Systems fail due to many reasons. Some try to recover from the error, learning new things. But most of the time we are in need of a proper backup - restore procedure which is not time consuming. This blog is about taking a complete backup of XI and restoring it to the same state, even after a reinstallation/crash of the operating system. This backup is very specific for oracle database.
Steps to take Backup
Backup files
There are many ways one can take a backup. The most traditional way is to zip it! Lets zip the necessary files.
- /usr
- /oracle (including ctrl & data files)
The total size of compressed files comes around 8 GB (the data is for SP15).
Backup registry
Take a backup of only for those marked inside red as a registry (.reg) file.
Steps to Restore XI
Restoring XI is a very tricky way. You cant just extract and make the server up instantly. But there is no need for the machine to have oracle installed or any general prerequisite apart from jdk.
File Extraction
Extract the compressed backup to the same location as previously installed.
Registry Updation
Remove the existing registry entries for oracle and sap and run the registry file. Restart your system after updating registry.
Make the oracle database up
The next challenge is to make the oracle database up. Login to <SID>adm, goto console and type
C> sqlplus /nolog
SQL> startup mount;
You will get some error like this.
ORA-00214: controlfile C:\oracle\<SID>\origlogA\cntrl\CNTRLCXI.DBF
version 762 inconsistent with file
C:\oracle\<SID>\sapdata1\system_1\cntrl\CNTRLCXI.DBF version 758
Dont panic.
Type
SQL> shutdown;
Now, copy the file from C:\oracle\<SID>\origlogA\cntrl\CNTRLCXI.DBF to C:\oracle\<SID>\sapdata1\system_1\cntrl\CNTRLCXI.DBF.
After copying, now retype,
SQL> startup mount;
This time you will get a different error like the one below for C:\oracle\CXI\sapdata1\system_1\SYSTEM.DATA1
ORA-01113: file 1 needs media recovery
Now, type
SQL> shutdown;
SQL> recover database;
SQL> startup;
Oracle database must be up and running for next step to proceed. These are the only two problems which must be faced.
Register the services
Even though, we updated the registry with the backup services, the services will not be registered. To register the services, the best suggested way is to re-run the central instance step of installation (which takes less than 10 minutes) which has the registering the services step. Make sure you give the same SID and other details in the CI installation.
Start the XI Server
Go to MMC and start the instances. Bingo! The server is up and running as on the date of backup.
Final note:
The server is up and the restore is over. But make sure you clear the java web-start cache if your restore is made after applying some patches. If you don’t, you will not be able to see Adapter Engine in any adapter. This is mainly due the different SP versions in web-start and server since the cache is not cleared.
