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Cisco EPN Manager supports two types of backups:
Appliance backups—These contain all application data and host-specific settings, including the hostname, IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.
Note the following about application and appliance backups.
Application and appliance backups can be restored to the same or a new host, as long as the new host has the same hardware and software configuration as the host from which the backup was taken.
You can only restore an appliance backup to a host running the same version of the Cisco EPN Manager server software as the server from which the backup was taken.
You cannot restore an application backup using the appliance restore command, nor can you restore an appliance backup using the application restore command.
We recommend the following best practices:
If you are evaluating Cisco EPN Manager , use the default automatic application backup to the local repository.
If you are running Cisco EPN Manager in a production environment as a virtual appliance, take regular application backups to a remote backup server. You can use the application backups to restore your server for all failures except complete failure of the server hardware.
Cisco EPN Manager performs automatic scheduled application backups. This feature is enabled by default and creates one application backup file every day in the default local backup respository.
You can change this schedule as needed. You can also take an automatic application backup at any time from the web GUI. Appliance backups can only be taken from the command line.
Automatic application backups can create storage space problems if the backup repository is local to the Cisco EPN Manager server. While this is usually acceptable in test implementations, it is not intended to substitute for routine scheduled backups to remote servers in a production environment.
We recommend the following for production environments:
Set up remote repositories to store the backup files.
Use the automatic schedule application backup to create backups on the remote repositories on a regular schedule.
Even if you are using scheduled backups, you can still use the command line to create application or appliance backups at any time.
By default, automatic application backup feature stores backup files in the local backup repository /localdisk/defaultRepo. You can use the web GUI to create a new local backup repository and then choose it when you set up automatic application backups. You can also specify a remote repository but you must create the repository first as described in Set Up and Manage Repositories.
When taking application or appliance backups using the command line, you must specify the local or remote repository you want the backup to be stored in. In a production environment, this is normally a remote repository that is accessed via NFS, SFTP, or FTP. We recommend you use NFS because it is typically much faster and more reliable than other protocols.
There is no difference between performing an application backup from the command line or performing it from the web GUI. Both actions create the same backup file.
Whenever you use NFS to take backups or restore data from a remote backup, make sure the mounted NFS server remains active throughout the backup or restore operation. If the NFS server shuts down at any point in the process, the backup or restore operation will hang without warning or an error message.
Application backups launched from the web GUI—either automatically or manually—are assigned a filename with the following format:
host-yymmdd-hhmm_VERver_BKSZsize_CPUcpus_MEMtarget_RAMram_SWAPswap_APP_CKchecksum.tar.gpg
Application backups launched from the CLI use the same format, except that the file starts with the user-specified filename rather than the server name.
filename-yymmdd-hhmm_VERver_BKSZsize_CPUcpus_MEMtarget_RAMram_SWAPswap_APP_CKchecksum.tar.gpg
Appliance backups launched from the CLI have files that also start with the user-specified filename, but the type is indicated as SYS, not APP.
filename-yymmdd-hhmm_VERver_BKSZsize_CPUcpus_MEMtarget_RAMram_SWAPswap_SYS_CKchecksum.tar.gpg
The following table describes the variables used by the backup files.
Variable |
Description |
host |
Host name of the server from which the backup was taken (for application backups launched from web GUI). |
filename | Filename specified by user in command line (for application backups launched from CLI, and for appliance backups) |
yymmdd-hhmm |
Date and time the backup was taken |
ver |
Internal version. |
size |
Total size of the backup |
cpus |
Total number of CPUs in the server from which the backup was taken |
target |
Total amount of system memory in the server from which the backup was taken |
ram |
Total amount of RAM in the server from which the backup was taken |
swap |
Total size of the swap disk on the server from which the backup was taken |
checksum |
Backup file checksum |
Cisco EPN Manager performs the following steps to validate the backup files:
Before starting the backup process, validates disk size, fast-recovery area, and control files.
Validates the created backup database to ensure that it can be restored.
