QTest Backup Restore and upgrade wizard interoperability after failed upgrade

Direct answer

QTest should not be assumed to roll back automatically after a failed upgrade. Treat manual restoration from a pre-upgrade backup as the required recovery path. A backup from QTest version N is not assumed safe to restore on version N+1 or a later major release; restore to a version-matched instance unless Tricentis confirms otherwise for your build. Verify backup integrity before relying on it for recovery.

Likely explanation versus confirmed facts

Item	Position
Automatic rollback by upgrade wizard	Not confirmed. Failed upgrades can leave partial schema or file changes that a wizard cannot reliably reverse.
Backup restore across versions	Not assumed compatible across major versions. Version-matched restore is the documented baseline.
Backup integrity verification	Required in practice: checksum the backup and trial-restore to an isolated instance before production recovery.

Steps for this case

1. Stop the upgrade and preserve the failed installation, database, and backup files without overwriting them.
2. Install the same QTest edition and build that produced the backup on a recovery or isolated instance.
3. Restore the pre-upgrade backup to that version-matched instance.
4. Confirm application startup, user access, and test data consistency before retrying any upgrade.
5. Retry the upgrade first on a cloned non-production copy of the same version and build.

Verification before relying on the backup

Checksum the backup archive and store the result separately:

sha256sum qtest-backup-.tar > qtest-backup-.sha256
sha256sum -c qtest-backup-.sha256

Then perform a trial restore to an isolated instance running the backup's source version. Verify that the service starts and representative projects load. Only after that succeeds should the backup be treated as a recovery option.

Assumptions and uncertainty

• Exact QTest edition and current build are not provided. Rollback behavior and restore compatibility can differ by edition and version, so confirm the specific upgrade guide and release notes with Tricentis support for your build.
• Cross-major restore from version N to N+1 or later is unconfirmed. Do not treat a successful same-version restore as proof that a later major release will accept the backup.
• No claim is made that the upgrade wizard preserves the previous installation state; partial upgrades may require manual cleanup before a restore can succeed.