Backing up data before an upgrade

To ensure your data is safe during the upgrade process, we suggest backing up your data before upgrading to a new version.

Data backup is the process of copying data from a source (BMC Helix ITOM MinIO) to a destination (external storage or external MinIO). By using the disaster recovery functionality of BMC Helix ITOM, you can copy data from BMC Helix ITOM MinIO to external storage or external MinIO.

You can use the data copied to the destination to restore the original data at the source if it is destroyed or corrupted. Backing up data equips your organization to be prepared for a disaster by creating and maintaining a copy of your data on external storage.

Before you back up your data, you must consider the sizing requirements. For more information, see Disaster recovery requirement in the Sizing and scalability considerations topic.

Workflow to back up data before upgrading BMC Helix ITOM

Perform the following tasks to back up data before upgrading to a new version of BMC Helix ITOM:

To apply the BMC Helix on premises disaster recovery v24.1.00.004 hotfix

The BMC Helix OnPrem Disaster Recovery v24.1.00.004 hotfix contains additional container images required for data backup.

1. If you have already enabled disaster recovery, disable it:
   1. Go to /helix-on-prem-deployment-manager/utilities/disaster-recovery.

   2. Run the following command

      ./disaster-recovery.sh disable 

2. Make sure you downloaded the BMC Helix OnPrem Disaster Recovery v24.1.00.004 hotfix from Electronic Product Distribution (EPD).
   

3. To extract the hotfix-24.1.00.004-12-Post.tar.gz file, run the following command:

   tar -xvf hotfix-24.1.00.004-12-Post.tar.gz

   In the extracted folder, the new-image-list.txt file contains the following container images: 

   • 2410004-v1-victoriametrics-vmbackupmanager-v1.100.1   
   • 2410004-v1-bitnami-minio-2024.03.21-rockylinux-9   
   • 2410004-v1-victoriametrics-vmrestore-v1.99.0-enterprise
   • ade-on-prem-dr-de0a5b0-533
4. Synchronize your local repository with BMC Docker Trusted Registry (DTR). 
   For more information, see Setting up a Harbor registry in a local network and synchronizing it with BMC DTR or Setting up a Harbor registry in an air-gapped environment and synchronizing it with BMC DTR.

5. To execute the .sh file, run the following command:

   bash hf_script.sh /<path to 24.1 deployment manager directory>/helix-on-prem-deployment-manager

   Replace <path to 24.1 deployment manager directory> with the full path of the directory where you have saved the 24.1 deployment manager.
   Example:

   bash hf_script.sh /data/24.1.00/helix-on-prem-deployment-manager

A copy of the directory helix-on-prem-deployment-manager is created in the path specified in the command.

In the example, a new directory helix-on-prem-deployment-manager_HF1 is created at /data/24.1.00.
No changes are made to the original directory specified in the command.

To back up data in BMC Helix ITOM MinIO

Always configure the first data backup when the load is low with less activity.

1. Go to /helix-on-prem-deployment-manager/utilities/disaster-recovery/dr-configs. 

2. In the disaster-recovery.config file, specify the values of the following parameters: 

   Parameter	Description	Example
   BUCKET_NAME	Specify the name of the bucket used to back up data on ITOM MinIO.  Important: Use the following conventions while assigning a bucket name: It can have 3 to 63 characters. It can have lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens (-). It must begin and end with an alphabetic or a numeric character. It must not start with xn-- because it might get interpreted as a Punycode format; for example, xn–bucketname. It must not have uppercase letters, periods (.), or underscores (_). It must not have hyphens next to periods (.); for example, my-.bucket.com or my.-bucket. It must not end with a hyphen or -s3alias (-s3alias is reserved for the MinIO bucket access point alias name).	BUCKET_NAME=helixdr-backup
   SITE_NAME	Specify a name to identify the site from where you want to back up data.  Important: Use only lowercase letters and numbers. Do not add any blank spaces. Do not use any special character except a hyphen.	SITE_NAME=india
   NAMESPACE	Specify the namespace where you have installed BMC Helix ITOM.	NAMESPACE=helix-cluster3
   DR_BACKUP_INTERVAL_IN_HOUR	Specify the backup interval in hours. You can set values between 1 to 24. We recommend that you set the value of this parameter based on the size of your data. The value that you specify defines the interval for backing up your data. Example 1: If you set the value of this parameter as 1 hour, data backup is performed at the start of every hour according to the cron schedule (0 */1 * * *). If your current cluster time is 2:15 P.M. on November 2: The first backup occurs at 3:00 P.M on November 2. This will be a complete data backup. Subsequent backups will occur at 4:00 P.M., 5:00 P.M., 6:00 P.M., and so on, on November 2. These will be incremental backups.  At 3:00 P.M. on November 3, another complete data backup will occur. Example 2: If you set the value of this parameter as 3 hours, data backup is performed at the start of every third hour according to the cron schedule (0 */3 * * *).  If your current cluster time is 2:15 P.M. on November 2: The first backup occurs at 3:00 P.M on November 2. This will be a complete data backup. Subsequent backups will occur at 6:00 P.M., 9:00 P.M., and so on, on November 2. These will be incremental backups.  At 3:00 P.M. on November 3, another complete data backup will occur. Important: For Victoria Metrics, the default interval is one hour. You cannot modify the default interval.	DR_BACKUP_INTERVAL_IN_HOUR=1
   DR_MAX_BACKUP_TO_RETAIN	Specify the number of days for which you want to retain the backed-up data.	DR_MAX_BACKUP_TO_RETAIN=5

   Warning

   Important

   If you decide to configure disaster recovery for both BMC Helix ITOM and BMC Helix IT Service Management, make sure the backup schedules and retention periods are in sync.

