Best Practices for Backing Up and Restoring Your System

About the Metadata Server Backup and Restore Utilities

The SAS Intelligence Platform provides the following methods for performing a correct backup or restore of the metadata server while minimizing disruptions in service:

You can execute the backup program (backupServer.sas) and restore program (restoreServer.sas) that are provided with your installation. The backupServer.sas program uses the %OMABAKUP macro to create a correct backup of your metadata repositories, the repository manager, the metadata journal file, and the metadata server's configuration files, including omaconfig.xml, adminUsers.txt, trustedUsers.txt, and logconfig.xml. The restoreServer.sas program uses the %OMABAKUP macro to restore all of these items except the journal file.

The backupServer.sas and restoreServer.sas programs are customized for your environment and are located in the metadata server's startup directory. If needed, you can modify these programs to specify a different backup location or to incorporate other %OMABAKUP options.

To execute these programs, you can use the MetadataServer -backup and MetadataServer -restore commands (on Windows), and the MetadataServer.sh -backup and MetadataServer.sh -restore commands (on UNIX and z/OS).

%OMABAKUP pauses the metadata server while retaining client connections, closes the repository data sets, and copies the metadata server files to the specified backup destination. It then automatically resumes the server and the handling of client requests. Your daily system backup process can then copy the files from the backup destination without needing to pause the server.
You can use the Backup Wizard in SAS Management Console to create backup jobs that use %OMABAKUP without writing code. You can select most of the same options that are available in custom %OMABAKUP programs. However, you cannot back up repositories that have a registered access state of Offline; and you cannot create or run a backup job if the foundation repository has a registered access state of ReadOnly. For these types of backups, you must use a custom %OMABAKUP program.

From the wizard, you can choose to execute the backup job, save it as a .sas file, or deploy it for scheduling. For each backup job that you create, the wizard automatically creates a corresponding restore job. Jobs that are created by the wizard execute on a workspace server that is local to the metadata server machine.
The backupServer.sas program and the Backup Wizard should be sufficient for most situations. However, if the need arises, you can write custom backup and restore programs that contain the %OMABAKUP macro.

The following table summarizes the differences and similarities among jobs that are created by the Backup Wizard and custom programs (including backupServer.sas) that are created with %OMABAKUP:

Type of Repository or File	Registered Access Mode	Job Created with Backup Wizard	Custom Program Created with %OMABAKUP*
Foundation	Online	Always backed up	Always backed up
	Administration	Always backed up	Always backed up
	ReadOnly	Cannot be backed up	Backed up unless DISABLEREADONLYBACKUP is set to YES
	Offline	Cannot be backed up	Backed up unless the DISABLEOFFLINEBACKUP option is set to YES
Project or custom	Online	Always backed up	Always backed up
	Administration	Always backed up	Always backed up
	ReadOnly	Backed up, unless the Back Up READONLY Repositories option is deselected	Backed up unless the DISABLEREADONLYBACKUP option is set to YES
	Offline	Cannot be backed up	Backed up unless the DISABLEOFFLINEBACKUP option is set to YES
Metadata journal file	Not applicable	Backed up, unless the Back Up Metadata Journal File option is deselected	Backed up, unless the BACKUPMETADATAJOURNALFILE option is set to NO
Repository manager	Not applicable	Always backed up	Always backed up
Metadata server configuration files	Not applicable	Backed up, unless the Back Up Configuration Files option is deselected	Backed up, unless the DISABLECONFIGURATIONFILEBACKUP option is set to YES
* An example of a custom program is backupServer.sas, which is located in your metadata server startup directory.

For usage documentation for these backup methods, see the following:

Before using any of these utilities, be sure to read Best Practices for Backing Up Your SAS System.

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