# Flows Disappeared

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [12 July 2020 06:45 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935 "2020-07-12T06:45:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Peter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/peter/32/25135_2.png) [@Peter](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Peter)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 06:45 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/1 "2020-07-12T06:45:04Z")

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VERY CRITICAL !!!!

Hi all, I really hope someone can assist me

The most unthinkable has happened just now, just as I completed and test my flows, after 2 days of no sleep and delighted to be finished, unfortunately, all my flows have just disappeared!! GONE! 10 min ago!!

I added a button via GPIO pin as the last peach of the puzzle and between / pull up / and pull done the switch floated and crashed node-red. I have restored the PI zero and on the restart of node-red, it was completely blank, everything and all my work are gone, I want to cry, to be honest !!

Please tell me my flows can be recovered somehow, PLEASE PLEASE. someone / anyone help

```auto
Starting as a systemd service.
12 Jul 07:58:37 - [info]
Welcome to Node-RED
===================
12 Jul 07:58:37 - [info] Node-RED version: v1.0.6
12 Jul 07:58:37 - [info] Node.js version: v10.19.0
12 Jul 07:58:37 - [info] Linux 4.19.118+ arm LE
12 Jul 07:58:55 - [info] Loading palette nodes
Missing ENV var CONFIG_PATH
12 Jul 07:59:39 - [info] Dashboard version 2.22.1 started at /psanode
12 Jul 07:59:41 - [info] Settings file : /home/pi/.node-red/settings.js
12 Jul 07:59:41 - [info] Context store : 'default' [module=memory]
12 Jul 07:59:41 - [info] User directory : /home/pi/.node-red
12 Jul 07:59:41 - [warn] Projects disabled : editorTheme.projects.enabled=false
12 Jul 07:59:41 - [info] Flows file : /home/pi/.node-red/flows_psanode.json
Missing ENV var CONFIG_PATH
12 Jul 07:59:42 - [warn]

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Peter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/peter/32/25135_2.png) [@Peter](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Peter)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 06:53 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/2 "2020-07-12T06:53:57Z")

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> [@Peter](#):
>
> `Missing ENV var CONFIG_PATH`

could it be because of this?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Peter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/peter/32/25135_2.png) [@Peter](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Peter)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:00 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/3 "2020-07-12T07:00:35Z")

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HI Have checked the ./node red / ( All files with in )

and could not find my flows ? where could it gone ?

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**Author:** ![Steve-Mcl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/steve-mcl/32/4826_2.png) [@Steve-Mcl](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Steve-Mcl)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:04 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/4 "2020-07-12T07:04:08Z")

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Peter show us a directory listing of `/home/pi/.node-red`

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Peter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/peter/32/25135_2.png) [@Peter](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Peter)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:12 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/5 "2020-07-12T07:12:16Z")

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HI Steve ,,

i hope this is what you requested , and hope you can help ( again ) ( By the way , i got the whole think to work atlas ....just be fore it disappeared

![flowd](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/3/3/33fd71187e68b883437daaec6d20751a13dd6992.jpeg)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steve-Mcl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/steve-mcl/32/4826_2.png) [@Steve-Mcl](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Steve-Mcl)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:20 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/6 "2020-07-12T07:20:45Z")

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Oh dear. It looks like it's all gone.

You might have caused file corruption or your SD card is bad.

This is a horrible lesson in backing up I'm afraid.

You still have much of the stuff we discussed in forum posts etc to build from and as it's only just occurred, things should be fresh in your memory so a rebuild wind have the same level of pain.

Hopefully someone else knows of a trick or means of recovering lost files but don't hold your breath.

😬

Edit. I'm blind. Sorry. It looks like your flow file is present.

Is it empty?

Try opening the .JSON files in a text editor. Do you see your recent work? (Search for a word you recently typed)

Edit 2 - on the off chance you had started node-red with a command line, search your full computer filesystem for \*.json

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cymplecy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/cymplecy/32/2773_2.png) [@cymplecy](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/cymplecy)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:23 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/7 "2020-07-12T07:23:13Z")

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Just to eliminate that your sd card has gone read-only - could you copy settings.js to test.txt

`cp settings.js test.txt`

then reboot and see if its still there in the folder afterwards

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Peter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/peter/32/25135_2.png) [@Peter](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Peter)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:24 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/8 "2020-07-12T07:24:08Z")

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@#$%^&, thats not good ,

