Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to the questions that come up most. If yours isn’t here, email support@arkhinet.com.

Where is my data stored?

ArkhiNet keeps things in a few places:

• Your inventory is the data file you created or opened on first launch: a .json file, or .arkhinet when encrypted. It lives wherever you saved it. To find it, use ☰ → File → Open Data File Folder or Copy Data File Path.
• Scripts are stored in a file next to the data file with the same name plus .scripts.json (or .scripts.arkhinet when encrypted).
• This computer’s settings are in %APPDATA%\ArkhiNet\config.json: theme, level names, shown and hidden features, default Launch Buttons, pinned clients, saved tabs, and per-device usernames and key file paths.
• Backups of the data file go to %APPDATA%\ArkhiNet\backups unless you choose another folder in Settings → Data file → Backups.
• Session logs go to Documents\ArkhiNet Logs by default.
• The error log (main.log) opens with ☰ → Help → Open Log Folder. It stays on your computer.

For the details, see Where your data lives.

Caution

Encryption covers the data file, its scripts file and its history. It does not cover config.json, Notepad files, session logs, downloaded files or exported reports and diagrams.

How do I move ArkhiNet to a new PC?

Install ArkhiNet on the new PC and open the same data file, plus its scripts file if it’s local. Settings stored on the old computer don’t travel with the data file, and a Team license needs Deactivate this computer on the old PC first. The full steps are in Move to a new PC.

Why doesn’t ArkhiNet save my passwords?

It’s a deliberate design choice: ArkhiNet never stores passwords or keys. You log in inside the terminal each time, and the SSH client (PuTTY, or Windows OpenSSH if you chose it) handles authentication and host keys. A data file that is shared, synced or copied therefore never carries credentials.

To make logging in faster, you can save a username and the path to a PuTTY .ppk key file for each device, or as a default for every device in Settings → Connections. Both are kept on this computer only, never in the data file. If you run Pageant, its keys work with no setting at all. See How ArkhiNet handles credentials.

The app says my data file needs a newer ArkhiNet

You’ll see This data file needs a newer ArkhiNet when the file was saved by a newer version, usually by a coworker who updated first. ArkhiNet refuses to load or save it so nothing the newer version added is lost. The file has not been changed.

1. Click Check for updates.
2. When the update has downloaded, close ArkhiNet to install it, then open it again.

Or click Open a different file… to work from another data file meanwhile. When several engineers share one file, update everyone together.

How do I restore from an automatic backup?

Before ArkhiNet writes the data file, it copies the current version to the backup folder: at most one copy every 10 minutes, plus one before every merge and every import. The newest 20 are kept. There’s no restore command: you copy a backup out of the backup folder and open the copy as your data file. The steps are in Restore a backup.

Updates aren’t appearing

ArkhiNet checks for updates shortly after launch and every 6 hours, downloads them in the background, and installs them when you quit. If you rarely quit, an update can sit waiting.

1. Choose ☰ → Help → Check for Updates…. Settings opens on Updates & About and shows the result.
2. If an update has downloaded, click Restart & Install.
3. If the check fails, the error is shown there. Updates are downloaded from GitHub, so a proxy or firewall that blocks it will stop them.

You can always download the latest installer from arkhinet.com/download and run it over your current version. Your data file isn’t touched by the installer.

The data file can’t be found

If the data file was moved, renamed or its share isn’t connected, ArkhiNet shows Data File Not Found with the path it expected. Reconnect the share and restart ArkhiNet, click Locate File… to point it at the file’s new location, or Create New File… to start over.

SFTP doesn’t work on my FortiGate

FortiGates don’t offer SFTP, so File Transfer reports that the device doesn’t offer SFTP. Use SCP with Quick transfer instead:

1. Right-click the FortiGate in the sidebar.
2. Choose Quick transfer (SCP)….
3. Choose the direction and the remote path, then start the transfer and log in inside the pane.

For a configuration backup, the path is sys_config, which needs admin-scp enabled on the FortiGate.

How do I get support?

Email support@arkhinet.com. It helps to include:

• your ArkhiNet version, shown in Settings → Updates & About
• what you did and what happened
• main.log, from ☰ → Help → Open Log Folder