Validates the zipped application data against the files that were backed up.
Validates the TAR file to make sure it is correct and complete.
Validates the GPG file to ensure that it is correct.
If you manually transfer the backup file, or if you want to verify that the backup file transfer is completed, view the file's md5CheckSum and file size.
Another best practice for validating a backup is to restore it to a standalone "test" installation of Cisco EPN Manager .
The following table describes the information that is contained in backup files. This information is restored to the server from backups.
See Information That Is Not Backed Up for details about data that is not saved by the backup mechanism.
Note | The /opt/CSCOlumos/conf/Migration.xml file contains all configuration files and reports that are backed up. This file is included in the backup and is restored. |
Data Type |
Feature |
Information Saved and Restored |
Application Data |
Background job settings |
Data in the database |
Configuration archive (device configuration files) |
Data in the database |
|
Configuration templates |
|
|
Credentials |
Data in the database |
|
Device inventory data |
Data in the database |
|
Licenses |
Files in /opt/CSCOlumos/licenses |
|
Maps |
|
|
Reports |
|
|
Managed device software image files |
Data in the database |
|
System settings |
Data in the database |
|
User preferences |
|
|
CEPNMCEPNM users, groups, and roles |
Data in the database |
|
Virtual domains |
Data in the database |
|
Platform Data |
CLI settings |
All CLI information and settings are preserved. This includes the list of backup repositories, the FTP user name, users created using the CLI, AAA information specified via the CLI, and other CLI settings (such as the terminal timeout). |
Credentials |
Linux OS credentials file |
|
Network settings |
Files in /opt/CSCOlumos/conf/rfm/classes/com/cisco/packaging/PortResources.xml |
|
Linux user preferences |
Linux data structure |
|
Linux users, groups, and roles |
Linux data structure |
Before performing a backup, make sure that you manually note the following information because it is not saved as part of the backup process. You will need to reconfigure these settings after the data has been restored.
Patch history information is also not saved.
For a list of information that is backed up, see Information That Is Backed Up.
Cisco EPN Manager supports the following repository types:
See the following topics for information on how to set up and manage these different types of repositories.
Cisco EPN Manager stores automatic backup files in the default local backup repository /localdisk/defaultRepo. You can create a different local backup repository and use it if you prefer.
Step 1 | Choose . |
Step 2 | Choose . |
Step 3 | In the Jobs list, check the Server Backup check box. |
Step 4 | Click Edit (the pencil icon) to open the Edit Job Properties dialog box. |
Step 5 | Create the new
local repository using the Edit Job properties dialog box.
|
Step 6 | Click Save. |
Step 7 | If you want to use the repository for future automatic application backups, specify it as described in Specify the Backup Repository for Automatic Backups. |
In production environments, we recommend that you use remote repositories for backups so that your network management data is protected from hardware and site failures. In most cases, this means you will need to:
Create one or more remote repositories to hold Cisco EPN Manager backup files. You will need to set these up yourself if your organization does not already have remote backup servers.
Specify the remote repository as the destination for automatic application backups.
If needed, specify the interval between automatic application backups and time of day to take them. You will need to monitor and manually archive automatic application backups stored on remote repositories (because the Max backups to keep setting does not apply to remote repositories).
Specify the remote repository as the backup destination when taking an application or appliance backup using the CLI backup commands.
As with any resource that you plan to access remotely, specifying the correct server IP address and login credentials during setup are a requirement for successful use of remote backup repositories with Cisco EPN Manager .
These topics explain how to use remote NFS backup repositories. After you have configured you the NFS backup server, you will need to contact your Cisco representative for information on how to configure Cisco EPN Manager to use the remote NFS server’s backup repository. The procedure is not included here to protect the system’s security.
Before you begin, make sure:
You know the IP address of the NFS server on which you want to stage and store backups. The staging and storage folders can be on the same NFS server, or on separate NFS servers. If you plan to stage and store on separate NFS servers, you will need IP addresses for both servers.
