Configuration backup/restore

You can save and load backups of your Sonar configuration settings. A configuration profile stores settings from various Sonar configuration files and Windows registry settings in a single JSON file. You can selectively choose which app settings to save or load from a configuration profile.

Configuration profiles have many uses, including:

Quickly switch Sonar to a different audio configuration or driver mode when using multiple audio interfaces

Save hardware setup profiles for different workflows, such as tracking, mixing, live band recording, customizations for recording different band’s etc.

Switch between different control surface configurations

Save startup configurations and launch them via desktop shortcuts using the RestoreConfig command line flag

Transfer app settings between Sonar installations on different computers

Save a backup of a known good state (similar to system backup/restore) in windows

Troubleshooting system related problems

 

Note: Configuration profiles are not a replacement for templates, presets or Workspaces, but provide an additional degree of management for global system and hardware related settings of the app.

Figure 46. The Backup/Restore Settings section.

Saving a configuration profile

To save the current Sonar settings as a configuration profile:

1.	Go to Edit > Preferences > Customization - Backup/Restore Settings.

2.	Select the setting that you want to save:

Audio Configuration. Save audio settings that are stored in Aud.ini.

MIDI Configuration.  Save MIDI settings that are stored in TTSSeq.ini.

Control Surfaces Configuration.  Save control surface settings that are stored in ctrlsurface.dat and ctrlsurface_UWP.dat.

General Application Settings/Configuration.  Save general app settings that are stored in Cakewalk.ini and the Windows registry.

Keyboard Shortcuts. Save all assigned key bindings.

3.	[Optional] Type a description.

4.	Click Save to open the Save As dialog box. By default, configuration profiles are saved as JSON files with a .ccp file extension within %APPDATA%\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core\Config Profiles.

5.	Type a file name, then click Save (the default file name is ConfigProfile_<current date>.ccp).

 

Note: Sonar automatically saves the last known good config profile when exiting the app.

Loading a configuration profile

To load a configuration profile:

1.	Go to Edit > Preferences > Customization - Backup/Restore Settings.

2.	By default, Sonar will load all the settings that are stored in the configuration profile. If you want to selective only load specific settings, select Only apply the settings checked above on load, then select which settings to load:

Audio Configuration. Load audio settings that are stored in Aud.ini.

MIDI Configuration.  Load MIDI settings that are stored in TTSSeq.ini.

Control Surfaces Configuration.  Load control surface settings that are stored in ctrlsurface.dat and ctrlsurface_UWP.dat.

General Application Settings/Configuration.  Load general app settings that are stored in Cakewalk.ini and the Windows registry.

Keyboard Shortcuts. Load key bindings.

3.	Click Load to open the Open dialog box.

4.	Select the desired configuration profile, then click Open.

5.	Sonar prompts you to confirm that you want to load the configuration profile. Click Yes.

Loading a configuration profile on app startup

You can load a configuration profile on startup via a command line:

1.	Do one of the following to open the Command Prompt:

Click the search box next to the Windows Start button, then type CMD and press ENTER.

Press the Windows key + R, then type CMD and press ENTER.

2.	Type the following: <Sonar install path>\Sonar.exe /RestoreConfig=<configuration file folder>\<name of configuration profile file>

For example:

"C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core\Sonar.exe" /RestoreConfig="%APPDATA%\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core\Config Profiles\mysettings.ccp"

3.	Press ENTER.

Sonar launches with the specified configuration profile.

Creating a desktop shortcut with command line parameters

You can add command line parameters to a desktop shortcut. This way you don’t have to manually type command line parameters each time you want to launch Sonar with a specific configuration profile.

To add launch parameters to a desktop shortcut:

1.	Create a new desktop shortcut for each configuration profile (Tip: copy the default Sonar desktop shortcut), and give the shortcut a descriptive name.

2.	Right-click the shortcut and select Properties.

3.	In the Properties dialog box, click the Shortcut tab.

4.	In the Target text box (which already lists the location of the Sonar executable within quotation marks), place the cursor after the last quotation mark, then add a blank space followed by the command line parameters.

For example:

/RestoreConfig="%APPDATA%\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core\Config Profiles\ConfigProfile_2023-03-28.ccp"

The full Target text string should look something like this:

"C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core\Sonar.exe" /RestoreConfig="%APPDATA%\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core\Config Profiles\ConfigProfile_2023-03-28.ccp"

5.	Click OK to save the changes.

You can now double-click the shortcut to start Sonar with the specified configuration profile.

 

See:

Customization - Backup/Restore Settings