Repository backup strategies

The repository contains all service and configuration information for your InfoSphere® Optim™ data management solution environment. Back up the information in your repository regularly to avoid catastrophic data loss in the event of hardware failure or accidental deletion. Backups are critical before you uninstall or update your repository, because an update or reinstall deletes all data in the repository.

Scheduled backups with ontape

For maximum automation, back up your repository is by scheduling daily backups with the Informix® ontape utility.

The repository virtual machine that is installed with IBM®InfoSphereOptim Repository includes a /home/informix/daily_ids_backup.sh script that is scheduled to run daily at 3 a.m. local time. The script uses the ontape utility to save 14 days of backups. The script writes a log of its activity to /home/informix/daily_ids_backup.log. Edit the crontab of the informix user to change the schedule which backups are run. Set the IDS_DAYSTOKEEP variable in the script to the number of backups that you want to keep.

By default, the ontape utility stores backups in /home/informix/backups/system on the repository virtual machine. To ensure that backups are available in the case of hardware failure, set the ontape utility to store backups to an external drive.

To set the ontape utility to store backups to an external drive:
  1. Log on as optim.
  2. At the command prompt, enter mkdir /mnt/mymount, where mymount is the name to use for the mount point.
  3. Use the mount command to mount the external file system to the mount point. For example, to mount a Windows file system to the mount point, you might enter a command that is similar to the following command:
    mount -t cifs //mywincp/path /mnt/mymount -o username=mywinuid,password=mywinpass,
    domain=mywindomain,uid=informix,gid=informix,dir_mode=0775,file_mode=0775
  4. Set the path in the /opt/IBM/InfoSphere/Optim/repo/server/ids11750/onconfig.optrepo file to the external drive directory to which backups are to be saved.

You can restore the repository databases by using the normal ontape restore procedures.

Back up by using the manager

You can use the manager to run a backup on demand. The manager uses the UNLOAD command of the Informix DB-Access utility to run the backup. You can run full backups and incremental backups by using the manager. You cannot schedule backups by using the manager. However, if you must run an off-schedule backup, manager-based backups are a convenient option.

You must have a user account with an admin user role to back up your repository with the manager.

By default, backups are stored in /opt/IBM/InfoSphere/Optim/repo/server/ids11750/backups on the repository computer or the repository virtual machine. To ensure that backups are available in the case of hardware failure, copy the backup files from the backup folder to an external drive. You can mount an external drive to the repository computer or the repository virtual machine, or you can use FTP to copy backups to another computer.

To restore the repository databases, first copy the backup files back to the backup folder on the repository computer or the repository virtual machine if necessary. You can then use the manager to select a backup file and restore the repository databases based on the selected backup file. After the restore is complete, you must access the application server and restart the manager web application.

For specific information about how to back up and restore a repository with the manager, see the manager user information.

Copy the repository virtual machine

If you use the repository virtual machine, you can shut down the virtual machine and copy the virtual machine to another computer. Copying the virtual machine is a simple way to back up your repository, but each backup is the size of your repository virtual machine.

Copy the contents of the installation_folder/repo/vm/image folder to another drive, where installation_folder is the base installation folder for InfoSphere Optim solutions. For example, the default folder to copy on Microsoft Windows is C:\IBM\InfoSphere\Optim\repo\vm\image.

Export the repository databases

To make an exact copy of a repository, use the manager to export the repository databases to your computer. The resulting export files can then be imported into another repository. Repository databases can be exported by using the manager at any time. If you use IBM Installation Manager to uninstall a repository, Installation Manager can export the repository databases before uninstalling the repository.

You must have a user account with an admin user role to export the repository databases with the manager.

To restore the repository databases, first copy the export files to the repository computer or virtual machine. Then, use the optimcmd command to import the contents of the export files into the repository server. The contents of the repository server are overwritten with the contents of the export files.

For specific information about how to export the repository databases with the manager, see the manager user information.