A server archive creates an archive (9) file containing only the metadata for the server database. It does not produce a pack file that contains the file system data and the metadata. Also, it does not produce a dump file that contains metadata for a single database.
The only significant advantage to server archive is that it enables incremental or even continuous online backup of the metadata.
You cannot use a server archive to upgrade to a new release of Rational® Synergy.
The ccmdb backup command backs up individual databases. You can, however, back up the database server, and all its databases, using the ccmsrv archive command.
For more information about the ccmdb
backup command, see ccmdb backup.
Use the ccmsrv archive command under the following circumstances:
You cannot restore just one database from a server archive. Because archiving a server archives all databases for that server, restoring the server restores all the server databases to their archived states. Any individual database backups you might have performed for that database server become invalid.
Before archiving your server, you also must:
Create and test a plan for scheduled archiving to ensure that the plan works and does not affect your current production environment.
When the archive is in progress, users might still be editing in the file system while the database activities are suspended, which can cause data inconsistencies.
Ensure that users do not work in the file system while the server is being archived. Doing so helps avoid data inconsistencies when the server is restored.
Ensure that the file system part of the Rational Synergy database is backed up properly and synchronized with the database server archive.
When archiving the database server, back up the file system separately. If the server archive and file system are not synchronized when you restore the server, data inconsistencies can result.
You must archive the file system using whatever method is appropriate for your environment.
You can restore changes made since the last server archive by restoring backed-up logical log files. See Restoring logical files.
See Database backup for a comparison of the Rational Synergy backup methods.