Backing up your config databases

Each appliance has a config database; typically a MySQL database. This config database contains the archiving configuration; that is, how each PV is being archived and where the data is stored. So, it’s good policy to back this database up periodically. For example, one can do a daily backup using mysqldump; this should be more than adequate.

mysqldump -u userid -p password  archappl > /path/to/backupfile

It is also good practice to validate the backups every so often. Most labs have some scripts that perform some basic validation of these backups. Please ask if you need more info.

Note that because the config database contains only configuration, the database itself should see very little traffic. In fact, if you are not adding any PV’s or altering the configuration in any way, you should not have any traffic on the database at all. Each appliance assumes that it has complete ownership of its config database; so it makes sense to have the database as part of the appliance itself. However, it is good practice to store the backup file elsewhere; perhaps in a location that is redundant and is itself backed to tape.