You know the path names of the staging and storage folders on the NFS server. If you choose to stage and store on the same NFS server, the staging and storage folders must have different names.
If you need to configure the NFS server or create the staging and storage folders: You have a login with root privileges on the server. If you are not permitted root privileges on the NFS server, share with your organization's NFS server administrators the configuration requirements given in Configure the NFS Backup Server.
You have an administrator user ID with root privileges on the Cisco EPN Manager server.
You have selected a repository name on the Cisco EPN Manager server, which will point to the NFS server storage folder.
The steps in Configure the NFS Backup Server assume that you want to configure a single NFS server to stage and store your backups. The steps will vary if you will not use NFS staging, or you want the staging and storage to take place on two different NFS servers.
Note | After you configure the NFS backup server, you will have to contact your Cisco representative for information on how to configure Cisco EPN Manager to use the remote NFS server’s backup repository. The procedure is not included here to protect the system’s security. |
Complete the following tasks before configuring Cisco EPN Manager to use the NFS backup server.
Make sure you have the information and access privileges explained in Before You Set Up the NFS Backup Configuration.
Contact your Cisco representative for information on how to configure Cisco EPN Manager to use the remote NFS server’s backup repository. The procedure is not included here to protect the system’s security.
Note | We recommend using remote NFS repositories. |
You can create backup repositories on a remote FTP server and configure the Cisco EPN Manager server to use them.
The FTP server hosting your backups can be set up anywhere in your network, as long as the server:
Has an IP address accessible from the Cisco EPN Manager server.
Has a user (FTP user) with write access to the FTP server disk.
Has a local subdirectory that matches the repository name you specify on the Cisco EPN Manager server.
Has a password of 16 characters or less.
Other than these requirements, no other configuration is needed on the FTP backup server.
For the SFTP server details to appear in the Backup Repository drop-down list in the web GUI, you should configure the FTP server using the CLI. You can configure the FTP server only using the CLI.
Step 1 | Log into the server as the Cisco EPN Manager CLI admin user. See Establish an SSH Session With the Cisco EPN Manager Server. |
Step 2 | Enter
configuration mode:
configure terminal config# |
Step 3 | Configure a
symbolic link to the remote FTP server, then exit configuration mode:
config# repository repositoryName config-Repository# url ftp://RemoteServerIP//sharedFolder config-Repository# user userName password plain userPassword config-Repository# exit config# exit Where:
|
Step 4 | Verify the
creation of the symbolic link:
show repository repositoryName |
When you perform a manual backup, specify the new repository as the repository name in the backup command. For example:
backup MyBackupFileName repository MyRepo application NCS
If you want to use this repository for automatic backups, see Specify the Backup Repository for Automatic Backups.
Note | We recommend using remote NFS repositories. |
You can create backup repositories on a remote SFTP server and configure the Cisco EPN Manager server to use them.
The SFTP server hosting your backups can be set up anywhere in your network, as long as the server:
Has an IP address accessible from the Cisco EPN Manager server.
Has a user with write access to the SFTP server disk.
Has a local shared folder where the backups will be stored.
Other than these requirements, no other configuration is needed on the SFTP backup server.
For the SFTP server details to appear in the Backup Repository drop-down list in the web GUI, you should configure the SFTP server using the CLI. You can configure the SFTP server only using the CLI.
Step 1 | Log into the server as the Cisco EPN Manager CLI admin user. See Establish an SSH Session With the Cisco EPN Manager Server. |
Step 2 | Enter
configuration mode:
configure terminal config# |
Step 3 | Configure a
symbolic link to the remote SFTP server, then exit configuration mode:
config# repository repositoryName config-Repository# url sftp://RemoteServerIP//sharedFolder config-Repository# user userName password plain userPassword config-Repository# exit config# exit Where:
|
Step 4 | Verify the
creation of the symbolic link:
show repository repositoryName |
When you perform a manual backup, specify the new repository as the repository name in the backup command. For example:
backup MyBackupFileName repository MyRepo application NCS
If you want to use this repository for automatic backups, see Specify the Backup Repository for Automatic Backups.
