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Create or Refresh a Preview Space

The Preview SpacesSpace infeature OPSCOMallows provideadministrators clientsto and support staff withgenerate a secure, isolated testing environment that mirrors yourtheir live production system'ssystem data. TheseIts spacesprimary arepurpose invaluableis to provide a safe sandbox for testing new features, staging system changes, orand conducting training without impacting your operational system,data ensuringor aactual safeend-users. sandboxThis article is intended for developmentOPS-COM administrators responsible for managing system testing and learning.training environments.

    Setup &and Configuration

    Preview spaces are typically createdgenerated on demand.demand Yourdirectly production/from your live OPSCOMproduction environment.

    Admin Side: Administrators require high-level system is usedaccess to eitherpush createdata from the live database to a newpreview environment. No user-side configuration is required, as this is strictly an administrative testing tool.

    Using this Feature

    Administrators can use the following instructions to generate, access, and manage the active state of their preview space or refresh an existing one with current or historical data.database.

    Creating or Refreshing a Preview Space

    1. Click

      Hover over Tools,Tools thenand click Database to Preview.

    From this page, you have two options for refreshingin your previewlive database:production system.

    • For Up-to-Date Information:

      1. Select Backup Production Database. to capture up-to-date information, or select a specific date from the drop-down menu to use an older historical backup.

      2. Wait for the manual backup process to complete.complete, if applicable.

      3. Click the Refresh Preview Database button.button to push the data to the testing environment.

      • The

    • Fordatabase anrefresh Olderprocess Backup:typically
        takes
      1. Select the specific date of the backup you wish1 to restore the preview database to.
      2. Click the Refresh Preview Database button.

    It may take a few minutes to refresh the database. Generally, a database is refreshed in 1-2 minutes, but it can take up to 15 minutes depending on the total size of your organization's database. A notification message will be displayeddisplay along the top of the screen notifyingto alert you when the database refresh is officially complete.

    Accessing the Preview Space

    1. OnceOpen your web browser's address bar.

    2. Insert .preview immediately after your organization's subdomain name and before the main OPS-COM domain (e.g., [https://yourorganization.preview.OPSCOM.com](https://yourorganization.preview.OPSCOM.com)).

    3. Press Enter to navigate to the isolated sandbox environment.

    Locking and Unlocking the Database

    Administrators can lock the preview database hasto beenprevent refreshed,other staff members from accidentally refreshing the system and overwriting active testing or development work.

    1. Log in to your preview systemsite.

      will
      2. automatically
    2. be

      Hover createdover Tools and click Reset Database.

    3. Toggle the lock or updated.unlock Yousetting canas accessneeded.

    4. Enter a justification in the previewprovided systemreason field when prompted by addingthe ".preview" before "OPSCOM.com" in your browser's address bar. For example, if your production space is https://tomahawku.OPSCOM.com, your preview space will be https://tomahawku.preview.OPSCOM.com.system.

    UsingVisual thisCues Featureand Status Indicators

    Accessing
      Your Preview Space

  • AsAmber anWarning OPSCOMBanner: client, you can access your preview space directly by simply adding the ".preview." suffix to your subdomain name. For instance, if your production site is located at https://yourorganization.OPSCOM.com, your preview space can be found at https://yourorganization.preview.OPSCOM.com.

    Preview Space Banner

    To clearly distinguish a preview space from ayour live production system, allthe preview spacesenvironment areprominently denoted withdisplays an amber warning banner displayed prominently atacross the top of theevery page.

    Locking
    • and Unlocking Database Reset Option

  • YouLock canAction nowHistory: lock and unlock preview and development OPSCOM databases to prevent them from being reset or refreshed accidentally.

    1. On your preview site, click Tools, thenThe Reset Database.
    2. Togglepage the lock/unlock setting as needed.
      • You will be prompted to providedisplays a reasonhistorical for locking or unlocking the database.
      • A historylog of the previous 10 lock/lock and unlock actionsactions, willproviding bea displayedreference belowtrail for yourthe reference.administrative team.

    This feature allows you to ensure that if you are actively working on a preview/development system and do NOT wish for your changes to be reset or lost, you can place a lock. This lock notifies others attempting to refresh the database that a reset is not desired.

    Best Practices &and Considerations

    • TestingUnderstand email suppression rules: All email notifications are automatically captured and Trainingsuppressed Benefitsin the preview environment.: This is a deliberate security measure to prevent accidental communications—such as test citations or training receipts—from reaching actual clients or external recipients.

    • Plan for automatic deletion: Preview spacessites are extremelyautomatically usefuldeleted after 7 days of no login activity. If your team requires a preview site for testingan andextended training purposes.period Theyor allowa long-term staging project, you tomust workcontact withOPS-COM support staff so a copycustom ofexpiry your live database, providing real data for exercises without any risk of affecting your production system. The databasedate can be manuallyset.

      reset
      • at
    • any

      Utilize time, allowing you to "erase" trainingdaily data andbackups: start testing scenarios from scratch.

    • Daily Data Backups: Production/liveProduction data is backed up daily at 2 AM EST and is available to push to the testing environment at any time. This means ifIf you perform a refresh of your preview site,site itwithout initiating a brand new manual backup, the system will automatically pull the data captured from the night before.

      This operation is specifically for providing relevant data for testing and preview during training or similar efforts and is separate from normal system backup procedures.
    • Automatic Deletion of Inactive Spaces: Preview sites are automatically deleted after 7 days of no login activity.
      • If you require a preview site for an extended period, please contact OPSCOM support staff, and an expiry date can be set.
    • Email Notifications are Suppressed: No Emails Sent from Preview/Testing - All email notifications that would normally be sent from the server are captured and suppressed in preview/testing environments. Therefore, any email notifications generated within your preview space will not reach clients or external recipients. This is a deliberate security measure to prevent accidental communication from a non-production environment.
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