Backing Up and Restoring a Hyperion

Essbase Database
The following information is an exerpt from the Hyperion Essbase Release 6.5 Database
Administrator's Guide technical documentation.

Contents
Backing Up a Database .............................................................................................................................. 1
Files to Back Up ..................................................................................................................................... 1
File System Backup................................................................................................................................ 2
Placing a Database in Read-Only Mode ............................................................................................. 2
Performing a Backup .......................................................................................................................... 4
Returning a Database to Read-Write Mode........................................................................................ 4
Using Export to Back Up Data ............................................................................................................... 4
Export Considerations ........................................................................................................................ 4
Exporting Data.................................................................................................................................... 5
Improving Export Performance .......................................................................................................... 6
Exporting Files Larger Than 2 GB ..................................................................................................... 6
Reloading Exported Data.................................................................................................................... 6
Restoring Data from Backups..................................................................................................................... 7
Essential Database Files ............................................................................................................................. 7

Backing Up a Database
A key part of a database maintenance routine includes regular backups of Essbase data. It is
important to integrate regular database backups into your production server maintenance.

The frequency of backups is dependent upon the volatility of the database and server
environment, as well as upon the demand for quick database restores in the event of server
crashes.

There are two methods of backing up a database:

• Preparing the database for file system backup

• Exporting, which makes a copy of data in an ASCII text format
This section tells you which files should be backed up regularly and describes each backup
method.

Files to Back Up
You should regularly back up the server, application, and database files listed in Table 74:

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Table 74: Files to Back Up

File Stored Where

essn.ind \essbase\app\appname\dbname

essn.pag \essbase\app\appname\dbname

dbname.esm \essbase\app\appname\dbname

dbname.tct \essbase\app\appname\dbname

dbname.ind \essbase\app\appname\dbname

appname.app \essbase\app

dbname.db \essbase\app\appname\dbname

x.lro \essbase\app\appname\dbname

essbase.sec \essbase\bin

essbase.bak \essbase\bin

essbase.cfg \essbase\bin

\essbase\app\appname\dbname
Database object files such as .otl, .csc,
.rul, .rep, .eqd, and .sel

ESSCMD or MaxL scripts No defined storage location

It is important to back up all .ind and .pag files related to a database because a single
database can have multiple .ind and .pag files. Remember, the Agent should be shut down
before the essbase.sec file is backed up.

File System Backup

A common method of creating database backups is by doing a file system backup of the OLAP
Server. You can perform the backup using the file system backup software of your choice. You
can back up specific directories or files, or you can back up the entire Essbase directory
structure.

In most cases, backups occur after Essbase applications and databases, as well as the Agent,
are shut down. However, due to user requirements, some Essbase databases must be up and
running at the time of backup. For more information, see Placing a Database in Read-Only
Mode.

Placing a Database in Read-Only Mode

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Essbase provides a way to prepare a database for backup when the database must remain
running during the backup process. Placing the database in read-only (or "archive") mode
protects the database from updates during the backup process. After you perform the backup
using the third-party backup utility of your choice, you then return the database to read-write
mode.

To place a database in read-only mode, use either of the following methods:

Tool Instructions For more information

MaxL alter database begin Technical Reference in the docs

archive directory

ESSCMD BEGINARCHIVE Technical Reference in the docs

directory

Note: If you try to cancel the BEGINARCHIVE ESSCMD command or the 'alter database begin
archive' MaxL statement and you receive a "can't cancel" message, the system is most likely
in the final stage of writing items to the drive and has reached the point where the operation
cannot be cancelled.

To return the database to read-write mode, use either of the following methods:

Tool Instructions For more information

MaxL alter database end archive Technical Reference in the docs directory

ESSCMD Use ENDARCHIVE command Technical Reference in the docs directory

The begin-archive utility does the following:

• Commits any modified data to disk.

• Switches the database to read-only mode.
• Reopens the database files in shared, read-only mode.
• Creates a file containing a list of files that need to be backed up. By default,
the file is called archive.lst. It is stored in the database directory.
If a user tries to modify data during the backup process, an error message informs the user
that data is in read-only mode for backup.

The end-archive utility does the following:

• Returns the database to read-write mode.

• Re-opens database files in exclusive, read-write mode.
Begin-archive and end-archive utilities do not perform the backup; they simply protect the
database during the backup process.

Caution: If you back up your data without using a begin-archive utility, make sure that all
Essbase applications are closed and that all users are logged out during the backup process.
Otherwise, you risk corrupting the database.

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Performing a Backup
After putting the database in read-only mode, you are ready to perform the backup.

To backup data, use a third-party backup utility to back up the files listed in archive.lst.
Make sure you back up the files listed in Files to Back Up. Alternatively, you can back up the
entire Essbase directory structure.

Returning a Database to Read-Write Mode

After performing the backup, you need to return the database to read-write mode.

To return the database to read-write mode, issue an 'alter database end archive' statement
in MaxL, or the ENDARCHIVE command in ESSCMD.
See the Technical Reference in the docs directory for syntax information.

Note: You must use the end-archive utility to put the database back into read-write mode,
even if you shut down and restart the database. The end-archive utility does not restart the
database.

Using Export to Back Up Data

You can back up data by exporting it. Exporting data copies it to an ASCII text file that you
specify; it does not compress data. The export file contains data only and does not include
control, outline, or security information.

