Scheduling system backups

This procedure describes how to configure Spectrum Technology Platform to create a backup on a regular schedule.

1. Stop the Spectrum Technology Platform server.
2. Open this file in a text editor:

   SpectrumDirectory\server\conf\spectrum-container.properties

3. Specify these parameters:

   spectrum.backup.enabled=true
   spectrum.backup.cron=Interval

   Where:

   Note: For more information on the cron configuration, visit https://freeformatter.com/cron-expression-generator-quartz.html.

   Interval

   A cron expression that specifies how often to create the backup database. A cron expression consists of six space-separated values, with an optional seventh value:

   Field	Valid Values	Valid Special Characters
   Seconds	0-59	, - * /
   Minutes	0-59	, - * /
   Hours	0-23	, - * /
   Day of the month	1-31	, - * ? / L W
   Month	1-12 or JAN-DEC	, - * /
   Day of the week	1-7 or SUN-SAT	, - * ? / L #
   Year (Optional)	1970 - 2099	, - * /

   For example, this expression would back up the configuration database every day at 10:00 AM:

   spectrum.backup.cron=0 0 10 * * ?

   This expression would back up the configuration database on the first day of the month at 2 AM:

   spectrum.backup.cron=0 0 2 1 * ?

   The special characters are:

   *

   Specifies all values. For example, if you use * in the day-of-the-month field, it means every day of the month.

   ?

   Specifies no specific value. This is used in combination with other fields. For example, if you want to run a backup on the first day of the month and don't care which day of the week the first is on, you would specify ? in the day-of-the-week field and 1 in the day-of-the-month field.

   -

   Specifies a range of values. For example, SAT-SUN means the Saturday through Sunday.

   ,

   Separates multiple values. For example, 15,30 in the day-of-the-month field means the 15th day of the month and the 30th day of the month.

   /

   Specifies increments. For example, 0/3 in the hour field means the backup will occur at midnight then every three hours.

   L

   Specifies "last", which has different meaning depending on the field in which it is used. When used in the day-of-the-month field, it means the last day of the month. When used alone in the day-of-the-week field, it means Saturday. However, when used in the day-of-the-week field in combination with a day, it means the last day-of-the-week in the month. For example, 6L means the last Friday of the month.

   W

   Use this value in the day-of-the-month field to specify the weekday nearest to a given day. For example, 15W means the nearest weekday to the 15th day of the month.

   Destination

   The directory where you want to save the backup database. For example,

   spectrum.backup.repository.directory\\\\exampleserver1\\Shared\\Backup

   You must use the escape character \ when specifying a backslash in the path.

   Note: If you are using Spectrum Technology Platform in a clustered environment, you should specify a centralized location as the backup destination. This is because in a clustered environment, scheduled backups occur on a random node in the cluster. By specifying a centralized location it will be easier to retrieve the latest backup from the cluster.

4. To backup your Neo4j repository, specify these properties:

   spectrum.backup.repository.enabled=true
   spectrum.backup.repository.databaseURL=URLOrHostMachine
   spectrum.backup.repository.directory=Destination

5. To backup your Elasticsearch index repository, specify these properties:

   spectrum.backup.index.enabled=true
   spectrum.backup.index.directory=Destination

6. Save and close the properties file.
7. Start the Spectrum Technology Platform server.
8. Optional: If you are using Spectrum Technology Platform in a clustered environment, repeat this procedure for each node in the cluster.
   Note: You must specify identical values for all properties on all cluster nodes.
9. Some modules store additional data that is not backed up as part of the Spectrum Technology Platform scheduled backup process. You must back up this data manually, or create a separate process to back up this data.
10. Back up module-specific data for any of these modules if you have them installed.
    Note: For Screener, see the section Upgrading Screener in the Screener guide.

    Module	Items to Back Up
    Advanced Matching, Data Normalization, and Universal Name	Back up the contents of these subfolders located in SpectrumDirectory/server/modules: cdqdb lucene matcher parser searchindex tables
    Context Graph	Open the Relationship Analysis Client and click Manage. Select the model you want to back up then click Backup. You can also perform Context Graph backups with CLI commands. In addition to backing up your models, back up these two property files: server\modules\hub\hub.properties server\modules\hub\db\neo4j.properties
    Spatial	Back up your named resources, data, and configuration files.