Access Database View

Need to manage sessions, backups, or file transfers in database view? You’ll find everything under Database options, but what you see depends on where your data is hosted — Microsoft Azure or a data center.

Microsoft Azure is a secure, cloud-based platform that hosts your organization’s data and applications. When your data is hosted in Azure, you access Database View through Citrix Workspace, and you have additional options for managing backups, sessions, and file transfers. Azure hosting provides enhanced scalability, security, and integration with other Microsoft services compared to traditional data center hosting.

Not sure where you’re hosted?

Here’s a quick way to check:

  1. Select Database in the upper-right menu in Raiser's Edge NXT.

  2. If you see:

  • Only a list of environments and Open database view → You’re hosted in a data center.

  • Also Install Workspace,Regional settings , Hosted files, and Database options → You’re hosted in Microsoft Azure.

If you’re hosted in Microsoft Azure

You have more tools at your fingertips. Here’s what you can do:

Manage sessions and backups

Blackbaud automatically backs up your database view data on a nightly basis. However, with Bulk Data Delivery, admins can manage these backups:

  1. Go to Database, Database options.

  2. Under Backups, download backups from the previous seven days under Available backups.

    Tip: Admins! Before you download, download the certificate and private key under Backups and install them on your local 2019 SQL Server. Certificates and private keys are unique to each production and test database at your organization.

Backups don’t include Web View–only data.

Need secure access? Use a shared access signature (SAS) URL.

Fix Citrix connection issues

If you can’t connect when you select Database, Open database view, and you have no way to resolve the error, try resetting your Citrix profile:

Tip: We recommend you only reset your profile when there is no other way to resolve an error.

Note: Resetting removes custom settings like Favorites and column order.

  1. End active sessions under Session information, Terminate session.

  2. Under Citrix user profile information, select Reset user profile.

Access your FTP location

Blackbaud provides a secure file transfer protocol (FTP) location where you can safely store files. To access your FTP location in Citrix:

  1. Select Database , Hosted files, or use an FTP client like WinSCP or Cyberduck (such as to share with a third-party vendor through an automated process).

  2. Under FTP access, you can:

    • View your username and password (select Show for password).

    • Rotate or Unlock your password if it’s expired or your account is locked. Passwords expire every 45 days, after which it automatically refreshes when you select FTP access.

    • Check the server location and port (default SFTP port: 22).

End Stuck Sessions

If Citrix freezes or disconnects:

  1. Under Session information, select Terminate session.

  2. Wait for sessions to end, then reopen database view.

Session information

Under Session information, you can view your current Citrix sessions with the database view. For each session, you can view its Citrix details, which machine you used, its state, and when it started.

If you're abruptly disconnected from the database view, it may be unresponsive or stuck when you next select Database , Open database view. For example, nothing may happen, or Citrix may appear stuck and then disappear. If this happens, rather than restart your browser or computer or use an application like Microsoft Task Manager to end Citrix and its related processes, select Terminate session under Session information to end the session and quickly resume your work.

Note: It may take a minute for your sessions to end. Once they do, select Database , Open database view to return to the database view.

If you’re hosted in a data center

To help store files and share them with third-party vendors through automated processes, each database includes a secure file transfer protocol (FTP) location. From Database , Open database view, select Database view options in the top right corner of the page to view the FTP account credentials required to access the FTP location.

Note: To log into the FTP account through your installation of Citrix Workspace, select Launch under Files from the Citrix access page. You can also use the credentials to enable access from an FTP client such as WinSCP or Cyberduck.

For each database, the details include:

  • User name and Password — The FTP account credentials used to access your FTP location. To view the password, select Show.

  • Expiration — When your password expires. For security, your password expires every 45 days, after which it automatically refreshes when you select Database view options. 

    Tip: To refresh the password before it expires, such as to ensure upcoming automated processes run successfully, select Rotate/Unlock.

  • Status — Whether your FTP account is locked. For security, Blackbaud locks your FTP account if an incorrect password is used too many times or if your password expires.

    Tip: To unlock your account, select Rotate/Unlock.

  • Server — The server location of your FTP account.

  • Port — The default port (22) for secure FTP protocol.