Do I Need to Backup .bak Files?

AlphaBetaPie

I noticed that with es_input.cfg or the 8BitDo input files in the autoconfig folder, a .bak file is always generated next to the config files. When backing these up to restore them at a later time, do I really need to also backup the .bak files? Or is that not important? I want to ensure everything is put back exactly as I want from install to install. Thanks!

sleve_mcdichael

No, the .bak files are not necessary to preserve and may be omitted if you want. They'll just be replaced or overwritten next time you make a change anyway.

ExarKunIv

@AlphaBetaPie no you don't. Those are backups before a chance happened so if the new change does not work you can always go back to the one that did work.

So if you just copy the main that's working you should be ok.

But it can't hurt to save both

AlphaBetaPie

@ExarKunIv said in Do I Need to Backup .bak Files?:

@AlphaBetaPie no you don't. Those are backups before a chance happened so if the new change does not work you can always go back to the one that did work.

So if you just copy the main that's working you should be ok.

But it can't hurt to save both

Thanks to both replies. Since I have semi-conflicting options above, here is what I most need to know. If I set everything in my inputs exactly as I want it, I want to ensure these are always restored the way I left them. Can I do that with just the config file? IE: when the system generating a new .bak file every time change or overwrite anything I had previous set in my inputs?

sleve_mcdichael

@AlphaBetaPie it's not conflicting, we are telling you the same thing. The backups are never used by RetroPie, but you may choose to manually restore one if you wish. It is as Exar said, just a record of what the settings were, before the most recent change.

When you make a change, the current settings are written to backup (overwriting the old backup, if one exists, which is then lost forever) and the new settings are written to the active config (overwriting the old active config, which is now preserved, temporarily, in the backup.)

AlphaBetaPie

@sleve_mcdichael said in Do I Need to Backup .bak Files?:

@AlphaBetaPie it's not conflicting, we are telling you the same thing. The backups are never used by RetroPie, but you may choose to manually restore one if you wish. It is as Exar said, just a record of what the settings were, before the most recent change.

When you make a change, the current settings are written to backup (overwriting the old backup, if one exists, which is then lost forever) and the new settings are written to the active config (overwriting the old active config, which is now preserved, temporarily, in the backup.)

Makes sense, thanks for clarifying. I am running things in kiosk mode 99% of the time, and I don't intend for anyone to make any changes if I can help it (myself included, as I'll have it set the way I want when I do my initial setup). So it seems like the config file is the only real necessary one. Thanks!