i wonder how this is possible, band new SD card and Pi Zero W.

i do have a backup , but that was of 5 days ago and i have done a lot since then , hours and hours of work. its no officially 32 hours i have last slept or even left the pc due to the deadline tomorrow ,

....

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Peter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/peter/32/25135_2.png) [@Peter](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Peter)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:25 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/9 "2020-07-12T07:25:18Z")

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> [@cymplecy](#):
>
> cp settings.js test.txt

let me do that quick...

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![knolleary](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knolleary/32/3_2.png) [@knolleary](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knolleary)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:25 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/10 "2020-07-12T07:25:37Z")

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Run `ls -la` in the .node-red directory and look for the .backup files.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steve-Mcl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/steve-mcl/32/4826_2.png) [@Steve-Mcl](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Steve-Mcl)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:27 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/11 "2020-07-12T07:27:07Z")

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Oh good one.

Ps @Peter do not deploy anything on node-red or any possibility of recovering a backup will be lost.

Edit.

Did you open the .json files in a text editor - see if your recent work is present?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Peter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/peter/32/25135_2.png) [@Peter](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Peter)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:28 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/12 "2020-07-12T07:28:29Z")

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let me do that also quick

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Peter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/peter/32/25135_2.png) [@Peter](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Peter)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:29 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/13 "2020-07-12T07:29:47Z")

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yes , unfortunately the flows\_psanode.jason is empty

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cymplecy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/cymplecy/32/2773_2.png) [@cymplecy](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/cymplecy)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:30 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/14 "2020-07-12T07:30:40Z")

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..and the result is?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Peter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/peter/32/25135_2.png) [@Peter](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Peter)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:35 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/15 "2020-07-12T07:35:30Z")

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HI Nick ,

here is the Ls -la response ..

![Ls](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/6/e/6e574865fa957e3ecbaa4e06af77787981e541c8.jpeg)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Peter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/peter/32/25135_2.png) [@Peter](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Peter)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:36 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/16 "2020-07-12T07:36:55Z")

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@cymplecy HI Simon, i have restarted yet, I wanted to get the ls -la for Nick

must I continue to reboot?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steve-Mcl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/steve-mcl/32/4826_2.png) [@Steve-Mcl](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Steve-Mcl)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:38 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/17 "2020-07-12T07:38:14Z")

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Hang fire on the reboot

Copy them JSON files somewhere else first (a different computer or usb stick)

You might be in luck

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Peter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/peter/32/25135_2.png) [@Peter](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Peter)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:39 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/19 "2020-07-12T07:39:31Z")

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Nick, I think this was about 30 min before the crash ...

drwxr-xr-x 25 pi pi 4096 Jul 12 07:08

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Peter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/peter/32/25135_2.png) [@Peter](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Peter)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:40 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/20 "2020-07-12T07:40:52Z")

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> [@Peter](#):
>
> 25

This was the GPIO number i selected , could this be a backup just before the crash or is this only a loged event ?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![knolleary](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/knolleary/32/3_2.png) [@knolleary](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/knolleary)\
**Post date:** [12 July 2020 07:41 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935/21 "2020-07-12T07:41:30Z")

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The flows\_psanode.json file is not empty.

Have you looked inside? Does it contain flow JSON?

Create a copy of _all_ the .JSON files including the .backup files.

[Next page](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/flows-disappeared/29935.md?page=2)