Basil Drive can be used by Account Owners to create a backup of all the folders and files in a local or network storage media. This hybrid cloud configuration is used by accounting companies to keep a secondary backup of their client documents for compliance purposes. The Basil Drive Explorer can also provide a central view and access to all the folders and files in the Basil folders and also provide sync and lock information.
Please note: Basil Drive is a software add-on for Basil that must be enabled upon request. It is not provided by default. Basil Drive is currently only available for Windows PCs. Basil Drive can only be used by ONE USER on a Basil account, so it is recommended that the Account Owner be the one to install the program.
Enabling/Installing Basil Drive
To use the Basil Drive feature, you'll first want to contact CoralTree Support and ask for it to be enabled for your account. Please specify the email of your Basil account and whether you wish to upload only, download only, or two-way sync files when making your request.
Once enabled, you can log into Basil, select your profile icon at the top right of Basil, and click 'Basil Drive’'.
This will take you to the Basil Drive download page. Click the ‘Download Basil Drive Client’ button to download and run the setup.exe file to install the Basil Drive Client.
During the installation process, it will ask you where you would like to store the files that will be synced back and forth between the computer and the Basil cloud service. The default location will be in your ‘Documents’ folder, but you may select any other location on your computer. It is highly recommended that you select a location outside of the control of other syncing or backup software such as OneDrive, Google Drive, Carbonite, etc. in order to avoid syncing issues.
Once it has been installed it will ask you to log into the Basil Drive software with your Basil username and password.
After signing in, the Basil Drive Explorer will pop up and begin syncing your client folders and files.
Basil Drive will reside in your hidden system tray icons and on your Windows Start bar. Basil Drive will start when your PC starts and is designed to be left running while your PC is turned on. You’ll always be able to access it from your Windows Taskbar.
Using Basil Drive to Backup/Archive Files
Using Basil Drive to archive files is easy. Once Basil Drive has been installed, it will download all of your client files to your local machine or network drive. Once all are downloaded, you can simply use your Windows File Explorer to navigate to the location where Basil Drive is storing them.
Using Windows File Explorer you can highlight files/folders like you would elsewhere on your PC and right-click on them to ‘Copy’ or ‘Compress to a ZIP file’.
If they have been copied, then you can navigate to where you’d like to store them (like on a thumb drive or network drive), and simply right-click and choose ‘Paste’. If you compressed them to a ZIP file, you can drag the ZIP file out of this location and place it where you want it.
Once the files have been backed up and archived, you can delete the original files/folders by using the 3-dot ‘Actions’ menu from the Client’s Workspace ‘Files’ tab of the Basil Web Interface.
If you backed up the files because you are no longer working with the client, then you can use the Basil Web Interface to remove the Client and all associated workspaces and files. To do this go to the ‘People’ tab, select the appropriate Client, click on the 3-dot ‘Actions’ menu, and choose ‘Delete’.
Using Basil Drive to Add and Edit Files
With Basil Drive installed, you can add files to any Workspace’s Internal/External folders or their subfolders as well as edit any documents already uploaded to Basil.
You can add files to Basil using Basil Drive using multiple methods:
- You can use the Basil Drive Explorer or Windows File Explorer to drag and drop files into the respective Workspace folders. Basil Drive will see these new files and then sync them up to the web.
- You can create a new document in your editing software such as Word or Excel, and then save the new document directly to the folder on your computer that is being monitored by Basil Drive. Similarly, once Basil Drive sees the new file it will be synced to the web.
- Existing files can be copied from a location on your computer or removable drive and then pasted to the appropriate Workspace folder by using Copy/Paste with either the Basil Drive Explorer or Windows File Explorer.
Editing files using Basil Drive is just as easy.
First, navigate to the file you need in either the Basil Drive Explorer or Windows File Explorer.
Then, double-click on the name of the file to open it in your preferred editing software. Once the file has been opened it will ask you if you wish to ‘lock’ the file. You will want to say ‘Lock File’ if you plan to make changes to the file and plan to sync them.
The file will then be ‘locked’ in Basil Drive and the Basil Web Application which will prevent other users from making changes while you are working on the file.
Once you are done making your changes, close your editing software and the file will then sync to the Basil Cloud and the file will ‘unlock’ making it ready to be viewed or edited by other users.
Please note that due to the way Basil Drive works, it can only be enabled on one User account per Basil account. It is recommended that the Account Owner be the one to activate and install the application.
If more than one user on the Basil account (team members) would like to be able to edit the files locally instead of downloading the files from the Basil Web Interface, it is recommended that Basil Drive be installed to a central file server or host computer that is sharing a folder over a local area network (LAN). Team members should be connected to the shared folder via mapped network drives so that Basil Drive can properly monitor the activity of the files and sync them correctly. This option would only be available to users on the same LAN (or same office space) and would not be possible for remote employees.