1. General
Recently, I found myself indulged into backup of Hyperion EPM V11.1.2.4 environment for multiple clients. I am not sure how clients from different continents were interested in similar implementation or maybe I was pitched in for similar projects. But I enjoyed working for clients from different countries - different domains - to be specific - Oil and Gas company from Dubai, logistic company from France, Courier service leader from Norway, Donuts chain from USA ☺
As said by famous
scientist Benjamin Franklin,
“An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of
cure.”
That’s my aim here. I am
trying to figure out basic backup mechanism for Hyperion EPM V11.1.2.4 environment
to prevent the tremendous efforts required in case of failure.
For the smooth
functioning of Hyperion EPM V11.1.2.4 environment, as the Hyperion implementer,
My Company is required to define Backup procedure at different levels of EPM
application.
This article provides
general high-level guidelines on backing up and recovering Oracle's Hyperion
products used in EPM application of our client company.
A good backup process is
mandatory. There are two types of backups:
- Full server wide backup (while services are stopped) along with
the database backups. This protects from a server wide issues.
- Object level backups including security, reports, applications,
and data. This protects from individual object level issues or corruption.
The best approach is to
do both, assuming you have the maintenance window to do so. Set a reasonable
retention policy and store backups off-site. Restore procedures should be fully
documented and tested. Your backup/Recovery and disaster/recovery procedures
are only as good as your last full test. They should be tested annually.
2. EPM
V11.1.2.4 Backup Steps
OS Settings Backup
Windows registry settings
and specific system variables in Windows environments should be backed up.
As per standards followed
in industry, we should backup these settings once every week.
Windows Registry Settings
Windows Registry Settings
|
Server
|
All
Hyperion servers
WebSvr1,
WebSvr2, AppSvr1, AppSvr2, EssSvr
|
Backup Frequency
|
Weekly
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
This is the initial plan
of backup. We will keep comparing backup versions for couple of months and if
there are no changes in backup versions, we can reduce the frequency of backup.
Restoring Registry
Setting
In case of modified
registry, we need to replace registry from backup.
System Variable Backup
System Variable Backup
Settings
|
Server
|
All
Hyperion servers
WebSvr1,
WebSvr2, AppSvr1, AppSvr2, EssSvr
|
Backup Frequency
|
Weekly
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
This is the initial plan
of backup. We will keep comparing backup versions for couple of months and if
there are no changes in backup versions, we can reduce the frequency of backup.
- ARBORPATH
- ESSBASEPATH
- HYPERION_HOME
- EPM_ORACLE_HOME
- Path
Restoring System
Variable
In case of modified system
variable, when we require to restore system variable, we need to just replace
value of system variable from backup taken.
File System Backup
File system Backup Settings
|
Server
|
All
Hyperion servers
WebSvr1,
WebSvr2, AppSvr1, AppSvr2, EssSvr
File Share Server
|
Frequency
|
Weekly full and daily
incremental
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
Regular file system
backups are recommended for following EPM System products:
- Oracle
Hyperion Foundation Services
- Planning
- Essbase
- Reporting
and Analysis
- HFM
- HSF
- FDMEE
To back up the file
system for EPM V11.1.2.4 application:
1.
Copy following folder from all Hyperion Servers to
a storage device or another network location after we install or reconfigure EPM
system
MIDDLEWARE_HOME=“D:\Oracle\Middleware\”
2.
Perform a weekly full and daily incremental
backup of following folder on all Hyperion Servers
MIDDLEWARE_HOME=“D:\Oracle\Middleware\”
3.
Perform a weekly full and daily incremental
backup of following folders on File Share Server
LCM=“
E:\EPM_QA\LCM”
RAF=“ E:\EPM_QA\RAF”
FDMEE=“ E:\EPM_QA\FDMEE”
Restoring File System Backup
To restore a database,
replace the files on disk with the corresponding files from the backup.
The application should be
stopped unless you are restoring from an export file
Database Backup
Regular backups of database content are recommended for these EPM System
components:
- Foundation
Services
- Oracle
Hyperion Planning
- Oracle
Hyperion Essbase
- Oracle
Hyperion Reporting and Analysis
- HFM
- HSF
- FDMEE
- Calc
Manager
These products do not use repository databases:
- Oracle
Hyperion Smart View for Office
- Oracle
Hyperion Provider Services
Foundation Services
Foundation Services Database
Backup
|
Server
|
Oracle
DB server
|
DB/Schema
|
ORADB – HYP_HSS
|
Frequency
|
Weekly
full and daily incremental
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
To back up the database
for EPM Workspace and Shared Services:
·
Back up the Shared Services and EPM Workspace
schema if in Oracle RDBMS
Essbase Administration Services
EAS Database Backup
|
Server
|
Oracle
DB server
|
DB/Schema
|
ORADB – HYP_EAS
|
Frequency
|
Weekly
full and daily incremental
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
To back up the database
for EAS:
·
Back up the EAS schema if in Oracle RDBMS
Essbase Studio Server
EAS Database Backup
|
Server
|
Oracle
DB server
|
DB/Schema
|
ORADB – HYP_ESS
|
Frequency
|
Weekly
full and daily incremental
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
To back up the database
for ESS:
·
Back up the ESS schema if in Oracle RDBMS
Reporting and Analysis Framework
RAF Database Backup
|
Server
|
Oracle
DB server
|
DB/Schema
|
ORADB – HYP_RAF
|
Frequency
|
Weekly
full and daily incremental
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
To back up the database
for RAF:
·
Back up the RAF schema if in Oracle RDBMS
Planning Application
Planning Application Database
Backup
|
Server
|
Oracle
DB server
|
|
ORADB – HYP_PLN
ORADB – HYP_PLNAPP1
ORADB – HYP_PLNAPP2
ORADB – HYP_PLNAPP3
|
Frequency
|
Weekly
full and daily incremental
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
To back up the database
for Planning Applications:
·
Back up the Planning applications schemas if in
Oracle RDBMS
HFM
EAS Database Backup
|
Server
|
Oracle
DB server
|
DB/Schema
|
ORADB – HYP_HFM
|
Frequency
|
Weekly
full and daily incremental
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
To back up the database
for HFM:
·
Back up the HFM schema if in Oracle RDBMS
FDMEE
EAS Database Backup
|
Server
|
Oracle
DB server
|
DB/Schema
|
ORADB – HYP_FDMEE
|
Frequency
|
Weekly
full and daily incremental
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
To back up the database
for FDMEE:
·
Back up the FDMEE schema if in Oracle RDBMS
CALC Manager
EAS Database Backup
|
Server
|
Oracle
DB server
|
DB/Schema
|
ORADB – HYP_CALC
|
Frequency
|
Weekly
full and daily incremental
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
To back up the database
for CALC:
·
Back up the CALC schema if in Oracle RDBMS
Application Backup
PLANNING
Planning application Backup
|
Server
|
http://Server:port/workspace/index.jsp
|
Frequency
|
Weekly
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
We need
to take backup of following artifacts of EPM PLANNING application from QA.
