16 Database Backup and Restoration

The following files and directories should be backed up:

SUSE recommends backing up the entire /var/spacewalk/ tree. In case of failure, this will save you lengthy download/resync time. Since /var/spacewalk/ (more specifically /var/spacewalk/packages/NULL/ ) is primarily a duplicate of the package repository, it can be regenerated with mgr-sync.

If you are running SUSE Manager in a disconnected setup /var/spacewalk/must be backed up.

Backing up only these files and directories requires reinstalling the SUSE Manager RPMs and re-registering SUSE Manager . In addition, packages need to be resynchronized using the mgr-sync tool. Finally, you have to reinstall the /root/ssl-build/rhn-org-httpd-ssl-key-pair-MACHINE_NAME-VER-REL.noarch.rpm .

Another method is to back up all the files and directories mentioned above but reinstall the SUSE Manager without re-registering it. During the installation, cancel or skip the registration and SSL certificate generation sections.

The most comprehensive method is to back up the entire machine. This saves time in downloading and reinstalling but requires additional disk space and backup time.

Note

Regardless of the backup method used, when restoring SUSE Manager from a backup, you must run the following command to schedule the recreation of search indexes the next time the rhn-search service is started:

rcrhn-search cleanindex

SUSE Manager provides the smdba command for managing the installed database.

The smdba command works on local databases only, not remote. This utility allows you to do several administrative tasks like backing up and restoring the database, everything from creating, verifying, and restoring backups to obtain the database status and restart the database if necessary. The smdba command supports postgres databases.

Important: Running smdba Relies on sudoEnablement

Running smdba relies on proper sudo configuration. sudo allows you to invoke smdba as a regular user and thus, you are save from executing unwanted system changes.

For example, to allow the user admin (the “administrative UID” ) to execute smdba commands, and thus manipulating the underlying database with the “operative UID” , make sure something as follows is configured in /etc/sudoers :

admin   ALL=(postgres) /usr/bin/smdba

With these settings admin user will be allowed to access the target database account (oracle or postgres).

For configuring sudo and its security implications, see the sudo and sudoers manpages and the extensive comments in the /etc/sudoers configuration file.

Find basic information about smdba in the smdba manpage.

Note: Restart Spacewalk Services When Connection is Lost

If you have stopped or restarted the database, Spacewalk services connections may be interrupted. In such a case, execute the following command:

``spacewalk-service`` restart

There are three commands to start, stop, or retrieve the status of the database. These commands work with both databases. Use the following commands:

smdba db-status
Checking database core...       online

smdba db-stop
Stopping the SUSE Manager database...
Stopping core:         done

smdba db-status
Checking database core...       offline

smdba db-start
Starting core...       done

Important: Database Backup Space Requirements

For both a running/hot database backup or an automated backup of the database using cron you must have at least 3 times the amount of space of the current database. Check current database space usage with df -h on /var/lib/pgsql/ .

To perform a hot database backup for postgresql, do the following:

Tip: Performing a Cold Backup

When using smdba, you should never require a cold backup. You may perform a cold backup once after initial SUSE Manager installation and configuration. SUSE recommends creating a full-backup once a month or weekly and an additional incremental backup for single days. Moving /var/spacewalk to an NFS share that is centrally backed-up, will save you alot of time when a restore is required. The NFS share may also be used during the migration from SUSE Manager 2.1 to SUSE Manager 3.

It is important to ensure your SUSE Manager database is backed up within a regularly defined schedule. You can do this with a cron job. The following procedure describes this process.

Important: Database Backup Space Requirements

For all forms of database backup (hot, cold, or automated via cron) you must have at least 3 times the amount of space of the current database. Check current database space usage with df -h on /var/spacewalk/ .

Use smdba backup-restore to restore to an earlier point in time. To restore the backup, proceed as follows:

The above steps can be combined with:

smdba backup-restore force

In this case it will select the most recent backup and purge the rest. Every time you create a new backup, it also purges the previous backups.

Note: Restoring the Most Recent Backup Only

Because smdba makes automatic running database backups, it allows restoration of only the most recent backup, which includes merging of current archive logs.

In SUSE Manager with an embedded database, archive logging is enabled by default. This feature allows the database management tool smdba to perform hot backups.

With archive log enabled, even more data is stored on the hard disk:

Creating a user and syncing the channels:

Postgresql will generate an additional ~1 GB of data. So it is important to think about a backup strategy and create a backups in a regular way.

Archive logs are stored at:

Database administrators may use the subcommand space-overview to get a report about occupied table spaces, for example:

smdba space-overview
SUSE Manager Database Control. Version 1.5.2
Copyright (c) 2012 by SUSE Linux Products GmbH


Tablespace  | Size (Mb) | Avail (Mb) | Use %
------------+-----------+------------+------
postgres    | 7         | 49168      | 0.013
susemanager | 776       | 48399      | 1.602

The following command is available for Postgresql. For a more detailed report, use the space-tables subcommand. It lists the table and its size, for example:

smdba space-tables
SUSE Manager Database Control. Version 1.5.2
Copyright (c) 2012 by SUSE Linux Products GmbH


Table                                 | Size
--------------------------------------+-----------
public.all_primary_keys               | 0 bytes
public.all_tab_columns                | 0 bytes
public.allserverkeywordsincereboot    | 0 bytes
public.dblink_pkey_results            | 0 bytes
public.dual                           | 8192 bytes
public.evr_t                          | 0 bytes
public.log                            | 32 kB
...

It is possible to move the database to another location. For example if your database storage space is running low. The following procedure will guide you through moving the database to a new location for use by SUSE Manager.

This section provides guidance on restoring your server after its root partition has crashed. This section assumes you have setup your server similar to the procedure explained in Getting Started guide with separate partitions for the database and for channels mounted at /var/lib/pgsql and /var/spacewalk/ .

The information for connecting to the SUSE Manager database is located in /etc/rhn/rhn.conf :

db_backend = postgresql
db_user = susemanager
db_password = susemanager
db_name = susemanager
db_host = localhost
db_port = 5432
db_ssl_enabled =