying the campaign folder while the campaign was open in Fantasy Grounds. Another lesson learned about campaign file structure. Thanks again LordEntrails.

[damned]

You should make sure that all versions of the Fantasy Grounds client are closed on both source and target computers when doing the campaign copies.

[E c l i p s e]

I have a similar question, I have a PC in my basement where i do my Saturday games and a laptop I use upstairs where I would like to do most of my prep work. Based on what I'm reading this can be done but I would want to do this repeatedly from PC to Laptop and the Laptop to PC and repeat. Can I just use "remote connection" to operate the PC from the laptop?

[damned]

Can I just use "remote connection" to operate the PC from the laptop?

Yes.

[StrayHomeBoy]

Sorry to kick a dead horse on this topic, but I would like to take it a small step further. I do the same thing as Eclipse, but I go to other places to host my sessions, so I cannot remote into the computer I use to build the campaign. I have experimented with moving the data folder to a cloud drive and making sure that it sync's completely before turning off one computer and moving to the other, but it still doesn't like doing that and ends up "reinstalling" a bunch of stuff every time I change computers. Is there any kosher way to put the data files on a cloud or something so I can move easily from computer to computer? (I understand that cloud introduces its own risk of corrupting files, not completely syncing, and so forth. I am willing to accept that)

[damned]

If you were to do that you would sync the whole FGData folder and you would rerun the updater also.
It could be a lot of data, its not supported etc etc etc... but thats what you would do...

And welcome.

[StrayHomeBoy]

Thanks! Love the program, been using it for a few years now. It's grown amazingly!

Yeah, I figured that'd be your answer, and is what I'm doing. Was just crossing my fingers that there'd be some neat trick I didn't know about, to make it a smoother transition. I'm fine with this though.

Thanks for the quick reply!

[BrettM]

I recently got a new computer. Following what I read here, I moved the campaign files from the AppData library on Computer 1 to Computer 2. However, when I load the campaign on Computer 2 in FGU, none of the characters or assets in the folder actually appear in FGU. The db.xml file seems to have the character data (this is most important to me, as I can readd images and NPCs relatively quickly), but I cannot figure out how to get the information from that file to appear in a character selection window or interpret all of the stats to manually recreate character sheets. Any recommendations?

I'm having a similar problem. Installed FGU onto the New Computer, then transferred everything in the Campaign folder from the Old Computer to the Campaign folder of the New Computer. I then launch FGU, and the "Load a Campaign" button is greyed out and can't be clicked. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Trenloe]

I'm having a similar problem. Installed FGU onto the New Computer, then transferred everything in the Campaign folder from the Old Computer to the Campaign folder of the New Computer. I then launch FGU, and the "Load a Campaign" button is greyed out and can't be clicked. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Create a new test campaign. Does it create it in the same campaigns directory that you copied the campaign files from your old computer to? If so, please provide a screenshot of that campaigns directory in file explorer - showing file details view. If the new campaign is not created in the same directories as your copies, then click the folder icon in the top left of the main FG launch screen and open the campaigns directory in the file explorer window that appears - assuming your new campaign is shown in the campaigns directory, copy your old campaign files to here - then restart FGU.

[BrettM]

Create a new test campaign. Does it create it in the same campaigns directory that you copied the campaign files from your old computer to? If so, please provide a screenshot of that campaigns directory in file explorer - showing file details view.

Yes - the test campaign did create in the same directory that I copied the old campaign files. Screenshot is below - let me know if there are any file details missing you would like to see. (Test Campaign is named as such, with the other three "old" campaigns.) Thanks!

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[Trenloe]

Yes - the test campaign did create in the same directory that I copied the old campaign files. Screenshot is below - let me know if there are any file details missing you would like to see. (Test Campaign is named as such, with the other three "old" campaigns.) Thanks!

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Is the load campaign button accessible now? If so, what campaigns are available to load?

[BrettM]

Is the load campaign button accessible now? If so, what campaigns are available to load?

Hi Trenloe - yes, the button is accessible, but the only campaign accessible is the test campaign I created (please see screenshot). Thanks!

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[Trenloe]

Hi Trenloe - yes, the button is accessible, but the only campaign accessible is the test campaign I created (please see screenshot). Thanks!

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Please provide screenshots from file explorer showing expanded "5E Example Campaign" and "Everyone Must Die!" directories.

[BrettM]

Attached. (Everyone Must Die! is very long, so let me know if you need to see more.)

As soon as you suggested this, I noticed there is no db.xml file in those directories, where there is one in Test Campaign. Any suggestion on which of the xml files I should copy and rename db.xml, if that is the solution? Thanks!

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[Trenloe]

Thanks for the screenshot. You're using some form of backup system on those files that is adding a timestamp to the original file name - this is invalidating all of those files. I'm guessing you've copied the files directly from where they are backed up, rather than using the backup software to restore/download the files with their original file name. If you have access to the old computer, copy across the files from there (putting them on a USB thumb drive might be the simplest), or use your backup software to download the latest files in their original format.

Note: if you are regularly using backup software, make sure it is only backing up on a schedule when FG is not running; and don't use any live sync/backup software that monitors for changes and creates a backup based off those changes - this has been known to cause issues with the FG data files not saving correctly.

[Lo Zeno]

You're taking those files straight from the drive you set up for Windows 10's File History, am I correct?
You can't just drag and drop them from there to the new location: not only the file names include a timestamp of when they were backed up, but they also might not contain all the data (when filenames are too long and/or too big, File History creates a placeholder file in the folder and adds the data in another overflow folder - usually called '$OF'). If you're using windows 10, go into Settings -> Backup and select the option to restore from a previous backup, then you'll be able to pick which files you want to restore. If you're using Windows 11, open the control panel and look for 'Backup and Restore (Windows 7)', then choose the option to restore files from a selected drive, then you'll be able to pick and choose which files to restore.

[Sulimo]

You're taking those files straight from the drive you set up for Windows 10's File History, am I correct?
You can't just drag and drop them from there to the new location: not only the file names include a timestamp of when they were backed up, but they also might not contain all the data (when filenames are too long and/or too big, File History creates a placeholder file in the folder and adds the data in another overflow folder - usually called '$OF'). If you're using windows 10, go into Settings -> Backup and select the option to restore from a previous backup, then you'll be able to pick which files you want to restore. If you're using Windows 11, open the control panel and look for 'Backup and Restore (Windows 7)', then choose the option to restore files from a selected drive, then you'll be able to pick and choose which files to restore.

Pretty sure the OP is on a mac. The picture looks like the macOS Finder (roughly equivalent to Explorer in Windows).

Probably using something like Time Machine, or something similar was used to create the backup.

As Trenloe suggests, what ever the backup software is seems to be changing the file name.

I think this one is probably the latest one (according to the screen shot the user posted):

https://i.imgur.com/Ll1YSa3l.png


Here's a wiki article about restoring db.xml files (https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FGCP/pages/1207304196/Restore+Campaign+to+an+Earlier+Save).

[Trenloe]

None of the campaign files have the correct FG filename. The OP needs to restore all of their campaign files correctly - not just the db.xml file.

[BrettM]

Sorry for the delay and thanks for the information.

I am on a Mac but the files originally came from a Windows machine. I did try a workaround to restore the Windows backup directly to Mac, as the Windows machine was failing and not booting for days at a time.

I’ll tackle the above suggestions, and my thanks!