Enabler Backup and Restore

From EnablerWiki

Created: 31 July 2009. Last Reviewed: 16 February 2011

Enabler has Backup and Restore functionality built in to assist with scheduling backups of Enabler data and restoring Enabler data in the case of database corruption or Hardware failure. This Backup and Restore functionality should be used to backup the Enabler data, rather than backing up the data directly using 3rd party applications. If using a 3rd party solution potential issues can arise with Database File locking and other corruption.

Enabler Backups

When using the Enabler Backup functionality, the backup selections are copied to a compressed zip file in the specified path. This file can then be backed up as part of a 3rd party backup to removable media such as tape.

Configuration

Various configuration options are available for the Backup system. It is recommended that different backup scenarios be configured for Store Servers (including the Head Office Server) and Tills. This is to avoid conflicts with different tills trying to backup the information on the store server at the same time. If this occurs, there is the potential for database locking errors to occur and cause further damage to data.

Store Server configuration

Back Office ⇒ Local Store Setup ⇒ Transaction Processing/Comms ⇒ Backup Options Setup ⇒ Select ‘Store Server’ only ⇒ enable ‘Create backups’

Backup path

Specify the full path to the directory where backup files should be created. This may be a local path as configured in Figure 1, or it can be a UNC network path (EG. \\till02\ebackups)

Days to retain backups

Specify the number of days to retain each backup file. Any backup files older than this setting will be deleted prior to creating the latest backup.

Backup configurations (local)

Local configuration files (*.ini files located in the Enabler root directory (usually \Enabler) will be added to the backup

Backup configurations (central)

The central configuration database will be backed up. This means that all files and subdirectories under the central configuration path (normally \Enabler\Comms\Config) will be added to the backup

Backup LAN transaction database

All *.dbf files from the LANTRAN database directory will be added to the backup.

Backup local database

All *.dbf files from the LOCAL database directory will be added to the backup.

Backup LAN maintenance database

All files from the LANMNT directory and all sub-directories will be added to the backup. Note that this means the .PRM files from the isl-bu directory will also be included.

Backup electronic journals

All .jnl from the LANTRAN\journals directory will be added to the backup.

Store Till configuration

Back Office ⇒ Local Store Setup ⇒ Transaction Processing/Comms ⇒ Backup Options Setup ⇒ Select ‘Tills’ only ⇒ enable ‘Create backups’

It is recommended that only the Local Enabler data be backed up on a Till. This ensures there will be no Database Locking issues if the till attempted to backup the transactional databases at the same time as the store server.

Backup Strategies

What Machines should I Backup?

All Store Servers and the Head Office Server should be configured to Backup using the Enabler Backup functionality.
Although it is not important to backup tills (as there is no transactional data kept on the tills), it can be advantageous to backup the local databases so that any issues that may occur on the till can be traced back via the <rrbbtt>b.dbf Nibbler Backup File.

Where should I backup to?

It is an advantage to backup to a location other than the local Hard Drive. Backing up to another location helps to avoid full data loss if the Hard Drive fails.

Network Location

As mentioned, the backup path can be set as a network location using a UNC path. A Store Server could be configured to backup to a Till, and the Till configured to backup to the Store Server.

EG:

Store Server backup path: \\Till01\enbackups\
Till backup path: \\Server01\enbackups\

Removable Drive

Removable USB or Zip drives are ideal for single-till installations (where only a store server is used). USB Drives are cheap, reliable and have more than enough space to hold the backup data. They can also be easily swapped each day and taken away offsite for extra protection. These devices usually display as a local drive.

EG: Backup Path: E:\enablerbackups

Local Hard Drive

If no other location is available, there is still merit in backing up to the local hard drive. While this provides no protection against drive failure, it can provide protection against general file corruption or data loss caused by application errors or inappropriate user intervention.

EG: Backup Path: C:\Enabler\backups

How are the Backups stored?

