Tear-down checklist
Here are some things to consider before you shutdown your race server.
Contents of this page:
Take a backup
If you save a backup of the database, you can run up a new instance of the race server in the future. Almost all the config settings are preserved in that database backup, although for completeness you might find it helpful to save a snapshot of the config settings as a text file too.
If you’ve customised the tech notes then those changes will not be in the database. You’ve probably done that in your own repo though, in which case that is your backup. If you added new files (such as images), check that you have included them.
If you have not been storing race files on the server (because config setting IS_STORING_RACE_FILES_IN_DB is not Yes — by default it is) then you should probably save copies of those as well (from wherever they are).
Disable student logins
Disabling student logins prevents students making any changes on the server. If you’ve been using the task texts matrix for example, it’s probably best to disable student logins to “freeze” this matrix once the last submission deadline has passed.
For “Which users?”, choose “All students” and click Disable logins.
You can enable individual students’ logins (for example, if they are submitting late or are part of a resit group). See Enabling logins.
Leaving the races online
After the project has ended, students may still want to see the races. So although there will be no more uploading (that is, dynamic activity) on the server, the race results and the race player are still there. This might be a good enough reason to not shutdown the race server right away (but consider disabling student logins, above).
If you want to preserve the races for posterity, it is possible to run a standalone race-player on a different site. To do this you’ll need the (JSON) race file for each race, and the standalone race-player. See Publishing race files for more. You’ll need to download the race files before you shut down your race server.
The results tables that are shown on the race server are not explicitly presented in the race player, although they are implicitly shown when the race is replayed.
Consider running a static placeholder
If you’ve shared links to your race server elsewhere — for example, on your institution’s online learning system — simply switching the race server off can be unhelpful. This really only matters if you intend to preserve the domain or subdomain over time, and you want to indicate that the URL is correct (which is good practice!). See running a static placeholder.