This is the second article in a series on Alteryx Server backup and recovery. You can find Part 1 at: Alteryx Server Backup & Recovery Part 1: Best Practices As long as a backup of the Mongo database is available, you can get Alteryx Server back up and running. Luckily, backing up the embedded MongoDB is pretty simple, and can be done with a few console commands. I would recommend creating a batch file or script to perform the process. Doing so will allow you to schedule the backup using Windows Task Scheduler. The actual steps to perform a MongoDB backup are covered in detail in the online help under the server configuration section or at this direct link. I will also outline the steps below for completeness. To create a backup of the MongoDB: Stop AlteryxService. Execute the following command to save a backup of the database in the specified folder: alteryxservice emongodump=<path to backup location> Restart AlteryxService You can easily script this to a batch file with a few simple console commands. Keep in mind that paths may vary on your server, but it should look something like this. Example: "C:\Program Files\Alteryx\bin\AlteryxService.exe" stop "C:\Program Files\Alteryx\bin\AlteryxService.exe" emongodump=Z:\Path\MongoBackup "C:\Program Files\Alteryx\bin\AlteryxService.exe" start You can add additional features, such as logging and date/time stamps, to the backups. As an example of additional useful features to include with your backups, I have included the code for a batch script I created that adds the following information: logging with date/time stamping, a backup that is also date/time stamped, automated archival of the backup, copying the archive to a network location, and cleanup of the temp files. Once you have a batch file or other script to perform your backups, you need to test the script to ensure it works properly. Once testing is done, the next step is to schedule the backup. The easiest way to do this is to use Windows Task Scheduler. To create a scheduled task on Windows 2012 Server, follow these steps: Create a scheduled task: Open Task Scheduler and click on “Create Task” On the General tab, enter “Name”, “Description”, select “Run whether user is logged in or not", and select "Run with highest privileges" On the Triggers tab, click “New” A dialogue box will appear. Define the schedule (daily, weekly, etc...) on which you want the backup to run and click “OK” On the Actions tab click “New” On the dialogue window, make sure “Start a Program” is selected and click “Browse”. Select the batch file you created and click “Open”. Then click “OK”. Click “OK” on the Create Task window to finalize the creation of the backup task. Now that you have successfully implemented backup procedures and scheduled a task to automate the backups, it is time to discuss database restoration from a backup. The good news is that restoring the database is just as simple as backing it up. Assuming that 1) the server is functioning, 2) Alteryx Server is installed, and 3) you have a valid backup available, you can follow these simple steps outlined below. To restore a backup of the MongoDB: Stop AlteryxService Execute the following command to restore the backup: alteryxservice emongorestore=<path to backup location>,<path to restore to> Restart AlteryxService This simplicity and same focus on command line statements means that we can also script recovery. However, since recovery actions are much less frequent, it probably isn't necessary. Instead, you would just connect to the server, open a command prompt and, following our backup example above, execute the following commands: Example: "C:\Program Files\Alteryx\bin\AlteryxService.exe" stop "C:\Program Files\Alteryx\bin\AlteryxService.exe" emongorestore=Z:\Path\MongoBackup,C:\ProgramData\Alteryx\Service\Persistence\MongoDB "C:\Program Files\Alteryx\bin\AlteryxService.exe" start For Alteryx Server we also recommend backing up the controller token and some settings files. While the server can be recovered without these files. Having a backup of them can expedite the recovery process, and they will also ensure you will be able to decrypt any sensitive data in the database. The settings files we recommend backing up are: C:\ProgramData\Alteryx\RuntimeSettings.xml C:\ProgramData\Alteryx\Engine\SystemAlias.xml C:\ProgramData\Alteryx\Engine\SystemConnections.xml Again, please keep in mind the exact paths may vary depending on the server configuration and where the backup is located. This example also assumes the backup isn't compressed/archived. If you are using a backup script that archives the backup and copies it to network storage, you will need to copy the backup file to the server and decompress the archive before running the recovery commands above. Below is the code for my sample batch script: ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- :: :: AlteryxServer Backup Script v.1.5 - 5/16/18 :: Created By: Kevin Powney :: ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- @echo off ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- :: Set variables for Log, Temp, Network, and Application Paths :: :: Please update these values as appropriate for your environment. Note :: that spaces should be avoided in the LogDir, TempDir, and NetworkDir paths. :: The trailing slash is also required for these paths. ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SET LogDir=C:\ProgramData\Alteryx\BackupLog\ SET TempDir=C:\Temp\ SET NetworkDir=\\ServerName\SharePath\ SET AlteryxService="C:\Program Files\Alteryx\bin\AlteryxService.exe" SET ZipUtil="C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- :: Set Date/Time to a usable format and create log ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOR /f %%a IN ('WMIC OS GET LocalDateTime ^| FIND "."') DO SET DTS=%%a SET DateTime=%DTS:~0,4%%DTS:~4,2%%DTS:~6,2%_%DTS:~8,2%%DTS:~10,2%%DTS:~12,2% echo %date% %time%: Starting backup process > %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log echo. >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- :: Stop Alteryx Service ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- echo %date% %time%: Stopping Alteryx Service >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log echo. >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log %AlteryxService% stop >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- :: Backup MongoDB to local temp directory. ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- echo %date% %time%: Starting MongoDB Backup >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log echo. >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log %AlteryxService% emongodump=%TempDir%ServerBackup_%datetime%\Mongo >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- :: Backup Config files to local temp directory. ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- echo. >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log echo %date% %time%: Backing up settings, connections, and aliases >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log echo. >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log copy %ProgramData%\Alteryx\RuntimeSettings.xml %TempDir%ServerBackup_%datetime%\RuntimeSettings.xml copy %ProgramData%\Alteryx\Engine\SystemAlias.xml %TempDir%ServerBackup_%datetime%\SystemAlias.xml copy %ProgramData%\Alteryx\Engine\SystemConnections.xml %TempDir%ServerBackup_%datetime%\SystemConnections.xml %AlteryxService% getserversecret > %TempDir%ServerBackup_%datetime%\ControllerToken.txt ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- :: Restart Alteryx Service ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- echo %date% %time%: Restarting Alteryx Service >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log echo. >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log %AlteryxService% start >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- :: This section compresses the backup to a single zip archive :: :: Please note the command below requires 7-Zip to be installed on the server. :: You can download 7-Zip from http://www.7-zip.org/ or change the command to :: use the zip utility of your choice as defined in the variable above. ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- echo %date% %time%: Archiving backup >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log %ZipUtil% a %TempDir%ServerBackup_%datetime%.7z %TempDir%ServerBackup_%datetime% >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- :: Move zip archive to network storage location and cleanup local files ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- echo. >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log echo %date% %time%: Moving archive to network storage >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log echo. >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log copy %TempDir%ServerBackup_%datetime%.7z %NetworkDir%ServerBackup_%datetime%.7z >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log del %TempDir%ServerBackup_%datetime%.7z >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log rmdir /S /Q %TempDir%ServerBackup_%datetime% >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- :: Done ::----------------------------------------------------------------------------- echo. >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log echo %date% %time%: Backup process completed >> %LogDir%BackupLog%datetime%.log
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