Configuring Online Backup Settings
Online backup is one of the backup strategies that you can implement. For information about the supported strategies and the best practices for using them, see Backup Strategies.
You can configure the online backup settings using the choices in the System Administration > Configuration > Database Backup menu of the Management Portal. You can also perform some of these tasks using the methods in the Backup.GeneralOpens in a new tab class. This section points you to the appropriate method where it applies.
When an online backup is complete, your description of the backup is written to the backup history (see View Backup History). Note that this can trigger a journal purge, depending on the When to purge journal files > After this many successive backups setting on the Journal Settings page (the default is 2); for more information, see Configuring Journal Settings.
From the System Management portal you can perform the following configuration tasks:
Note:
The configuration tasks are in the management portion of the Management Portal application; you must have the appropriate manager-level security to configure the backup settings.
Define Database Backup List
InterSystems IRIS maintains a database list that specifies the databases to back up. You can display this list by navigating to the System Administration > Configuration > Database Backup > Database Backup List page of the Management Portal.
Use the arrow buttons to move the databases you do not want to back up to the Available list and the databases you do want to back up to the Selected list. Click Save. If you do not select any databases, the system backs up all databases.
When you add a new database to your system, the system automatically adds it to the database list. If you do not need to include the new database in your backup plan, be sure to remove it from the Backup Database List.
Configure Backup Tasks
InterSystems IRIS provides different types of backup tasks; each is listed as an item on the Database Backup Settings menu. The configuration backup tasks are:
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Configure Full Backup of All Databases
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Configure Full Backup of the Database List
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Configure Incremental Backup of the Database List
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Configure Cumulative Backup of the Database List
These are predefined backup tasks that you can run on-demand from the System Operation > Backup page of the portal. You can also schedule combinations of these backup tasks using the Task Manager. See Schedule Backup Tasks for details.
The process for configuring each of these tasks is the same. The Name, Description, and Type fields are read-only and reflect the menu choice as described in the following table.
Backup Task Descriptions
| Name |
Description |
Type |
| FullAllDatabases |
Full backup of all commonly updated databases, whether or not they are in the Backup Database List. |
Full |
| FullDBList |
Full backup of the InterSystems IRIS databases listed in the Backup Database List. |
Full |
| IncrementalDBList |
Incremental backup of changes made to the data since the last backup, whether full or cumulative. Backup is performed on the databases currently listed in the Backup Database List. |
Incremental |
| CumuIncrDBList |
Cumulative and Incremental backup of all changes made to the data since the last full backup. Backup is performed on the databases currently listed in the Backup Database List. |
Cumulative |
To send backup output to a directory on disk, specify the file pathname in the Device field. Click Browse to select a directory.:
Define Database Backup List describes how to maintain the Backup Database List.
Backup File Names
By default, backup files are stored in install-dir\Mgr\Backup. The backup log files are stored in the same directory. Backup files have the suffix .cbk. Backup log files have the suffix .log.
Backup files and backup log files use the same naming conventions:
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The name of the backup task, followed by an underscore character (_)
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The date of the backup, in yyyymmdd format, followed by an underscore character (_)
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The numeric suffix, nnn, of the name of the new journal file following the journal switch triggered when the backup task begins (see Switch Journal Files
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The .log or .cbk suffix
For example, if the new journal file after the switch triggered by the FullDBList backup task is named 20211031.003, the name of the backup file is FullDBList_20211031_003.cbk and the name of the backup log file is FullDBList_20211031_003.log.
Schedule Backup Tasks
You should ideally set up a schedule for running backups. Backups are best run at a time when there are the least amount of active users on the system.
In addition to the four on-demand backup tasks supplied by default, you can create additional definitions of these four backup tasks. For example, to alternate backups between two disk drives, you could create a backup task for each drive.
Use the InterSystems Task Manager to schedule these backup tasks:
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Navigate to the Task Scheduler wizard in the Management Portal (System Operation > Task Manager > New Task).
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Click Schedule New Task.
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Specify the Task name, Description, Task type, in addition to any changes to the defaults and click Next.
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Enter your desired scheduling information and click Finish.
You can now view your task on the View Task Schedule page (System Operation > Task Manager > View Task Schedule) and manage it as you do other tasks by clicking Details on its row.
