Database Snapshot

Collect! will automatically snapshot your core database files with the convenient Snapshot function. Collect! copies and zips your database files and stores them in a snapshot folder in the CV11 folder as a Database Snapshot.tar.gz file. The last ten snapshots are saved automatically.

The Database Snapshot.tag.gz files can be opened with WinZip, WinRAR, 7-Zip, etc. If you are not familiar with .tar.gz files, please consult your network technician.

You can manually invoke this function through the Maintenance screen at any time or schedule the snapshot to run daily.

The Snapshot function should not be used a a primary backup utility. Only core database files and Notes are saved. Letters, Attachments and HTML folders are NOT included in the snapshot.

Collect! uses bsdtar.exe to copy and zip fies. This utility is shipped with Collect!. It must remain in the bin folder for Snapshot to work.

Snapshot Manually

This is an easy way to capture your data before testing a new import or running a large batch process.

Anytime you would like to snapshot your database files, select File from the top menu bar and then select Maintenance from the drop-down choices. This will display the Database Maintenance form. Select the SNAPSHOT button to start a hot online snapshot of your core database files.

Collect! switches the CV11 Server into hot online backup mode and displays details to the console while the snapshot is running.

Snapshot Running

The rds.log is updated when the snapshot begins and ends and Collect! lets you know when the snapshot has completed. You can find the snapshot file in your CV11/snapshot folder.

The TAR.GZ file that is created retains the folder information for quickly restoring files if a recovery is needed.

Snapshot Automatically

There are two ways to snapshot your database automatically.

1. If you have a 1 to 10 user license

You can just leave your CV11 Server running overnight. The snapshot runs automatically each night at 1:00 AM. You can configure this further by adding an argument to the CV11 Server target, or you can switch it OFF.

rds.exe -snapshot=1:30
Use this argument to set the time for your daily snapshot, using the 24 hour clock.

Snapshot Scheduled to Run Nightly at 1:30 AM

rds.exe -nosnapshot
Use this argument to disable the Snapshot functionality.

The daily snapshot will connect via "Shared Mode" so you should be able to keep on working while the snapshot takes place.

Altering your system date and time should not affect/prevent the snapshot from occurring.

2. If you have more than 10 users

You can schedule a snapshot using Collect!'s Task Scheduler, a licensed extension module. The snapshot can be configured as needed to run daily, weekly or whatever you need.

Database Snapshot Scheduled Task

Please refer to Help topic, Scheduler for details.

TECHNICAL NOTES:

Collect! cycles the snapshot files so that there are never more than 10 days worth of files saved in the CV11\snapshot folder. The most recent file will always be "Database Snapshot 1.tar.gz" and the other files will be renumbered with #10 dropping off, if necessary.

Snapshot ONLY copies core database files, including Notes. Please do not rely on this as your primary backup utility!

Snapshot will not begin if a database upgrade happens to be in progress at the automatic start time. "Snapshot aborted" will be logged to the RDS log.

Snapshot will not begin if a database maintenance happens to be in progress at the automatic start time. "Snapshot aborted" will be logged to the RDS log.

Before a scheduled Archive operation begins, Collect! will attempt to disable the snapshot so that it doesn't kick in while in the middle of a large archiving operation. If a backup operation is already in progress when the Scheduler tries to disable it, the Archive Task will fail with the status message "Backup was in progress."

Enabling and disabling the snapshot is nestable in that multiple processes can enable and disable the backup without causing any conflicts. If two processes disable the backup, the backup will only be enabled when "BOTH" processes re-enable it.

When a user disables the backup, an entry will be written to the RDS log. When a user enables the backup, an entry will be written to the RDS log. Each log entry will contain the User ID and Session ID.

When the snapshot aborts because it has been disabled, an entry will be written to the RDS log.

If a process that disables the snapshot terminates prior to re-enabling it, the RDS server will have to be restarted to re-enable the auto backup function.

If the snapshot fails for any reason, the reported error code is written to the RDS log.

Snapshot Folder

You can select a different folder for your snapshots. In the Database Maintenance Options, the "Snapshot to" field displays the current path to the snapshot folder. Select an alternate path, if desired.

The path and folder you select MUST already exist. Collect! will not create a new folder during the snapshot procedure. Any valid path is accepted. If there no path is specified, the Server will fall back to the default, CV11\snapshot folder.

After changing the path, select SAVE AS DEFAULT to write the new path to the collect.cfg configuration file. Then you MUST restart the CV11 Server so that the new settings can be registered with the Server.

See Also

- Additional Database Topics