The backups are stored in standard .ZIP files in the path specified in the configuration screen. The zip file name is the date of creation in CCYYMMDD format. So, a backup created at 2:00am on 21 March, 2002 would be named 20020321.ZIP.
Inside the zip file, all backed up files include the full original disk path. EG: Enabler\Lantran\posdsale.dbf. However, the local configuration files are an exception – these are stored in the root of the backup ZIP file.

Backup Scheduling

The backup is run as part of the Data Purge process. If this is not scheduled to run, then the backup will NOT occur. The reason behind this approach is that the Backup generally needs to occur overnight, it needs to happen automatically and it needs to be run after the End of Day but before the Till Resume scheduled events. Normally, the Data Purge is configured to occur between these two events.

It is better not to create a separate scheduled event for the backup. This would require timing buffers, which effectively means that the overnight processing requires more time overall to complete. For example, if the backup was to be scheduled separately at 3:00am, you might have to wait until 4:00am to start the purge, just to be sure that the backup was complete – even though the backup might take only 20 minutes. By combining these two events Enabler makes optimum use of the window of opportunity to perform these housekeeping tasks.

The backup will run just before the actual data purge. EG: If the Purge and Backup is scheduled for 02:00am, the backup will run at 02:00am and the purge will run immediately on completion of the backup. Running the backup before the purge means that a backup is available in the event that the data purge leads to corruption, or a purge parameter is set incorrectly so data is inadvertently deleted.

Back Office ⇒ Local Store Setup ⇒ Transaction Processing/Comms ⇒ Scheduler Setup ⇒ Enable ‘Purge & Backup’

To enable Purge and Backup you can configure it to run immediately after the End of Day (as in Figure 3), or you can manually specify a time for it to run.
Note:

As previously mentioned, this task should be run after the End of Day, but before the Resume Till. It is also recommended that it is scheduled to avoid conflicting with the other tasks, Host Import and Forward Pricing.

Restoring Backups

If a situation arises where backups must be restored, it is recommended that the operation is discussed with Magenta Support prior to proceeding with the steps below. This is to ensure the correct procedure is used and to avoid overwriting/deleting data.

Assisted Restore

Backups can be restored using the ‘Restore Backup’ option on File menu in the Back Office.

Back Office ⇒ File ⇒ Restore Backup

Note:

The restore option will automatically overwrite any files that already exist. This is necessary and desirable if you are running the restore in order to recover from corruption. However, use with care as it is possible to overwrite good data with out-of-date data from the backup!

Using the Restore Backup option requires that all Enabler applications are first closed. This includes Nibbler and POS. If other applications are found to be running, a message will be displayed advising them to be closed.

If Back Office is monitoring Nibbler, Back Office will automatically suspend Nibbler for the duration of the restore and will resume Nibbler when the restore is complete.

Upon selecting the Restore Backup option in Back Office, the Restore Backup window is displayed (Figure 4).

The list of backup files will show all .ZIP files that are located in the configured Backup Path.

Select the backup file to restore data from and select the components to restore from that backup file. Click Restore to proceed.

If LOCAL or LANTRAN databases are restored, the restore process automatically invokes a re-index on the restored databases once the .DBF files have been recovered.

Manual Restore

The Assisted Restore menu option provides a convenient way to recover an entire backup, or large portions of a backup, however it doesn’t provide a great level of granularity. EG: You can restore the entire Local Database, or none of it. You could not restore single files from within the backup files. If Enabler data or configuration is badly corrupted, it might not be possible to launch Back Office. Therefore, you would need to recover manually

Files within the backup files may be restored manually using Windows Explorer (Windows XP and above) or tools such as Winzip or PKUnzip. Individual files can be restored to their original locations or copied elsewhere.

Using the Manual Restore scenario requires that all Enabler applications are first closed. This includes Nibbler, POS and Back Office. If any of the applications are open, the restore may fail.