You might consider exporting data for the following reasons:

• To transfer data across platforms

• To back up only a certain portion of the data; for example, level 0 blocks
• To create an exported file in text format, rather than binary format
Note: You can export subsets of data by creating reports.

Export Considerations
Using export to back up data provides the following advantages:

• You can use the resulting ASCII files to load data from the source database
into databases on other platforms. When loading an export file into a
database, it is important that the database outline contains all the members
found within the export file. If not, the load will fail. Also, if the outline
changes between the time that the export file is created and reloaded (and the
new outline contains all the members found within the export file), the load
time might be significantly higher than if the outlines were identical.
• During an export, data integrity is verified because every block is checked to
confirm whether corresponding page and index files match.
• You can reduce fragmentation in a database by exporting data into an ASCII
file, clearing all data from the database, and reloading the ASCII file.

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 • You can export a database in column format from Application Manager or
MaxL. Then, you can use a data load rules file to load the column-formatted
file. Using column format is helpful when you need to manipulate the export
file.
Using export to back up data provides the following disadvantages:

• Because dynamic calculations are not executed at the time of the export, only
stored data and data from previously calculated Dynamic Calc And Store
members are included in the export.
• At the time of a database export, Essbase users cannot write to the database.
Users receive an error message if they try to write to the database during an
export. After an export has started, users can do read operations. Exports of
large databases require considerable amounts of time, time during which users
can only read the data.

Exporting Data
To export data, use any of these clients:

Tool Instructions For More Information

Application Select database > Database Essbase Application Manager

Manager > Export Online Help

ESSCMD EXPORT or PAREXPORT Technical Reference in the docs

directory

MaxL export data Technical Reference in the docs

directory

All methods require the same basic information:

• The amount of data to export:

• All data
• Level 0 blocks only (blocks containing only level 0 sparse member
combinations)
• Data from input blocks only (blocks containing data from a previous
data load or spreadsheet Lock & Send)
• Whether to export data in a columnar or non-columnar format
To facilitate loading the exported data into a relational database, export the
data in columns. In each row, the columnar format displays a member name
from every dimension. Names can be repeated from row to row.
The columnar format provides a structure to the exported data, so that it can
be used for further data processing by applications other than Essbase tools.
In non-columnar format, sparse members identifying a data block are included
only once for the block. Because the export file in non-columnar format is
smaller than in columnar format, reloading a file in non-columnar format is
faster.

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 • The export data file names

Improving Export Performance

To improve export performance, you can now export data in parallel to a specified number of
files, using the export statement in MaxL or the PAREXPORT command in ESSCMD. For details
see the Technical Reference in the docs directory.

Exporting Files Larger Than 2 GB

Some file management systems do not support ASCII files larger than 2 GB. On any operating
system, if Essbase anticipates that an export file exceeds 2 GB, it creates two or more export
files, as needed.

When Essbase creates multiple export files, it uses the requested file name for the main file.
An underscore and a sequential cardinal number are appended to the names of the additional
files, starting with _1. For example, if the requested file name is expJan.txt and the exported
data would exceed 4 GB, Essbase creates three files, naming them: expJan.txt,
expJan_1.txt, and expJan_2.txt. Exported data files can be reloaded in any sequence.

Reloading Exported Data

To reload exported data, use any one of the following tools:

Tool Instructions For More Information

Application Perform a data load without a rules file. Performing and

Manager Select database > select Database > Debugging a Data
Data Load Load

ESSCMD IMPORT Technical Reference in

the docs directory

MaxL import data Technical Reference in

the docs directory

When you reload data that has been exported, Essbase marks the data as input data. If you
reload data exported from level 0 blocks or input blocks, you must recalculate the database
after reloading. When you recalculate the database, Essbase 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, if you try to clear data by selecting Database > Clear Data >
Non-Input Blocks from Application Manager, no data is cleared because the database contains
no non-input blocks.

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When you reload data that has been exported, Essbase also marks the data blocks as dirty. If
you had calculated the database prior to exporting it, to save time during the next calculation,
you should set the status of the blocks as clean. If you had not calculated the database prior
to exporting it, you do not need to set the status of the blocks as clean.

To clean the status of the blocks in a database after exporting all data and reloading, you
can run the following calculation script:
Set ClearUpdateStatus Only;
Calc All;

Restoring Data from Backups

To restore a database, replace the files on disk with the corresponding files from backup. See
Files to Back Up for a list of files that should be backed up on a regular basis.

The application should be stopped, unless you are restoring from an export file. In that case,
ensure the application is not accepting client connections.

Essential Database Files

These files are all key components of an Essbase database:

Table 75: Essential Database Files

File Description

essn.pag
Essbase data file

essn.ind
Essbase index file

dbname.esm
Essbase Kernel file that contains control information used for
database recovery

dbname.tct
Transaction control table

dbname.ind
Free fragment file for data and index free fragments

dbname.otl
Outline file, which does not store data but does store all metadata for
a database and defines how data is stored

If there is a problem with any one of these files, the entire database becomes corrupted. The
database must then be restored from backups or reloaded from exports.

There have been cases in which database files have become corrupted. In such situations, the
database is not able to start up on the OLAP Server. Therefore, no data can be reloaded to

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restore the database. In these cases, the only way to restore the database is to delete all of
the following files:

• essn.pag
• essn.ind
• dbname.esm
• dbname.tct
• dbname.ind
After the files are deleted, restart the database and reload from data files or from export files
created prior to the corruption.

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