LARBACC

The problem

Projects in Autodesk Construction Cloud feel safe because they're in the cloud. But a deleted folder or an ended subscription can still take years of work with it.

What it does

LARBACC (Local, Automatic, Rotating Backups of Autodesk Construction Cloud) keeps dated copies of ACC and BIM 360 projects on a local or network drive. You choose the projects and folders, a destination and a weekly time. It downloads the latest version of every document and keeps the last few backups. The interface is in German and English.

Only changes get downloaded. If a document hasn't changed since the last backup, LARBACC links to the earlier copy instead of downloading it again (a file-system feature called a hard link). Later runs are fast, and five backups don't take five times the space. A run only counts as a backup once its complete file list is written, so a crash or power cut can't leave a half-finished folder that looks complete.

Sign-in uses PKCE, so there's no secret key inside the program. If LARBACC was closed when a backup was due, it runs at the next start, and a failed run tries again after 15 minutes, 1 hour and 4 hours.

Features

• Choose ACC and BIM 360 projects, folders and a destination; the latest version of every document is saved under its ACC name
• One dated folder per project and run, with a report and a list of every file and its ACC version
• Unchanged documents are linked to the previous backup instead of downloaded again
• Keeps the last few backups per project (5 by default) and never deletes anything after a run that had failures
• A run only becomes a backup once its file list is written; failed and cancelled runs are kept and labelled
• Include or leave out any folder; new folders follow the choice made for their parent folder
• Weekly schedule on any days and time, running from the Windows notification area and optionally starting with Windows
• Missed backups run at the next start; failed ones are retried after 15 minutes, 1 hour and 4 hours
• Secure sign-in (PKCE) with no secret key shipped in the program; an optional key is stored encrypted for the Windows user
• 1 to 8 downloads at once, a test run that downloads nothing, and daily logs
• German and English interface

Terms on this page

BIM

Building Information Modelling: designing a building as a shared 3D model that also holds data about every part, instead of separate drawings.

ACC / BIM 360

Autodesk Construction Cloud, an online platform where project teams store and share models and documents. BIM 360 is the older version.