How to back up the Voyager server
Summary
Backing up the Voyager servier is required maintenance for any Voyager server. Backups should be conducted and stored separately from the Voyager server. Backups for hosted customers are managed by Ex Libris, however backups for locally hosted customers are at the discretion of the customer. As maintaining and verifying backups for locally hosted systems is a customer responsibility, Ex Libris does not directly support backups. However, for convenience, Ex Libris does provide a script which will produce an acceptable backup of the Voyager system.
Features of Good Backups:
- Backups should occur nightly.
- At least 1 copy of backup media should be physically stored separately from the Voyager server.
- Ideally, backups should be conducted "cold" (All services related to voyager are stopped)
- Backups should periodically be tested to ensure integrity.
- Backups should encompass the entire Voyager file system, not just the Voyager database.
Ex Libris Hosted Backups
Facts about backups conducted by Ex Libris for Voyager systems hosted in the Ex Libris cloud:
- Full backups are conducted nightly using snapshots.
- Backups conducted for clolud hosted systems do not require downtime.
- Backups are retained for 10 weeks.
- Recovery is initiated by contacting support, for issues resulting in downtime requiring immediate action, contact the 24X7 support hub.
Voyager Backup Script
A backup script is distributed with voyager that when configured will produce a backup of the voyager system. The script is specific to the Operating System of the distribution of Voyager. The Voyager backup script will conduct a cold backup when the script is run, and all processes related to Voyager including Apache, Voyager, and Oracle will be stopped when the script is run. To configure the backup script to backup voyager:
Linux Script:
- Locate the included backup script, by default this will be located at /m1/utility/dailybackup
- Open dailybackup in a text editor.
- Locate the section '# User settable parameters'.
- Set the location for the backup output*:
- If using a tape drive to store your backups set "TAPE_DEVICE=" to the path of the tape drive mount.
- If using a disk to store backups set "OUTPUT_DIR=" to the path of the backup disk mount.
*Configuring both "TAPE_DEVICE=" and "OUTPUT_DIR=" will result in an error*
- If using Logical Volume Manager (LVM) to conduct backups set "USE_LVM=Y"
- If an addtional script should be run either before or after the backup is completed, configure the path of the script in "PREBACKUP_SCRIPT=" or POSTBACKUP_SCRIPT=" respectively.
Solaris Script:
- Locate the included backup script, by default this will be located at /m1/utility/dailybackup
- Open dailybackup in a text editor.
- Locate the variable "BACKUPDEVICE="
- Set the value of "BACKUPDEVICE=" to the path of the backup media.
Schedule the Backup in crontab
- The script must be run as root.
- As the root user run:
crontab -e - Add an entry to the crontab to schedule the start time of the backup. The following cron entry would run the backup script at 1:00 AM, daily:
0 1 * * * /m1/utility/dailybackup- After a run of the backup script, ensure that no other scheduled tasks that dependent on any services stopped by the backup are run in close proximity to the time span covered by the backup.
Backups of Individual Voyager Schema
Occasionally it may be necessary to backup a single Voyager schema (e.g. in preparation for migration or major work in the context of multiple working Voyager schema such as in a consortium.) In such cases it may be preferred method is usually to utilize an Oracle data pump export using expdp. If unfamiliar with this procedure it is recommended to contact Voyager support for assistance. In certain situations, support for this type of work from Ex Libris may incur additional charges. In such cases this will be formally discussed prior to initiating work.
Article last edited: 4/26/2016