As a Database Admin, your role is to ensure the organization's storage facility is working in tiptop condition. With the database monitoring tools at your disposal, it's easier to execute mundane database admin tasks such as database monitoring and database reporting with only a click of a button.
However, this becomes problematic when the software is a potential source of maintenance issues. Imagine this! Your dbWatch Control Center software crashes. You have a vague idea of how to fix it. You re-installed the software, but all your customization and database instance information is thrown out the window.
Having ways to backup and restore your database system's information becomes handy in this scenario. Previously, we discussed the intricacies of the dbWatch Control Center file structure. With that familiarization, you can fully utilize what you learned about dbWatch's file structure to backup, recover and migrate these files to a new server.
Reminder:
First, you need administration access to open, overwrite and copy these files. Ensure that you are logged in with your administration credentials; otherwise, the Server might prevent you from copying these files. When backing up your dbWatch files to another server, you also need administration access. The backup server can be a Windows 10 Server or any server as long as it can hold the files and directories.
With that out of the way, let's begin discussing the methods of backup, recovery, and migration.
Backing up your monitoring tool
Backing up your dbWatch Control Center is easy. Even though your only option is doing it manually, you can still achieve this feat with a couple of steps. As mentioned before, you need the necessary administration access to do this in your windows 10 server.
In our blog on dbWatch's File Structure, the server directory contains the essential components of your software. When you are backing up dbWatch Control Center, make sure always to include these three specific XML files:
These essential files contain information for all the databases you monitor and the privileges for your operators. Our previous blog discussed that the authentication XML file holds the administrator credentials and user information. Now, we will look at the other two.
The XML file configuration.xml contains the rights for your users in the dbWatch Control Center. The other XML file configuration.xml holds the domain's information and its other properties.
Similarly, you can include the other JSON files when backing up. Files such as roles.json, which holds the defined roles, and nodes.json, which contains information for your dbWatch Server, are valuable for migration and recovery. These JSON files are essential to retaining the dbWatch server's integrity and adding configuration to the software.
As a database admin, you are responsible for backup the files. The safest way is to backup your dbWatch Control Center software. You can do this by copying your dbWatchControlCenter/config folder. All the XML files and JSON contents should be available in the latest backup.
In addition, you can also backup the following:
These files are not that important in maintaining the basic functionality of the dbWatch Control Center. But they are helpful if you have customizations and configurations done in your database monitoring tool. To read more about backing up your dbWatch Control Center, you can read more about it at the link provided.
Recovering your monitoring tool
In your Windows 10 server, copy your backup and paste it to the Server Work directory along with two critical folders:
In the domain folder, it contains the hidden. git folder, which contains the changes to the config files. Similarly, the server folder has the instance information and server configuration information of your database monitoring tool. It contains these important XML files:
The auth store is essential since it contains the administrator credentials created by the dbWatch software. Since dbWatch uses administrator access to access files and monitor your database, this file will be necessary.
If you wish to reset the administration access of dbWatch when connecting to a database system, you can add the old instances and access them with new administration credentials. However, doing this might be too time-consuming, and I advise keeping the old administration credentials.
Another option is to paste the latest changes with only the config folder. It will capture most of the changes made, including the administration access to the dbWatch Control Center domain, software, and database system. and their administration credentials.
Once you are done overwriting the files, restart the software and services in that order. Open dbWatch, and you should recover your backup dbWatch Control Center. Log in using your admin credentials to the backup version of dbWatch. Your database monitoring tool is ready good to go.
Migrating your monitoring tool
The pre-requisite of migrating dbWatch Control Center is a freshly installed dbWatch Control Center in a new Windows 10 server. Make sure you have administration access to that Server's files. Take note of the chosen work directory, which will be vital for the process.
Like backing up, you will need to copy the files from five locations. These are:
- C:\ProgramData\dbWatchControlCenter\data\
- C:\ProgramData\dbWatchControlCenter\config\server\
- C:\ProgramData\dbWatchControlCenter\config\data\
- C:\ProgramData\dbWatchControlCenter\config\extensions\
- C:\ProgramData\dbWatchControlCenter\config\node\
You'll also need to copy the uuid.txt in the same Server Work config directory. This can be seen in C:\ProgramData\dbWatchControlCenter\config\uuid.txt.
If you're using a domain controller, you will also need to copy the domain folder in the config directory. (C:\ProgramData\dbWatchControlCenter\config\domain)
Then, overwrite the folders in the respective directories. Afterward, restart the software and the dbWatch Services. Open the software, and you are good to go.
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We used a windows 10 server to easily see what files are essential for the process in the steps above. Although we are using a Windows 10 server, this process will also work for other Windows operating systems and versions.
Backing up, recovering, and migrating your dbWatch Control Center involves a manual process. As a database admin, you must keep your database monitoring tool in top condition. It's common for database admins to take care of their database system and maintain the database monitoring tool.
Remember that your database monitoring tool is as important as your database system.
Get you free licenses for five instances valid for six months now! dbWatch Control Center free license.
If you have any questions about dbWatch Control Center, feel free to contact me: rey@dbwatch.com
For more information, visit www.dbWatch.com or the dbWatch wiki pages
#DevOps #DBA #DatabaseManagement #databasemonitoring #sqlserver #oracle #mysql #mariadb #postgresql #sqlmonitor #sqlmanagement #dbmonitor #database monitor #databasefarms #clouddb #Azure
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About the Author:
Rey Lawrence Torrecampo is a Pre-sales Engineer for dbWatch and
a full-time Database Administrator. He has extensive knowledge in Postgres and MSSQL database management systems, with SQL as his most proficient language.
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