Creating a database backup on Reporter using Web Interface

Products

• Reporter-VA

Issue/Introduction

Reporter allows administrators to back up databases. This operation can be done from the Manage Backups interface or from the CLI command terminal. Administrators using Reporter 10.3 and later should use the Manage Backups feature in the web UI. For versions prior to 10.3, see CLI database backup guide. 

Reporter 10.3 provides the ability to create and manage database backups using the Manage Backups feature. This article describes the functionality and use of the Manage Backups interface.

Environment

Reporter 10.3 for the Web UI backup method.

For versions prior to 10.3 only have CLI backup option. 

Resolution

Access Manage Backups

1. On the Administration > General Settings page, select Reporter Settings > Data Settings > Databases
2. Click on the Actions arrow and select Manage Backups to access the interface.

 

Using Manage Backups

This section is for additional information on the Manage Backup feature user interface. You can create or update two kinds of backups:

• Stable — Created or updated from an unloaded database. The backup data is fully up-to-date from the time the database was unloaded.
• Unstable — Created or updated from a loaded, actively processing database. The backup data is mostly up-to-date but not completely.

To create or update a stable backup using the CLI you must stop Reporter completely (stop-reporter). To create or update a stable backup using the web UI you can unload the specific database before creating or updating it.

Creating or updating unstable backups permits you to perform the backup while log data and reports are actively being processed. When the unstable backup is completed you can unload the database to complete the backup—thereby putting the database into a stable state—and then quickly reload the database. Database down time is thus kept to a minimum.

 

Actions

• Restore: Restores an unloaded database to a previous state.
• Update: Updates the backup to reflect the current state of the database. Use Update to stabilize an unstable backup, after you have unloaded the database.
• Delete: The backup is deleted.

 

Creating a database backup

The following instructions are for creating a new database backup using the Manage Backups feature. Remember that when you create a backup of a loaded database it will be unstable until you unload it and then update it.

1. Access the Manage Backups interface.
2. Select Create New Backup to create a backup of your selected database.

 

Updating a backup

Use Update to update a backup to the current state of the selected database.

1. On the Administration > General Settings page, select Reporter Settings > Data Settings > Databases.
2. If you want a stable backup, click the Actions arrow and select Unload Database. Otherwise, go to the next step.
3. Click the Actions arrow and select Manage Backups.
4. For the desired backup click the Actions arrow and select Update.

Caution: If you are updating a stable database it becomes unstable. To make it stable you would need to unload the database, update the backup, and then reload the database to make it stable.

 

 

Restore a database

Use Restore to recover an unloaded database to a previously saved state. In Reporter 10.x an unloaded database is in one of three states:

• Unloaded — The database has been unloaded.
• Restored — The database has been restored.
• Emptied — The Empty action has been completed.

You may restore a stable database that is in any of these three states; however, restoring a Restored database from the same backup would have no effect.

Follow the instructions to restore a database from a backup.

1. On the Administration > General Settings page, select Reporter Settings > Data Settings > Databases.
2. If the database is not already unloaded, click on the Actions arrow and select Unload Database.
3. Access the Manage Backups interface.
4. For a stable database click the Actions arrow and select Restore.
5. When the Restore action has finished—a process that may take a long time for multiple-terabyte databases—click the Actions arrow for the database and select Load Database.
6. If you go back to the Manage Backups interface you will see that the Last Action for the backup is now Restore.

 

Delete a Backup

To free up disk space you may want to delete older backups.

Warning: Deleting a backup is permanent. You cannot undo this action.

Follow these instructions to delete a backup.

1. On the Administration > General Settings page, select Reporter Settings > Data Settings > Databases.
2. For the database whose backup(s) you want to delete click the Actions arrow and select Manage Backups.
3. In the Manage Backups interface, for the backup to delete click the Actions arrow and select Delete.