Is there any automation to backup CA Business Intelligence (CABI) objects into a backup (BIAR) file?

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• CA IT Asset Manager
• CA Software Asset Manager (CA SAM)
• ASSET PORTFOLIO MGMT- SERVER
• SUPPORT AUTOMATION- SERVER
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• CA Service Desk Manager
• CA Service Management - Asset Portfolio Management
• CA Service Management - Service Desk Manager

Issue/Introduction

Description:

There are multiple ways in which a backup can be performed of a CABI 3.x system. This document explains a simple command line approach to create a CABIbackup BIAR file that could be used to recover/restore CABI content.

Solution:

There are multiple ways in which a backup can be performed of a CABI 3.x system.

1. From the CABI install media (SDM DVD #2), locate the file BICONFIG.ZIP in the 'ca_tps.nt\CABO' directory.
   
   
2. Copy the BICONFIG.ZIP file to a directory on the CABI Server (i.e. C:\Temp).
   
   
3. Extract the contents of the BICONFIG.ZIP file
   
   
4. You should now have a directory structure like:
   

   11/08/2012  12:12 PM    <DIR>          .11/08/2012  12:12 PM    <DIR>          ..04/13/2010  01:36 AM             9,439 biconfig-readme.txt04/13/2010  01:36 AM             1,128 biconfig.bat04/13/2010  01:36 AM           158,197 biconfig.jar04/13/2010  01:36 AM               471 biconfig.sh04/13/2010  01:36 AM             1,072 datadump.bat04/13/2010  01:36 AM               459 datadump.sh11/08/2012  12:12 PM    <DIR>          lib04/13/2010  01:36 AM               506 log4j.properties11/08/2012  12:12 PM    <DIR>          samples

   
   
5. Copy and extract the attached BACKUP.ZIP file, which contains BACKUP.BAT and BACKUP.PROPERTIES, to the directory where BICONFIG.ZIP was extracted.
   
   
6. Edit the BACKUP.BAT file
   
   
   1. Adjust JAVA_HOME to reflect the drive where CABI is installed (ex: D:\ instead of C:\)
      
      
   2. Save and close the file
      
      
7. Edit the BACKUP.PROPERTIES file and modify the entries appropriately and save the changes. Here are some various parameters that are allowed
   
   

   Parameter	Allowed Values	Description	Example
   Action	exportXML, importXML	Specifies whether the Tool imports content from a BIAR file to a BusinessObjects Enterprise system, or exports the content from a deployment to a BIAR file. Mandatory.	Action=exportXML
   exportBiarLocation	Free form text. Must include a .biar extension.	Specifies where the Tool saves the exported BIAR file. Mandatory if action=exportXML.	exportBiarLocation=C:/BiarExportFile.biar
   importBiarLocation	Free form text. Must include a .biar extension.	Specifies where the BIAR file that is to be import is located. BIAR files are split if the contents are too large to fit into one BIAR file. You can enter any of the BIAR file partitions, but you must ensure all of the partitions are in the same directory. Mandatory if action=importXML.	importBiarLocation=C:/BiarImportFile.biar
   username	Free form text.	The username of the an administrative account that the tool should use to connect to the Central Management Server (CMS). This can be the username of a Delegated Administrator account. Mandatory.	userName=Administrator
   Password	Free form text.	The password for the administrative account. Mandatory	password=password
   Authentication	secEnterprise, secWinAd, secLdap	The authentication type that Tool uses. Optional. If you don't specify an authentication type, the default is secEnterprise.	authentication=secEnterprise
   CMS	Free form text.	The name of the CMS that you want to connect to. Mandatory	CMS=BOXIServer:6400
   exportDependencies	True, False	Specifies whether to import all dependencies of an object. This should be used with care as it imports all the objects that are associated with any selected objects. This can increase the size of a BIAR file quite dramatically. Optional. If you don't specify a value, the default is False. Only used if action=exportXML.	exportDependencies=false
   includeSecurity	True, False	Specifies whether the Tool exports and imports security associated with the objects and users that you select. If you want to maintain security it is important to set includeSecurity to true when exporting and importing content.	includeSecurity=false
   exportQuery	Free form text, must use the CMS query language format.	The queries the Tool should execute to gather the desired objects for exportation. You can use as many queries as you like in a single properties file, but the queries must be named "export- Query1", "export- Query2", and so on. Mandatory if action=exportXML.	exportQuery=select * from ci_Infoobjects
   exportQueriesTotal	Positive whole numbers.	Specifies how many export queries the tool executes. If you have x export queries and want to execute them all, you must set this parameter to x. Optional. If you don't provide a value for this parameter, the default value is 1. Only used if action=exportXML.	exportQueriesTotal=5

   
   
   The sample BACKUP.PROPERTIES supplied with this documents contains the following settings/entries.
   

   exportBiarLocation=C:/temp/biconfig/backup.biaraction=exportXMLuserName=Administratorpassword=AdminPasswordauthentication=secEnterpriseCMS=BOXIServerName:6400includeSecurity=trueexportDependencies=trueexportQueriesTotal=3exportQuery= select * from ci_systemobjectsexportQuery= select * from ci_appobjectsexportQuery= select * from ci_Infoobjects

   
   IMPORTANT NOTE:
   Each of the above queries has a 1000 object limitation (on the BI SDK layer). For example, if the resulting number of objects to be backed up is less than 1000, the queries will backup everything as a result of that query. If the resulting number is greater than 1000, then an exception will be received and the result will be a partially backed up BIAR file.
   
   To understand if a query is returning more than 1000 records, you could run a query via the Business Objects Query Builder interface from the CABI/BOXI Server. You can access the Query Builder from START-> PROGRAMS-> BUSINESSOBJECTS XI 3.1-> BUSINESS OBJECTS ENTERPRISE-> QUERY BUILDER. Once launched, login as a CABI/BOXI Administrator. It is recommended to split the query up by using some filters. For example, "select * from ci_Infoobjects where SI_KIND='Webi'" would return only WEBI report related data. This query used in conjunction with 'exportDependencies=False' would make it easier to split queries and reduce the result set to less than 1000. You could split the queries by alphabet or timeline etc., depending on your needs.
   
   
   
8. At a command prompt, navigate to the location where the BICONFIG.ZIP file was extracted.
   
   
9. Run the BACKUP.BAT file to execute the BIAR backup.
   
   
10. If the BIAR backup executes successfully, no messages will appear in the command prompt window and you will be returned to the command prompt.
    
    
11. If there are any errors, review the error and modify the BACKUP.BAT and/or BACKUP.PROPERTIES accordingly and execute again.

Additional Notes:

• It is advised to check the backup BIAR file that got created and verify that it is not a 0KB size file (this will mean the file is empty)
  
  
• Test the restore process manually using the Import Wizard tool. Test by running the Import Wizard with the source being the backup BIAR file created and the destination being a test CANI environment. Verify if the CABI content get imported properly.
  
  
• It is strongly suggested to test the above process before automating the process via any scheduling tool.

Environment

Release: UAPMAC990JPP-12.6-Asset Portfolio Management-Asset Configuration
Component: