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Moving an event to another computer ​

Audience: Organisers who set an event up on one laptop and run it on another, and the person receiving it.

How to hand a set-up event to whoever is running it on the day, or move it to the laptop that will run it, and what to check once it arrives.

When you need this ​

Setting an event up and running it are often done on different computers:

  • an organiser builds the event at home, on their own laptop, and sends it to the person running timing on the day;
  • you set it up on your everyday laptop and move it to the laptop that goes to the event, the one with the SportIdent station, the printer and the meshO Prime;
  • the laptop you planned to use has failed and another one has to take over.

The event moves as a backup: one .zip file holding the whole event, which you send and then restore on the other computer. It carries the classes, courses, controls, competitors, start times, screens, map, notes and audit trail exactly as they are.

Some things don't move with it, because they belong to the laptop, not the event. After a restore, a few things on the new copy need checking, above all its links to the outside world: liveresultat, the cloud and Eventor. Most of this page is that checklist.

Tip: Move the event before you click Start event. A move between days of setup is routine. Moving an event that is already live is possible but is a recovery, not a handover; see If the event is already live.

On the laptop the event is leaving ​

  1. Finish setting it up first. Anything you change on this laptop after taking the backup stays here and won't be in the copy. If you need to make another change later, make it on the new laptop instead, or take a new backup and send that instead.
  2. Open the Events list. On the event's card, click Backup event (the downward arrow) and choose Download. The zip lands in your browser's downloads folder, with a name like 2026-03-14.01__Autumn_Sprint__20260312T081500Z.zip. (Save on server keeps the backup on this laptop instead, which is no use for a move.)
  3. Send the zip to the other person, or copy it to the other laptop: a USB stick, a shared drive, a file-transfer link, email if it's small enough.

Warning: Treat the file as private. It holds every competitor's details, including private ones such as birth year, and it holds the event's liveresultat upload password, which also opens the competition's organiser page on liveresultat. Don't post it anywhere public.

Then decide what happens to this laptop's copy:

  • Don't start it here. Two copies of one event on two laptops, both started, would both try to publish to the same liveresultat competition (see Liveresultat).
  • Delete it, or rename it to something like "Autumn Sprint (old setup copy)" so nobody opens the wrong one later. Deleting is safe once the other laptop has restored the event and checked it.

On the laptop running the event ​

Restore it ​

  1. Check that the meshO Manager on this laptop is the same version or newer than the one that made the backup. An older version can't be relied on to read a newer one's backup, so update this laptop first if you need to.
  2. Open the Events list and click Restore. On a laptop with no events yet, it's Restore from backup, beside New event.
  3. On the Local file tab, click Choose file… and choose the zip.
  4. Check the Event name (see below), then click Restore.

The event opens. It keeps its date, and gets the next free number on that date on this laptop, so its id may not match the original's. See Restoring an event for more on what a restore does.

Check the name ​

Restoring asks what to call the event before it's made. A backup made on another computer is offered under its own name, which is what you want for a handover: the name shows on screens, printed splits, exports and liveresultat.

Manager only adds (restored) when the backup came from this computer, where the original may be sitting beside the copy. It also adds it for a backup from an older version of Manager that doesn't record where it was made. Remove it in the name box before clicking Restore. If you've already restored it, remove it under Event details → Details → Event name.

Check what came with the event ​

Work through the Event details tabs:

TabWhat to check
DetailsThe name (above) and the date. The date can't be changed once the event is live, so check it now.
Live resultsWhether it should publish to liveresultat from here. See Liveresultat.
Cloud syncThe restored event isn't linked to any cloud copy the setup laptop published. See Cloud sync.
PrintingAny per-event printer choice, such as a Label printer, names a printer on the setup laptop. Choose this laptop's printer, or go back to the global setting.
Backup & exportAuto backup and external drive backup. See Backups.
ExtensionsExtensions the event uses must be installed on this laptop too. Their per-event settings came with the event.

Liveresultat ​

The event's link to its liveresultat competition, and the upload password with it, travels with the event. That's deliberate: publishing keeps working after a move without retyping anything. It also means two laptops now hold the same link.

  • On this laptop: open Live results and check the competition is the one you expect, and that publishing is switched on if you want it.
  • On the setup laptop: an event only publishes while it's live, so the old copy is harmless as long as nobody starts it. If somebody might, delete it, or open its Live results tab and click Unlink. Unlinking only detaches that copy and forgets its password. It changes nothing on liveresultat, and your new laptop keeps publishing. Do it only after the new laptop shows the competition correctly, because the old copy can't be linked again without the password.

