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Backing Up the Mobility XE Warehouse

Technical Note 2129

Last Reviewed 20-May-2010
Applies To


Mobility XE Warehouse: Sun Directory Server versions 6.3.1 and 5.2


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Summary

This technical note describes how you can create a backup of your Mobility warehouse. You can use the backup file to restore your warehouse in the event of a primary warehouse failure.

 

Important:

  • Automated backup tools cannot be used to back up the warehouse directory. The database may become corrupted, or the machine's CPU may peg at 100 percent. If you are using an automated backup program on the machine hosting the Mobility warehouse (primary or standby), you must exclude the warehouse directory (the entire Sun directory tree) from the backup.
  • Disk cloning and imaging tools should only be run after the warehouse (primary or standby) has been stopped. If cloning or imaging takes place while the warehouse is running, the database may become corrupted. If the stopped warehouse is your primary warehouse, your Mobility servers will fail over to a standby warehouse (if you have one) until the primary has been restarted and comes back online. If you do not have a standby warehouse, no clients will be allowed to connect, and the Mobility console will report an error, until the primary has been restarted and comes back online.

The way to stop the warehouse services differs, depending on which version of the Sun Directory Server you have:

  • Version 5.2 Patch 4 Open Windows Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services. The services that must be stopped are the Sun ONE Administrative Server and the Sun ONE Directory Server. After the cloning or imaging process has completed, the services can be restarted.
  • Version 6.3.1 There is only one service. From the command line, use this command:
    net start or stop - directoryserver6-1

You can also manage the service using the Services applet in Administrative Tools: start or stop NetMotion Warehouse.

Background

 

There are two ways to provide redundancy or backups of your Mobility XE warehouse you can use one or both of these options, depending on your configuration and needs:

 

    *

 

      Ensure real-time backups by setting up a second, standby warehouse

    *

 

      Occasionally export the warehouse settings to an LDIF file, to be imported in case of a failure

Considerations

 

Use the following considerations to determine which method(s) to use to provide backups or redundancy to your Mobility warehouse:

 

    *

 

      If you have only one warehouse, or if you want maximum redundancy for a primary-and-standby warehouse configuration, follow the instructions below to back up your Mobility warehouse data to a file. You should consider creating a script to perform backups regularly to keep the backup settings as close to current as possible.

    *

 

      In addition to backups, NetMotion strongly recommends installing a standby warehouse. The standby warehouse will be kept current, in real time, with the latest Mobility settings and configurations, and it will allow clients to continue to connect if the primary warehouse fails. Follow the instructions in http://www.netmotionwireless.com/support/technotes/2130.aspx to create a standby warehouse.

 

      The standby warehouse can also be promoted to primary if the original primary will not come back online, or if its settings can be imported into a new primary. See /support/technotes/2135.aspx for details on Mobility XE warehouse recovery options.

 

Backing Up the Mobility Warehouse

NetMotion provides a command line tool called nmwdump.exe that you can use to export an LDIF file from either your original warehouse, or the standby warehouse if the primary is unavailable.

  1. On the computer running an existing Mobility XE server, open a command prompt and navigate to the directory where you installed Mobility XE (typically, C:\Program Files\NetMotion Server).
  2. To runnmwdump.exe and direct the output to a file, enter the following. The command is case-sensitive so be sure to type it exactly as shown.

For warehouses installed with Mobility XE version 6.x

nmwdump.exe objectclass=* nsRoleDn nssizelimit nslookthroughlimit * > [filename].LDIF

For warehouses installed with Mobility XE version 7.0 and higher

nmwdump.exe > [filename].LDIF

You can output the file to any name and location that you prefer.

  1. -h switch, with no space inbetween, and the standby's port number comes immediately after the -p switch, with no space inbetween.

For warehouses installed with Mobility XE version 6.x

nmwdump.exe -h[host] -p[port] -objectclass=* nsRoleDn nssizelimit nslookthroughlimit * > [filename].LDIF

where [host] is the IP address of your standby warehouse and [port] is the port number (default is 389).

For warehouses installed with Mobility XE version 7.0 and higher

nmwdump.exe -h[host] -p[port] > [filename].LDIF

where [host] is the IP address of your standby warehouse and [port] is the port number (default is 389).

You can output the file to any name and location that you prefer.

          Note: Use the Warehouse Management Tool to export your LDIF file when backing up  your Sun Directory Server 6.3 warehouse.

Restoring the Mobility Warehouse from a Backup (v5.2)

To restore a v5.2 Mobility warehouse from a backup, follow the steps below. The process for restoring a v6.3.1 warehouse uses the Warehouse Management Tool and is much simpler. Refer to the v9.x Mobility server online help or the Mobility XE System Administrator Guide if you need more information.

Install the warehouse using the same base DN string as that used in the previous pool. Don't attach a Mobility server to this new warehouse yet.


Use the Sun ONE Directory Server console to import the saved LDIF file. (If you have a standby warehouse, you should consider restoring your primary warehouse by exporting the LDIF file from your standby warehouse. See /support/technotes/2135.aspx for details.)

  1. Open the Sun ONE Server Console. (On the Start menu, click Programs, Sun ONE Server Products, Sun ONE Server Console 5.2.)
  2. On the Servers and Applications tab, expand the tree until you see your Directory Server listing. Select your server, and then click Open.
  3. On the Configuration tab, select Schema, and then click Disable on the right panel.
  4. On the Tasks tab, click Import from LDIF.
  5. In the Import LDIF dialog box, enter the path to your LDIF file, or click Browse to select it.
  6. Click OK to import the file. A status dialog box will show the progress and success or failure of your import.

Note: you may see a few errors, but the dialog should indicate a successful import. When the import has completed successfully, click Close to dismiss the Import LDIF dialog box.

  1. On the Tasks tab, click Restart Directory Server, and then click Yes in the confirmation dialog box. Close the status dialog box once it has indicated a successful restart.
  2. On the Configuration tab, select Schema, and then click Enable on the right panel.
  3. Now connect a Mobility server into this warehouse, which requires a reboot.
  4. After the Mobility server has rebooted, re-initialize the warehouse, using Tech Note 2222.

For Mobility Warehouse 6.3,1 use the Warehouse Management Tool instead of the Sun ONE console to import the data (select Manage Warehouse Data > Restore Warehouse Data).

 

 

Related Technical Notes

2130: Configuring a Standby Mobility XE Warehouse

2131: Moving a Mobility XE Warehouse to a New Computer

2135: Mobility XE Warehouse Recovery Options

9979: NetMotion Mobility Technical Notes

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