Use the following procedure to delete a local backup repository. This procedure ensures that the admin interface has the updated information.
Step 1 | Log into the server as a Cisco EPN Manager CLI admin user (see Establish an SSH Session With the Cisco EPN Manager Server). |
Step 2 | List the local
application backup repositories and identify the one that you want to delete:
show running-config | begin repository |
Step 3 | Enter
configuration mode and delete the repository:
configure terminal (config)# no repository repositoryName |
Step 4 | Repeat step 2 to verify that the repository was deleted. |
Automatic application backups are enabled by default after installation. You can customize the schedule, specify a different backup repository, or adjust the number of backups that are saved.
To check what data is saved by the backup mechanism (and verify whether you need to manually save any data that is not backed up), see these topics:
Automatic application backups are enabled by default but you can adjust the day and interval at which these backups are performed. Performing a backup is resource-intensive and affects Cisco EPN Manager server performance. Avoid scheduling automatic backups to occur at peak traffic times.
If an automatic application backup fails, Cisco EPN Manager generates a Backup Failure alarm (with major severity). You can view these alarms just as you do other alarms (see Find and View Alarms). You can also get email notifications for these alarms if you include the System alarm category in your email notification settings (see Forward Alarms and Events as Email Notifications).
Note | After an automatic application backup fails, a pop-up message is displayed before every subsequent login attempt. This message will continue to appear until you acknowledge the corresponding alarm. |
You can use the Cisco EPN Manager interface to specify a different backup repository for automatic application backups. The backup repository can be local or remote. You can also use the interface to create a new local backup repository if it does not already exist.
If you want to use a remote repository for automatic backups, you must create the repository first. Only local repositories can be created using this procedure. See Set Up and Manage Repositories.
Follow this procedure to adjust the number of automatic application backups that are saved on a local repository. When a backup exceeds the number you specify here, Cisco EPN Manager deletes the oldest backup from the repository.
The Max UI backups to keep setting does not apply if you are using remote repositories for automatic application backups. You must monitor and archive or delete old backups on remote repositories using your own methods.
The topics in this section explain how to perform manual application or appliance backups.
To check what data is saved by the backup mechanism (and verify whether you need to manually save any data that is not backed up), see these topics:
Cisco EPN Manager performs automatic application backups as described in Backup Scheduling. If needed, you can manually trigger an application backup as described in the following topics.
Use this procedure to trigger an immediate application backup using the web GUI.
Use this procedure to trigger an immediate application backup using the CLI.
Step 1 | Log into the server as a Cisco EPN Manager CLI admin user (see Establish an SSH Session With the Cisco EPN Manager Server). |
Step 2 | Display the list
of backups, where
repositoryName is the backup repository:
show repository repositoryName |
Step 3 | Start the
remote backup.
backup filename repository repositoryName application NCS where filename is the name that you want to give the appliance backup file (for example, myBackup).The character length of the file name is 26. Other information is appended to the filename automatically, as explained in Backup Filenames |
Use this procedure to perform an appliance backup to a remote repository. Be sure you have configured the remote repository as described in Configure the NFS Backup Server.
Step 1 | Make sure the remote host is available. |
Step 2 | Log into the Cisco EPN Manager server as admin (see Establish an SSH Session With the Cisco EPN Manager Server). |
Step 3 | Start the
remote backup:
(admin)# backup filename repository repositoryName |
Step 4 | To verify that the backup transfer is complete, view the md5CheckSum and file size. |
All restore operations are performed using the CLI. Data can be restored to the host where the backup is executed (local host), or to a remote host. Backups can only be restored in their entirety; you cannot restore only parts of a backup.
See these topics for more information:
Note | To restore an appliance backup, use the procedure in Restore an Appliance Backup. |
When you restore an appliance backup, make sure it is being restored to a larger OVA installation. If the OVA installation is smaller, the restore will fail.
