Compare configurations

On Mac, configuration snapshots let you see which device settings have changed. Select a device and choose Devices → Configuration Snapshots…, or open the same command in its menu in the registry. In builds with licensing, this is a work tool: see Account and license.

Snapshots work with Xiongmai, Hikvision, Hik-Connect and ONVIF settings. Their contents depend on the protocol and what the device returns. Watchpost reads the configuration blocks it supports; a snapshot is not a complete image of the device or its firmware.

Take a snapshot

1. Choose Take Snapshot. Watchpost connects to the device and reads its configuration blocks in sequence.
2. Wait for the reading to finish. The new snapshot appears in History, with its time and block count. Watchpost also keeps the model and firmware information returned by the device in the snapshot.
3. Check whether the entry reports blocks that could not be read. A saved snapshot can be incomplete.

Opening the window does not read the device automatically. If the history is empty, choose Take Snapshot to create the first entry. If reading fails, check the connection and the error before trying again.

The history also includes automatic backups marked before a write. Each of those holds the previous values of one configuration block, saved when you applied changes in Device settings.

Compare with the device

Select a history entry and choose Device Now in Compare with. If Watchpost has not read the needed blocks in this window, choose Read the Device. This reads the blocks needed for the selected entry without writing settings to the device.

Choose a section to see its differing fields. The column headings identify the device reading and the selected snapshot or backup. Counts refer to differing fields in the blocks that both sides have.

Device Now means the last reading in this window. Check its reading time. Use the refresh button beside it to read the device again after changing settings elsewhere; the comparison does not monitor changes continuously.

Compare two saved entries

Select one entry in History, then choose another in Compare with. You can also open another entry’s context menu and choose Compare with the Selected One. This comparison uses saved data and needs no new device reading.

A backup contains only one block. Comparing it with a snapshot does not compare the rest of that snapshot’s configuration.

Understand incomplete comparisons

No differences applies only to the blocks that Watchpost compared. Check the notes below the section list: they identify blocks present on only one side and blocks the device did not return. Missing or unread blocks do not count as equal.

A snapshot’s own unread count also matters. Take a new snapshot after resolving a reading problem if you need those values in the saved history. Reading the device for comparison does not fill in an older saved snapshot.

This window compares values. To restore a configuration block from a backup, use Restore a block from a backup.

Name, remove or transfer entries

Open a manual snapshot’s context menu and choose Rename… to give it a label such as “before the firmware update”. Automatic block backups do not offer renaming.

Delete… asks for confirmation and removes the selected snapshot or backup from this Mac. It changes nothing on the device. Deleting a block backup also removes that entry from the editor’s restore history.

Snapshots and block backups use Watchpost’s local storage protection. To move selected history with device connections, include it in a registry export file. QR transfer does not include it.

The comparison window described here is a Mac feature. The current iPhone, iPad and Android interfaces do not offer the same snapshot comparison workflow. The manufacturer’s own device configuration files are a separate tool.