Student file backup

At the end of an exam, Schoolyear AVD automatically backs up student files before deleting the exam resources. This page explains how the backup works, how to access backed-up files, and what to do when a backup fails.

How backup works

When an exam ends, the deletion job signals every VM that was active during the exam to start a backup routine. A student may have connected to more than one VM over the course of an exam, for example: after being reassigned following a technical issue. Each of those VMs runs its own backup independently, so no files are lost due to VM switches.

Every backup routine zips the configured file paths and uploads a single archive to the Backup Storage Account deployed in your base resource group. Once all backups complete, the deletion job proceeds to tear down the exam resources.

What gets backed up

By default, every exam image backs up the following folders from the student’s home directory:

• Documents
• Downloads
• Desktop

You can extend this list by adding backup_config_patterns to a layer’s properties.json5 during your image build. See Custom layer for details.

Accessing backed-up files

Teachers and administrators can access student files through the Schoolyear Exam Dashboard. No direct Azure Portal access is needed to retrieve files after an exam.

Files are retained in the Backup Storage Account for 30 days by default. If you need a longer or shorter retention period, you can adjust it directly in the Azure Portal on the Backup Storage Account.

When a backup fails

Caution

If a single backup routine fails, the entire deletion job fails to make sure no data is lost. When this happens, the exam’s Azure resources are not automatically cleaned up and will continue to accrue costs until you intervene.

When a backup failure occurs, Schoolyear will trigger an alert so you can investigate promptly. To resolve the situation:

1. Check the deletion job logs in the Schoolyear dashboard under Secure Apps Console > Exam Orchestration Jobs to identify which VM’s backup failed and why.
2. Attempt to resolve the underlying cause (for example, a permissions issue on the Backup Storage Account or a network time-out).
3. Manually delete the exam resource group in the Azure Portal once you have confirmed the relevant student files are safe. Refer to the clean up resources guide for help identifying leftover resources.