Archive a Course

An archive creates a permanent record of a course, including all content, student enrollments and user interactions, captured at the moment the archive is created. A course archive is saved as a zipped file and can be downloaded to a local computer or saved to Blackboard’s Content Collection.

Create an Archive

  1. Go to the Control Panel. Click Packages and Utilities, then select Export/Archive Course.
  2. Click the Archive button.
  3. Tick the box next to Include Grade Center History to include the Grade Center data in the archive.
  4. Under File Attachments:
    • For Course Files Default Directory select Copy links and include copies of the files in the course default directory
    • For Files Outside of the Course Default Directory select Copy links and include copies of the files outside of the course default directory
  5. Click Submit. A confirmation screen once the system has received the archive request.

Please note:

  • Depending on the number of people who are using the system, it may take anywhere from several minutes to several hours for your course to archive.
  • When the archive has completed you will receive an email message. This email message will note that the export file is available for download.
  • It may take several minutes to several hours following the receipt of this email for the file to actually become available. If you follow the instructions above and do not see a link to the archive file please wait a few hours and check again.

Download a Zipped Archive File

  1. Navigate to the course where you created the archive.
  2. Go to the Control Panel. Click Packages and Utilities, then select Export/Archive Course.
  3. A link to a zipped archive file of the course will now be available. Click on this link to initiate a file download.porta

Please Note:

  • A zipped archive file should not be unzipped, opened or altered.
  • Instructors should download the Grade Center separately in order to have a copy of student grades that can be opened on a local computer.

The archive file can be imported easily into a new course shell.