DCE server backup and restore

Automatically schedule or manually create backup files for your server's configuration data, or its configuration and repository data, and use a backup file to manually restore the server data, if needed.

Note: If a server backup fails, an email is sent to the Data Center Expert Administrator users that include an email address as part of their user credentials.

Backup entries are listed by Destination Server, with information about each entry.

Backup Type: what data will be saved in backup files:

• Full: all server data (configuration and repository) will be saved in every backup file.
• Synchronized: only changes to server data (configuration and repository) will be saved after the initial backup file.
• Configuration: only server configuration data will be saved in every backup file.
• Compressed: Whether or not the backup is configured for compression.

You can add a backup to the list, or edit, remove, or manually start the backup entry selected in the list.

Click Stop Backup to stop a manually-started backup. An backup-cancelled email will be sent to the Data Center Expert Administrators that include an e-mail address as part of their user credentials.

About compressed backup

Compressing/decompressing archives during backup/restore can add a significant amount of time to the backup/restore process. When deciding whether or not to use compression with backups, consider whether you would rather save storage space or have a faster backup/restore.

There is more disk space in use during a backup or restore when using compression; the backup files are staged on the remote share, then the archive is compressed, and finally, the staged files are deleted. During a restore, both the compressed archive and the decompressed files are present when restoring.

Depending on the operating system and remote share file system type, compression to a single file archive could fail. Maximum file sizes will differ. An enterprise server's backup archive could reach 1TB in size. Some file systems do not support files as large as 1TB.

Add backup

At least one backup entry should be defined and used to create scheduled backup files for the configuration data on the server, or its configuration and repository data.

1. Select System > Server Administration Settings > Server Backup/Restore.
   
   
2. Select to edit or add a backup entry.
   To edit a backup entry, select the listed entry and click Edit Backup.
   To add a backup entry, click Add Backup and select Windows Repository or NFS.
   
   
3. Configure the Windows Share or NFS Share settings.
   If no subdirectory is specified, data will be stored in the share's root directory.
   
   For Windows Share, specify the NT LAN Manager authentication level: NTLM, NTMLi, NTLMv2, NTLMv2i, NTLMSSP, or NTLMSSPi.
   For NFS, select the transport protocol, UDP or TCP, and the NFS version: v2.0, v3.0, v4.0, or v4.1.
   
   Select whether you want to backup all server configuration and repository data for each backup (Full), just the changes to the server configuration and repository data for each backup (Synchronized), just the configuration data (Configuration), or compress the backup into a single tar.gz file with a .dce file extension (Compressed).
   Click Test Mount. An error message will occur if the share settings are defined incorrectly.
   
   
4. Click Next to edit the schedule used to automatically backup the server data, or Finish.
   Note: The default schedule settings will cause a backup to occur every Friday at 1:00 AM.
   
   
5. In the "Backup Schedule" display, select the days on which a backup will occur, and the time it will occur on those days.

Note: To delete a backup entry, select it in the list and click Remove Backup.

Restore from backup

Note: The upgrade to Data Center Expert 7.9.0 requires a fresh install.
           See Complete upgrade process for DCE 7.9.0

You use the Restore from Backup wizard to select a backup file to be used to restore the Data Center Expert server.

1. Choose the backup location type.
   Select Existing Backup Location to locate a backup file at a location that has been used to save your Data Center Expert server data, and select the location of the backup file from the list.
   Select New Backup Location to locate a backup file from an archived location, a location where the current backup files are not being saved.
   
   For Windows Share, specify the NT LAN Manager authentication level: NTLM, NTMLi, NTLMv2, NTLMv2i, NTLMSSP, or NTLMSSPi.
   For NFS, select the transport protocol, UDP or TCP, and the NFS version: v2.0, v3.0, v4.0, or v4.1.
   
   Select whether you want to backup all server configuration and repository data for each backup (Full), just the changes to the server configuration and repository data for each backup (Synchronized), or just the configuration data (Configuration).
   
   
2. In the Restore from Backup display, select the backup file you want to use to restore the server.

The server will restart as a result of the restore process. You can log on after the server finishes rebooting, which can take a few minutes.