Automate Teamspeak Server Backup in Windows

[Josh Calvin]

UPDATE:After further testing I have determined that THE BACKUPS ARE BROKEN. Two things break them. One, when the command prompt saves the snapshot to notepad, it adds an [enter] to each line, causing serverquery to read each line as a command. In addition, the command prompt saves the snapshot using ASCII encoding instead of UTF-8, causing the snapshot to lose characters and corrupting the checksum, causing serverquery to deny it as a snapshot, rendering it useless, even if one takes the time to remove all the extra [enter]s placed into the snapshot. I will will leave this article here in the hopes that someone can find it useful and fix the problems caused when command prompt records the snapshot.


I recently found a way to automate server backup of windows, and decided to share this information since I could not find it elsewhere. This is a method for backing up a locally hosted windows teamspeak server.

This makes use of serverquery and the serversnapshotcreate command. What this method does, is it uses a batch file to telnet into the teamspeak server serverquery. Then an autohotkey script inputs credentials and the necessary commands to create a serversnapshot and save it to a text file. Windows Task Scheduler is used run the script daily.

Note: I have attempted to Bold and Italicize the parts of code that need to be configured with your specific values

Important: Only one backup will be kept per day. Re-running this script will overwrite the textfile where the backup is saved with the newest settings.


The Process:

Enabling Telnet:

• First enable Telnet in the command prompt by going to Control Panel, Programs and Features, and click "Turn Windows Features On or Off"
• Check "Telnet Client" and let it install

Creating the Batch File

• Create a directory for your backups I.E "C:\Users\Josh Calvin\Google Drive\TeamSpeak 3 Server\Backups"
• Create a text file and input

  telnet 127.0.0.1 10011 -f "Backup Directory Path\Backup %DATE:/=-%.txt"

• Example:

  telnet 127.0.0.1 10011 -f "C:\Users\Josh Calvin\Google Drive\TeamSpeak 3 Server\Backups\Backup %DATE:/=-%.txt"

• Save it as BatchBackup.bat in your backup directory

Installing Autohotkey

• Download and install Autohotkey from https://autohotkey.com/

Creating the Script

• Navigate to your backup directory
• Rightclick and choose New>Autohotkey Script
• Name it what you like. I named mine "Auto Backup"
• Rightclick and click edit
• Input

  #NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
  ; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
  SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
  SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
  #SingleInstance Force
  
  Run, BatchBackup.bat, Backup Path Directory, Min
  Sleep, 1000
  SetTitleMatchMode, 2
  ControlSend, , login Username Password{enter}, Telnet 127.0.0.1
  Sleep, 200
  ControlSend, , use sid=1{enter}, Telnet 127.0.0.1
  Sleep, 200
  ControlSend, , serversnapshotcreate{enter}, Telnet 127.0.0.1
  Sleep, 20000
  ControlSend, , quit{enter}, Telnet 127.0.0.1
  Return

• Example:

  #NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
  ; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
  SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
  SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
  #SingleInstance Force
  
  Run, BatchBackup.bat, C:\Users\Josh Calvin\Google Drive\TeamSpeak 3 Server\Backups, Min
  Sleep, 1000
  SetTitleMatchMode, 2
  ControlSend, , login serveradmin P4$$w0rd{enter}, Telnet 127.0.0.1
  Sleep, 200
  ControlSend, , use sid=1{enter}, Telnet 127.0.0.1
  Sleep, 200
  ControlSend, , serversnapshotcreate{enter}, Telnet 127.0.0.1
  Sleep, 20000
  ControlSend, , quit{enter}, Telnet 127.0.0.1
  Return

• Notes: This assumes that your telnet port is 10011 (default) and your server id is 1 (default)

Converting the AHK to an EXE

• In order to run the script daily it needs to be converted to an executable
• In AutoHotKey's installation directory is a file called "Ahk2Exe.exe"
• Run it and name the exe what you like. I named mine "Auto Backup"

Configuring Autobackup

• Open start and type "Task Scheduler"
• Create a basic task, name it, choose daily (or the preferred setting), start a program, and select the executable you made. I.E "Auto Backup.exe"

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Restoring a Backup

• Open command prompt and type

  telnet 127.0.0.1 10011
  login Username Password
  use sid=1
  serversnapshotdeploy Serversnapshot text

• Example:

  telnet 127.0.0.1 10011
  login serveradmin P4$$w0rd
  use sid=1
  serversnapshotdeploy hash=6cpOXuNrdb04J+AQwZcsiUe21r0=|virtualserver_unique_identifier=Fv1HJXuhFh03uE
  8QgXRb1OcIbdY= virtualserver_name=...permnegated=0|end_flat|channel_client_flat end_flat|end_permissio
  ns

• Note: The serversnapshot is a large amount of text that gets larger the more confifurations your channel has. I left out most of it to conserve space.

Good luck!