If you are using high availability, read the guidelines in Restore Data In an HA Deployment before restoring your data.
Step 1 | Log into the server as a Cisco EPN Manager CLI admin user (see Establish an SSH Session With the Cisco EPN Manager Server). |
Step 2 | If a previous
restoration attempt failed, the database may have been corrupted. Run this
command to recreate the database:
ncs run reset db |
Step 3 | List the saved
application backups and identify the one that you want to restore.
repositoryName is the repository that contains the backup
files.
show repository repositoryName |
Step 4 | Restore the
data:
restore backupFileName repository repositoryName application NCS |
Step 5 | If you are using Cisco Smart Licensing, re-register Cisco EPN Manager with the Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM) on Cisco.com. See Register Cisco EPN Manager with the Cisco Smart Software Manager. |
Note | To restore an application backup, use the procedure in Restore an Application Backup. |
When you restore an appliance backup, Cisco recommends that you change the restored server’s IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway if:
If you are using high availability, read the information in Restore Data In an HA Deployment before restoring your data.
Step 1 | Log into the server as a Cisco EPN Manager CLI admin user (see Establish an SSH Session With the Cisco EPN Manager Server). |
Step 2 | If a previous
restoration attempt failed, the database may have been corrupted. Run this
command to recreate the database:
ncs run reset db |
Step 3 | List the saved
appliance backups and identify the one that you want to restore.
repositoryName is the repository that contains the backup
files.
show repository repositoryName |
Step 4 | Restore the
data:
restore backupFileName repository repositoryName application NCS |
Step 5 | Determine
whether you should change the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.
|
Step 6 | If you are using Cisco Smart Licensing, re-register Cisco EPN Manager with the Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM) on Cisco.com. See Register Cisco EPN Manager with the Cisco Smart Software Manager. |
You may sometimes find that a restore does not complete, or reports a failure. Whenever a restore fails, you run the risk of database corruption, which can prevent the further restoration or re-installation. Perform the following steps to restore a corrupted database before attempting another restore or re-installation.
Step 1 | Open a CLI session with the Cisco EPN Manager server (see Establish an SSH Session With the Cisco EPN Manager Server). |
Step 2 | Enter the
following command to reset the corrupted database:
ncs run reset db |
If you are experiencing disk issues during a backup or restore, move your installation to a server with adequate disk space by following the procedure in Migrate to Another Virtual Appliance Using Backup and Restore.
If you are unable to create a backup after a restore of your existing system, follow the steps explained in Compact the Database to free disk space and create a successful backup. If you are still unable to create a backup after using the ncs cleanup command, set up and use a remote repository (using NFS, FTP, or SFTP) for your backups, as explained in Use a Remote Backup Repository.
You will need to migrate your Cisco EPN Manager data from an existing virtual appliance (OVA server installation) to a new one whenever you want to:
Replace the old server entirely, such as after a catastrophic hardware failure. In this case, you can use your old installation media to re-create the new host on a replacement server, then migrate your application data from the old host to the new host.
Migrate to a larger or more powerful server, so you can use Cisco EPN Manager to manage more of your network. In this case, you will want to ensure that you have the OVA installation file and install it on the new server using the larger installation option before retiring the older, smaller one. You can then migrate your application data from the old host.
In both cases, it is relatively easy to migrate your old data to the new virtual appliance by restoring to the new host an appliance or application backup taken from the old host.
Step 1 | If you have not already done so, set up a remote backup repository for the old host, as explained in Use a Remote Backup Repository. |
Step 2 | Perform an application backup of the old host and save it to the remote repository (see Perform an Immediate Application Backup Using the CLI). |
Step 3 | Install the new host (installation steps are in the Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager Installation Guide). |
Step 4 | Configure the new host to use the same remote backup repository as the old host (see Use a Remote Backup Repository). |
Step 5 | Restore the application backup on the remote repository to the new host (see Restore an Application Backup). |