So, we are using couple of technologies to
backup EPM PLANNING application.
Go to shared services URL as given below:
Navigate à Administer à Shared Services Console
Go to application groups à
Planning à APPNAME
Select all artifacts
Click on Define Migration
Confirm source application. Click next.
Execute the migration à Launch Migration report
Execute the migration à Launch Migration report
Once the migration is successful, go to
following directory of LCM Backup on File Share Server
E:\EPM_QA\LCM
Copy the directory of migrated artifacts to the
backup directory.
Restoring Planning Backup
Restore the planning application from backup
using LCM using same procedure.
HFM
Planning application Backup
|
Server
|
AppSvr1,
AppSvr2 – HFM Server
|
Frequency
|
Weekly
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
We need
to take backup of following artifacts of HFM application from QA and we are
going to use CopyApp Utility or Import Application utility for the same.
CopyApp
utility is located on HFM server at following location and need to run it
separately.
Import
application utility is available from workspace.
Essbase
Essbase Database Backup
|
Server
|
EssSvr
–Essbase Server
|
Frequency
|
Weekly full and daily
incremental
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
Posten uses Block Storage
Database cube. So we are going to follow procedure to backup BSO.
Recover refers to
the process of returning a database to a post-backup state that includes
transactions that occurred after the backup was performed.
|
Restore refers to
the process of returning a database to the state it was in when a backup
was performed.
|
We are going to implement Backup and Restore for ESSBASE.
1.
Places the database in read-only mode,
protecting the database from updates during the archive process while allowing
requests to query the database.
2.
Writes a copy of the database files to an
archive file that resides on the Essbase Server computer.
To back up a database, we can use either EAS or MaxL and here we have specified
the MaxL method.
alter
database appname.dbname [force] archive to file
BACKUP-FILE;
e.g. alter database Gefco.Gefco archive to file '/Oracle/Gefco19Aug16.arc';
3.
Returns the database to read-write mode.
Following Essbase
database files that are backed up automatically using above process.
File
|
essxxxxx.pag
|
essxxxxx.ind
|
dbname.esm
|
dbname.tct
|
dbname.ind
|
dbname.otl
|
dbname.otl.keep
|
dbname.otn
|
dbname.db
|
dbname.ddb
|
dbname.ocl
|
essxxxx.chg
|
dbname.alg
|
dbname.atx
|
Apart from above files,
following files are also required to be backed up. In our approach, we are backing
up these files in File System Backup.
File
|
essbase.sec1
|
essbase_timestamp.bak
|
essbase.cfg
|
dbname.app
|
.otl
.csc
.rul
.rep
.eqd
.sel
|
|
Restoring Essbase Application
alter database appname.dbname [force] restore from file BACKUP-FILE
[replace disk volume VOL];
Data Backup
Essbase Data Backup
|
Server
|
EssSvr
– Essbase Server
|
Frequency
|
Weekly
|
No of Backups before purging
|
5
|
This data backup takes
care of data for Planning and Essbase applications.
HFM application data is
already backed up using during application backup by selection data option.
Login
to Essbase server and go to Start MAXL: Start > All Programs >
Oracle EPM > Essbase > Client
>MAXL Client and type following commands with actual username and password.
-
login username password;
- display session all;
- alter application APPNAME disable connects;
- alter system logout session on database APPNAME.DBNAME;
Start
Essbase Export:
Type following 2 command:
Export database
APPNAME.DBNAME all data to data_file 'F:\\0322s.txt';
After completion of Export:
After
completion of export execute following command
alter
application APPNAME enable connects;
Restoring Data
When you reload data that
has been exported, it is marked as input data. If you reload data exported from
level-0 blocks or input blocks, you must recalculate the database after
reloading.
When Essbase recalculates
the database, it recalculates every data block.
If you export all data in
a database and then reload, Essbase marks all blocks in the database as input
blocks. Consequently, you cannot clear data, because the database does not
contain no input blocks.
MAXL = Import data