Cloud sync ​

A restored event is never linked to the original's cloud copy, so it can't overwrite it. If the setup laptop already published the event to the cloud, this laptop will publish it as a separate cloud event when you push it or, if automatic sync is on, when you finish it. Usually the setup laptop hasn't published anything yet, and there's nothing to do.

Backups ​

The event's own backup settings travel with it, but check them, because this is the laptop they now have to protect:

  • Auto backup: if it's off, turn it on. It only runs while the event is live.
  • External drive backup: if the setup laptop had a drive chosen, that drive isn't plugged into this laptop. Plug in this laptop's stick, choose it in the Drive list and save. Left as it is, the backup raises a "not plugged in" alert once the event starts.

See Backup and restore.

Set up what belongs to the laptop ​

These are kept in Settings on each laptop and are shared by all its events, so they don't come with the event. Set them up on the new laptop, or check they already are:

SettingWhy it matters
Printers (Settings → Printing)Splits and labels print to this laptop's printers. Each computer's routes are set up here too.
Hire cards (Settings → Hire card registry)The pool of the club's hire cards. Competitors already marked as on a hire card keep that, but a hire card read on the day is only recognised if it's in this laptop's pool.
Hire items (Settings → Other hire registry)The compasses, map boards and so on that the desk lends.
Custom fieldsValues entered against competitors came with the event, but they only show once a field of the same name is defined here.
Club registry and Competitor registryNames, clubs and cards Manager suggests as you type. The event's own competitors and clubs came with it.
EventorThe event still knows its Eventor event. To import late entries or upload results, Eventor must be connected on this laptop with your organisation's API key.
ExtensionsInstalled per laptop.
Access protectionThe PIN for opening Manager. Set one if this laptop will be on a shared network.
ServerThe port, and HTTPS with its certificate. If download laptops connect over HTTPS, turn it on here and trust this laptop's certificate on each of them — the setup laptop's certificate is no use. See HTTPS and certificates.
Live standbyWhether a standby computer may follow events on this laptop, and its pairing code. Pair the standby with this laptop. See Live standby.
Auto backupDefaults for new events only. The restored event has its own settings (above).

Things whose address changes ​

Every link to the event names the server it's on, and the screens' links also carry the event id. Anything you set up against the setup laptop now points at the wrong place:

  • TV screens and info displays. Open each one again from this laptop's Screens page (see TV screens).
  • Access links and QR codes for download laptops, phones and the entry desk. Take them from this laptop's Settings → Server (see Reaching the server).
  • Splits QR codes set to "Use this server's spectator URL" on the setup laptop. Set them again in Event details → Printing.
  • Live export. Files are written to the Exports folder in this laptop's data folder. Point whatever reads them (such as EmmaClient) there.

If it's part of a multi-stage event ​

A carnival or knock-out competition doesn't travel as one: each day is its own event, and the multi-stage event that ties them together is kept on the laptop where it was made. A restored day arrives on its own, not as a stage.

To move a whole carnival, back up and restore each day's event, then on the new laptop create the multi-stage event again and attach each restored event with Use existing event on its Stages tab. See Multi-stage events.

Final check before the day ​

Before you leave the setup laptop behind:

  • [ ] The event opens on the new laptop, with its competitors, classes and courses.
  • [ ] The event has the name it runs under, with no (restored).
  • [ ] Liveresultat is right on this laptop, and the old copy won't publish.
  • [ ] Auto backup is on, and the external drive (if any) is this laptop's.
  • [ ] Printers, hire cards and custom fields are set up here.
  • [ ] Screens, access links and QR codes have been taken from this laptop.
  • [ ] HTTPS, if download laptops use it, is on here and its certificate trusted on them; a live standby, if you use one, is paired with this laptop.
  • [ ] Card download works: read a test card at the download station.
  • [ ] The old copy on the setup laptop is deleted or clearly renamed.

If the event is already live ​

If the laptop running a live event has to be replaced mid-event, take the newest auto backup or external drive backup and restore it on the replacement as above. It arrives as interrupted; click Resume event on its dashboard to carry on. Changes made after that backup was taken aren't in it. The card-download files and the SportIdent stations' own memory can recover the missing downloads; see Repairing a damaged event.

If you would rather not lose anything, set up a live standby before the event: a second computer that keeps a copy updated with every change, and takes over with one button.