3. To configure a data backup, run the following command: 

   ./disaster-recovery.sh backup 

   Logs get saved in the helix-on-prem-deployment-manager/logs directory. You can check the logs to monitor the progress, success, or failure of the data backup process. 

To stop data backup at BMC Helix ITOM MinIO

1. Go to /helix-on-prem-deployment-manager/utilities/disaster-recovery.

2. Run the following command:

   ./disaster-recovery.sh disable 

Any data backup process that is in progress is completed, and subsequent backups are stopped.

The data backed up in BMC Helix ITOM MinIO is not deleted.  

Back up of all BMC Helix ITOM applications is stopped, except BMC Discovery. 

To copy data from BMC Helix ITOM MinIO to an external storage

1. Configure the MinIO client (mc) that has an external storage.
   For more information, see MinIO Clientin the MinIO documentation.

2. Make sure the MinIO client has access to BMC Helix ITOM MinIO:

   1. On the controller machine, run the following command:

      kubectl -n <BMC Helix ITOM namespace> get ing | grep minio

      Sample output:

      intelligent-automation-remote-plugin-v1-minion                      <none>   lb.photon.bmc.com                    80      5d14h
      minio                                                               nginx    minio.photon.bmc.com                 80      5d18h
      minio-api                                                           <none>   minio-api.photon.bmc.com             80      5d18h
      restapi-plugin-callback-minion                                      <none>   lb.photon.bmc.com                    80      5d14h
      restapi-plugin-minion                                               <none>   lb.photon.bmc.com                    80      5d14h

   2. From the MinIO client, ping the MinIO server:

      ping <minio server>

      Example:

      ping minio.photon.bmc.com

      Sample output:

      PING xx-xxx-xxxxx123.bmc.com (XXX.XX.XXX.XXX) 56(84) bytes of data.
      64 bytes from xx-xxx-xxxxx123.bmc.com (XXX.XX.XXX.XXX): icmp_seq=1 ttl=63 time=0.377 ms
      64 bytes from xx-xxx-xxxxx123.bmc.com (XXX.XX.XXX.XXX): icmp_seq=2 ttl=63 time=0.296 ms
      64 bytes from xx-xxx-xxxxx123.bmc.com (XXX.XX.XXX.XXX): icmp_seq=3 ttl=63 time=0.290 ms
      ^C
      --- vl-aus-domdv419.bmc.com ping statistics ---
      3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2003ms

   3. From the MinIO client, ping the MinIO API server:

      ping <minio api server>

      Example:

      ping minio-api.photon.bmc.com   

3. To configure the MinIO client with the details of a MinIO server, run the following command on the MinIO client:

   mc --insecure config host add $CLUSTER_NAME https://$ITOM_MINIO_API_ING $MINIO_USER $MINIO_PASSWORD
   

   This command configures the MinIO client (mc) with the details of a MinIO server, allowing the mc to interact with the MinIO server.
   Example:

   mc --insecure config host add itom https://minio-api.itom.abc.com admin bmcAdm1n
   

4. To copy data from BMC Helix ITOM MinIO to the external storage (external MinIO client), run the following commands:

   mkdir /$EXTERNAL_STORAGE
   
   mc --insecure cp --recursive $CLUSTER_NAME/$BACKUP_BUCKET /$EXTERNAL_STORAGE
   

   Example:

   mkdir /helixdr-restore
   
   mc --insecure cp --recursive itom/helixdr-backup /helixdr-restore
   

To upgrade BMC Helix ITOM

Make sure the complete data is copied successfully with no errors. Then, upgrade to the latest version of BMC Helix ITOM.
For more information, see Preparing for upgrade and Upgrading-BMC-Helix-IT-Operations-Management-from-version-24-4-to-25-2.

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To copy data and restore data if an upgrade fails

If the upgrade fails, copy your data from the external storage to the BMC Helix ITOM MinIO and then the data on  BMC Helix ITOM MinIO.

To copy data from external storage to BMC Helix ITOM MinIO

To copy data from the external storage to the BMC Helix ITOM MinIO, run the following commands:

Example:

To restore data at the BMC Helix ITOM MinIO

1. Go to /helix-on-prem-deployment-manager/utilities/disaster-recovery/dr-configs.

2. In the disaster-recovery.config file, specify the values of the following parameters:

   Parameter	Description	Example
   BUCKET_NAME	Specify the name of the bucket used to restore data on BMC Helix ITOM MinIO.	BUCKET_NAME=helixdr-restore
   SITE_NAME	Specify the name of the site from where you want to restore data.	SITE_NAME=india
   NAMESPACE	Specify the namespace where you have installed BMC Helix IT Operations Management.	NAMESPACE=helix-cluster3

    

3. To restore data, run the following command:

   ./disaster-recovery.sh restore