Information About Backups
This section includes the following topics:
■Backup Environment
■What System Data is Backed Up
■When to Run a Backup
Backup Environment
While you can run a backup for a network environment where there is only a single Cisco Vision Director server, the recommended environment that is described in this document is a redundant environment for either Platform 2 or Platform 3 servers or a virtualized environment. In a redundant environment, you are running Cisco Vision Director on a primary server, with a secondary server connected to the same subnet where the backup data from the primary server is saved.
The backup process can be scheduled and also run manually. When a backup is completed, the CMS is automatically restarted.
What System Data is Backed Up
There are several areas of Cisco Vision Director that need to be backed up. The backup process backs up the following areas of the Cisco Vision Director server:
■Cisco Vision Director Asset Library, the Content Management System (CMS)
■Cisco Vision Director database
■Cisco Vision Director system configuration files
■Content Integration data
■Dynamic Menu Board data
CAUTION : The Proof of Play raw data in the var/sv/pofp/raw directory is not backed up.
■Proof of play report data in the /var/sv/pofp/data directory
When to Run a Backup
Run a manual backup whenever you change any item in the interfaces such as Asset Library content, Devices, Script Management, Event Management, Designer, Configuration, or Management Dashboard.
CAUTION:
1. Stop any running script before starting a manual backup.
2. Do not start a game/event script during a backup.
3. Do not operate Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director until the backup is complete.
How to Manage Backups
This section includes the following topics:
■Prerequisites for Running Backups
■Best Practices for Managing Backups
■Scheduling a Regular Backup
■Starting a Backup Manually for Immediate Execution
■Verifying Backup Completion
■Modifying the Number of Backup Files to Retain
Best Practices for Managing Backups
■Perform a manual system backup prior to starting the game script.
■Back up all components (highly recommended).
■Stop the active game/event script from the Management Dashboard before starting the manual backup.
■The backup task can run even while an event script is running. As part of this change, the database is no longer optimized or repaired during the backup process—a new TUI option is added to run database maintenance manually if needed.
■Do not operate the Cisco Vision Director Configuration or Management Dashboard until the backup is complete.
Scheduling a Regular Backup
User Role: Administrator
After you configure the servers to support the backup process, schedule backups using Management Dashboard in the Cisco Vision Director software.
Note : We recommend that you schedule backups while the Cisco Vision Director servers are not actively running scripts or performing other event processing.
To configure a backup to run on a regular schedule:
1. Go to More > Management Dashboard > Tools drawer > Advanced tab > Scheduled Tasks.
2. Click Add Row and scroll to the new blank line.
3. Click in the Task Type column and type BackupTask (Figure 1).
Note : Type the name of the task exactly as shown with upper and lowercase characters.
Figure 1 Scheduling a Regular Backup Task
4. Click in the Task Time column and specify the time (in 24:00 format) when you want the backup to run.
5. Click in the Servers column and type config.
6. Click Apply.
Starting a Backup Manually for Immediate Execution
User Role: Administrator
If you want to start a backup immediately, run a backup process manually.
To start a backup manually for immediate execution:
1. Go to More > Management Dashboard > Tools drawer > Advanced tab > Run a Task.
2. In the Tasks to Run box, select the BackupTask (Figure 2).
Figure 2 Running a Scheduled Backup Task Manually
3. Click Apply.
The backup begins immediately. When completed, the CMS is automatically restarted.
IMPORTANT : The “success” message that appears means the backup task has started. It does NOT mean the backup task has completed.
Verifying Backup Completion
User Role: Administrator
To verify backup completion, confirm that a backup file exists and that no errors appear in the log file.
Verifying That a Backup File Exists
IMPORTANT : Verifying the existence of a backup file only tells you that a backup file was attempted but not necessarily if there were any errors.
To verify that a backup file exists:
1. Go to More > Management Dashboard > Tools drawer > Advanced tab > Restore system data from backup
2. Verify that backup files with dates and times appear.
Finding Backup Errors in the Log File
IMPORTANT : Be aware that the messages “Starting backup” and “Backup completed” will always appear in the log, regardless of success.
You can access log files in the following ways:
■Text Utility Interface (TUI).
■System State Report. Go to More > System State Report.
■By running grep –i backup sv_dev_debug.log (requires root access). Figure 3 shows an example of log output for a successful backup without errors.
To find backup errors in the log file:
1. Open the /opt/sv/servers/config/logs/sv_dev_debug.log file.
2. In the sv_dev_debug.log file, find messages that include the string “com.cisco.sv.backup.”
These are the backup process messages.
3. Find the “Starting backup” message.
4. After the “Starting backup” message (but before the “Backup completed” message), look for a “com.cisco.sv.backup” message that also includes “ERROR” in the string.
If you find this error, the backup did not complete successfully.
Figure 3 Successful Backup Log Output Example From Grep
How to Restore From Backup
Once the primary and secondary servers have been configured for automatic backup and restore, the Cisco Vision Director software automatically copies backup files between the primary and secondary servers.
When the restore process starts, the MD5 checksum of the file is verified. If for some reason you need to manually copy files between the servers, be sure that you copy both the.tar and.chksum files because the restore process automatically uses both files to verify the MD5 signature.
Note : If you need to failover to the secondary server and do a restore, follow the procedures in the Configuring Failover Between Redundant Cisco Vision Dynamic Signage Director Servers, page 75 in the Cisco Vision Administration Guide: Dynamic Signage Director, 6.2.
This section includes the following topics:
■Starting a Restore Manually for Immediate Execution
■What to Do Next After Restoring
■Restarting Cisco Vision Director Software After a Restore (Required)
Starting a Restore Manually for Immediate Execution
User Role: Administrator
As with backups, you can schedule the restore process or run it manually. When the manual restore screen is displayed, it lists backups from both the backup and restore directories, concatenated together. This allows you to run a manual restore on either the primary or the secondary server.
CAUTION : You cannot run a restore while an event script is running. Also, if your venue was running an event script when the backup took place, then those scripts will be running after the restore.
An automated restore always uses the most recent backup file in the restore directory.
To start a restore manually for immediate execution:
1. Go to More > Management Dashboard > Tools drawer > Advanced tab > Restore system data from backup.
2. For Components, select All components except Scheduled tasks (Figure 4).
Figure 4 Running a Restore Task Manually
3. (Optional) If you do not want to restore the latest backup (the default), then in the “System backup time” box, select the date and time of the backup file that you want to restore instead.
4. Click Apply. The restore begins immediately.
Note : If you need to also restore the scheduled tasks, you can rerun the Restore system data from backup and for Components, select Scheduled Tasks.