Using the Repository Snapshot Manager

The Repository Snapshot Manager (RSM) automates the backup and restore procedures described in Backing up a site manually and Restoring a site manually.

Requirements

The backup and restore operations require system downtime. The amount of time needed to backup or restore a site depends on the number of apps, their size, and other supporting content files, such as QVD files and scripts.

Arguments

The synopsis of the RSM is as follows:

RepositorySnapshotManager.exe -<operation> -path={p} -installer={installer_location} -ver={QlikSenseVersion} [-direct] -[supportingContentLocation]={PathToSupportingContent} -[certificatePassword]={c} -[databasePassword]={d} -u={usernameWithDomain} -p={userPassword}

The following table describes the arguments used by the RSM.

Backup procedure

Proceed as follows to backup a Qlik Sense site:

1. Make sure that the Qlik Sense site is fully operational.
2. Schedule and prepare a system maintenance window with downtime afforded.
3. Make sure that the Qlik Sense installer, Qlik_Sense_setup.exe, is present in a folder on the current host.
4. Make sure that the version of the software to restore and the Qlik Sense installer is the same.
5. Prepare a base backup folder (for example, F:\Qlik\Backups).
6. If the Qlik Sense repository database is password-protected, make sure that you have the password available.
7. If certificates are password-protected, make sure that you have the password to pass as an argument to the RSM.
8. Gather all supporting content. All artifacts (for example, QVD files, scripts, and other files) located in various locations, must be stored in one location on the host on which the RSM is to be executed. Create a folder (for example, F:\Qlik\Additional\Files) and place any requested artifact from any given source in that folder.
9. Run the RSM and perform the backup operation.
Information noteYou may need to provide quotes ("") around certain arguments for the command shell to interpret the arguments correctly. For example, "&|<" and similar characters in the password must be surrounded by quotes.
10. Wait for the backup operation to finish and review the log files.

See: Log files

Example: Backing up a site with database password and supporting content (additional files)

RepositorySnapshotManager.exe -backup -path=F:\Qlik\Backups -supportingContentLocation=F:\Qlik\Additional\QVDFiles -databasePassword=dfgg45Fr800

Restore procedure

Proceed as follows to restore a Qlik Sense site:

1. Make sure that the Qlik Sense installer, Qlik_Sense_setup.exe, is present in a folder on the current host.
2. Make sure that the version of the software to restore and the Qlik Sense installer is the same.
3. Determine which backup set (that is, backup folder) to use (for example, F:\Qlik\Backups\.2015-07-02-12.57.10-Z.backup).
4. If the Qlik Sense repository database is password-protected, make sure that you have the password available.
5. If any supporting content has been backed up, the destination path to that folder must be provided (for example, F:\Qlik\Additional\QVDFilesRestored).
6. Run the RSM and perform the restore operation.

Example:

RepositorySnapshotManager.exe -restore -path=F:\bk\.2015-07-02-12.57.10-Z.backup -ver=2.0.1 -installer=F:\QlikSenseInstaller -supportingContentLocation=F:\extra -u="DOMAIN\username" -p="userpassword123"

Information noteYou may need to provide quotes ("") around certain arguments for the command shell to interpret the arguments correctly. For example, "&|<" and similar characters in the password must be surrounded by quotes.
7. Wait for the restore operation to finish and review the log files.
Information noteDuring a restore operation a command prompt may open with the results from the database restore operations. Errors indicating that the object to drop did not exist can safely be ignored.
Information noteIf the restore operation is performed on a multi-node site, the log file should contain the text "snapshot/restore has been invoked on <host> (ok)" for each rim node.
8. Test the Qlik Sense site (for example, open the hub, reload an app, open a sheet, etc).
9. If the system is malfunctioning after the restore operation, contact Qlik Support and provide all log files in the logs folder.

See: Log files

Example: Restoring a site with database password and supporting content

RepositorySnapshotManager.exe -restore -path=F:\Qlik\Backups\.2015-07-02-11.33.27-Z.backup -supportingContentLocation=F:\Qlik\Additional\QVDFiles -databasePassord=dfgg45Fr800 -installer=F:\Qlik\InstallerExtracted -ver=2.0.1 -u="DOM\MyUserName" -p="mYUSeRpAss100"

Example: Restoring a site without database password, supporting content, or a previous Qlik Sense installation

RepositorySnapshotManager.exe -restore -path=F:\Qlik\Backups\.2015-07-02-11.33.27-Z.backup -direct -installer=F:\Qlik\InstallerExtracted -ver=2.0.1 -u="DOM\MyUserName" -p="mYUSeRpAss100"

Log files

The RSM logs the backup and restore operations in a sub-folder, logs, in the folder in which the RSM executes. If the RSM cannot create the folder in the current working folder, the folder is created in the Windows temp folder (typically C:\Windows\Temp) instead.

Make sure to always check the log folder after a backup or restore operation, no matter if the operation was successful or failed.

Known issues

If "Cannot start service QlikSenseRepositoryDatabase on computer" is reported at the command prompt or in the log file, it is most likely due to problems with the user credentials (that is, the username and password). The following circumstances are known to cause such problems:

• Qlik Sense was installed with user credentials, but is restored without username and password.
• Qlik Sense was installed without user credentials, but is restored with username and password.
• The username or password contains special characters, such as "&%$", and was not quoted during the backup or recovery operation.
• The username or password is incorrect.
• The Qlik Sense installer returned "Unable to create sibling process".

If this happens, contact Qlik Support.