Backup and restore on Windows or Linux

Backup and recovery of data files and databases is an essential operation for any business system, particularly for data and applications running in production environments. Create and follow a plan for backing up and recovering data on all tiers of your IBM^® WebSphere^® Portal Express deployment running on Microsoft Windows or Linux.

Backup and recovery includes the WebSphere Portal Express file system and databases using IBM DB2 Universal Database™ Enterprise Server Edition. Your backup and recovery plan needs to address each deployment tier: complete system backup for catastrophic failures, backup of middleware such as WebSphere Portal Express and IBM WebSphere Application Server, and backup of individual applications running on the middleware. Backup and recovery can be performed on any or all of these tiers, depending on the needs of your portal deployment.

When you create a backup and recovery plan, consider these general questions:

What procedure will you use to back up data?
How often will you back up data?
What are the trade-offs between online and offline backups?
How does the scope of your portal deployment affect the backup and recovery strategy? For example, the number of users and the volume and importance of the data being stored and used in applications will affect your decisions about backup and recovery practices.
Will you use IBM Tivoli^® Storage Manager or other utility to back up the file system?

Attention: Backing up and recovering a WebSphere Portal Express installation includes the WebSphere Application Server runtime environment and all applications deployed on WebSphere Portal Express. However, if applications use remote information sources outside of the WebSphere Portal Express databases and the LDAP directory, you need to consider these remote sources and develop backup and recovery procedures as part of your comprehensive strategy.

Note: If you use IBM DB2 for i5/OS™, refer to the backup and recovery information in that section of this IBM WebSphere Portal Express Information Center. While general DB2 information might also apply to DB2 for i5/OS, information such as schema names and specific steps for database backup might be different. For information on backing up and restoring other relational database management systems (RDBMS), refer to the documentation for the particular system.

Guidelines for Idle Standby deployments
If IBM WebSphere Portal Express is deployed in an Idle Standby topology, both a primary node and a secondary node are running in a cluster. The primary node is the active node, and the secondary node is the backup node. In this topology, there is no difference in database backup and restore because all cluster members use the same WebSphere Portal Express databases. However, you need to consider some additional factors when backing up and recovering the file system in an Idle Standby deployment.
Considerations for DB2
Before you back up IBM WebSphere Portal Express databases that use IBM DB2 Universal Database Enterprise Server Edition, determine whether you need to perform offline or online backup, what your requirements are for storage capacity and backup frequency, and your preferred utility.
Backing up files, databases, and the LDAP server on Windows or Linux
Periodically run an automated backup procedure for the IBM WebSphere Portal Express file system, databases, and the LDAP server using a backup and recovery utility of your choice. Remember to run the backup procedure before performing critical system-wide changes, such as upgrading to a new version of WebSphere Portal Express or installing interim fixes and fix packs.
Restoring files, databases, and the LDAP server on Windows or Linux
When necessary, restore the IBM WebSphere Portal Express file system, databases, and LDAP server that you have backed up.