Promethist Watchdog

Backing up the configuration

Settings → Export config… writes the global settings and every app you have added to one file. Load config… reads it back. This is the supported way to move a set-up to another PC, and the only way to keep it across a reinstall. The uninstaller deletes Watchdog’s own data directory, so export before uninstalling, to somewhere Watchdog does not own (Documents, a share, a USB stick).

Loading is deliberately forgiving because the file may come from a different machine. You are shown what it contains and asked to confirm; then each app is taken on its own merits:

  • An app whose program is not on this PC is left out. The reason is written to the activity pane and watchdog.log. One missing program never blocks the rest.

  • So is an app whose entry is broken or duplicated.

  • A working folder missing here falls back to the program’s own folder; a log folder missing here falls back to the default location.

  • When apps are already configured, choose Replace (drop them, then take the file’s apps and global settings) or Add missing only (keep them, add apps whose names are new, and leave the global settings alone).

Some things are deliberately not in the file: the SMTP password and the status-report API key, which stay in the Windows Credential Manager (re-enter them after loading), and the per-PC start-at-login task. Imported apps are added stopped — start them from the window, or they launch on the next start if set to auto-start.

From the command line

wdog config export                              a dated file in the current folder
wdog config export C:\backup\wd.yaml
wdog config import C:\backup\wd.yaml --replace   remove what is here first
wdog config import C:\backup\wd.yaml --merge     add only apps that are missing

Either --replace or --merge is required; both are destructive in different ways. As with the Settings dialog, the SMTP password is not in the file. Set it again afterwards using "my-password" | wdog config smtp-password --stdin, and a status-report key with "the-key" | wdog config heartbeat-key --stdin.