Exporting a Support Bundle
Updated July 17, 2026
Exporting a Support Bundle
When something goes wrong and you write to support@hiberden.app, the fastest way to get a useful answer is to attach a support bundle. New in 1.1.0, a support bundle is a single .zip file that collects the diagnostic details support usually has to ask for one by one: version info, tape and LTFS status, recent job results, and logs.
Nothing is ever uploaded automatically. Hiberden creates the file, you choose where to save it, and you decide whether to email it. That matches the rest of the product: no accounts, no telemetry, no phone-home.
Where to find it
Two places:
- Settings > General: the "Support bundle" row, with an Export button.
- The About dialog, alongside the version and catalog path.
What goes in, and what never does
Before anything is created, a consent dialog lists exactly what the bundle will contain and what it never will. You see the list first, then decide.
Included:
- App version, OS, and Hiberden folder locations
- Tape drive and LTFS status, plus the tape inventory (labels, capacity, last verified)
- Settings toggles and log level (no folder paths)
- Catalog statistics (counts and coverage, not file names)
- Recent job results (error messages can mention file, folder, or archive names)
- The app's log files from the last 7 days (these can also mention file, folder, and archive names)
- A random support ID
Never included:
- Cloud credentials
- Your license key
- Email addresses
- Anything from the system credential store
- Destination names and configuration (buckets, endpoints)
Wherever those values would appear, they are replaced with placeholders.
The optional catalog copy
A separate opt-in toggle adds a sanitized copy of the catalog database. This goes further than the standard bundle: it lists archive and project names, file paths, tape records, and job history, with destination names and configuration removed. The dialog's own advice is right: "Leave this off unless support asks for it." For most problems the standard bundle is enough.
Saving and sending it
After the export finishes you get two follow-up options, plus a Done button to close the dialog:
- Show in folder opens the location where the .zip was saved.
- Email support opens a message in your own mail client, addressed to support, with the support ID and app version already in the subject line.
The support ID is random. It is not derived from your license or your machine; it just lets support match your email to the bundle you attach.
About the logs
Hiberden keeps a rolling local log on its own: one file per day, with the last 7 kept, in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Hiberden\logs. That is why a bundle exported today covers the last week of activity. If a problem happened more than 7 days ago, reproduce it once before exporting so the logs capture it.