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1. Embed this notice
   Shannon Skinner (she/her) (shansterable@c.im)'s status on Tuesday, 28-Nov-2023 01:50:00 JST Shannon Skinner (she/her)

   • FediTips has moved!

   @feditips
   I couldn't access Mastodon for most of the day yesterday. I figured the server I'm on was down for whatever reason.

   It got me thinking, though. What if the server never came back up? Is there a way I can create something like a backup for my account that I can take to another server if necessary?

   I read the instructions for moving my account to a different server, but those instructions assume I am moving now. There was no mention as to whether the data export CSV files could serve as a a general backup to be used in the future if my server ceases to function or how that would work.

   What is the best way to prepare for such a disaster?

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Tuesday, 28-Nov-2023 01:49:59 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     @shansterable

     Yes and no.

     The CSV files are mainly for account transfers, but that does require both servers to be active at the time of the transfer.

     There's also a different system which is your account archive. You can get this by clicking the "Request your archive" button below the CSV list, on the "Export" page.

     This does more than the CSVs, it downloads all your posts etc.

     Mastodon doesn't (currently?) let you upload this to a new account, but another Fedi platform Firefish does.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Tuesday, 28-Nov-2023 01:52:15 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     @shansterable

     Sp, there's the weird situation where Mastodon doesn't support Mastodon archive imports, but Firefish (made by totally different people!) does support Mastodon archive imports.

     If you import on Firefish, the posts are recreated though they will no longer be at their original URLs, so any threads etc will break. However, the contents will be accessible, though at totally new addresses.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Tuesday, 28-Nov-2023 02:36:04 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     @shansterable

     Do download the archive if you want, at the very least that would preserve your posts for your own reference.

   • Embed this notice
     Shannon Skinner (she/her) (shansterable@c.im)'s status on Tuesday, 28-Nov-2023 02:36:05 JST Shannon Skinner (she/her)

     in reply to

     • FediTips has moved!

     @feditips
     Thanks. So maybe Mastodon will work on this.

     I'll choose to do nothing and trust my server admin to keep things running! I hope I never have to switch or recreate my account from scratch, but I will do it if necessary.

     Viva Mastodon!