Oracle BPM Backups: Databases and Files

I found that the most important topic for the BPM developers, Architects and DBAs is Disaster Recovery specially in production environments. Many of the BPM projects are tracking and live systems which are updated round the clock. So it becomes a headache if the system crashes or is unavailable to the users. This post will show how to avoid the problem and then use the data from the database and move it to a new location is the application server crashes booth in the case of weblogic server or standalone.

Before starting disaster recovery we should have the backup of the following databases and

Few of the ways are given in the link below by oracle administration guide:

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E13154_01/bpm/docs65/admin_guide/index.html

Take the back up of the following files whenever you make configuration changes or periodically.

Oracle BPM Files for backup

File Type	Description	Location
Configuration Files		$INST_DIR/enterprise/conf
Non-versionable JAR Files	Java libraries that are not part of a project file.	INSTALL_DIR/webapps/webconsole/WEB-INF/lib INSTALL_DIR/ext INSTALL_DIR/webapps/portal/WEB-INF/lib
Properties Files		../directory.properties
Web Applications	Customized application files, including CSS files, custom JSPs, and image files.
WorkSpace	Custom JSP used by WorkSpace	$INST_DIR/webapps/portal/WEB-INF/portal.properties
WorkSpace Administrator	Workspace Administrator properties file	$INST_DIR/webapps/portaladmin/WEB-INF/portaladmin.properties
Archive Viewer	Property and configuration files for the Archive Viewer application.	$INST_DIR/webapps/archivingviewer/WEB-INF/archiving.properties $INST_DIR/webapps/archivingviewer/WEB-INF/configDrivers.xml

Databases

Database	Description
Engine Database	It contains the current location of all the instances and their variables
Archive Database	The old completed instances from Engine move to Archive
BAM Database	It contains the whole history and activity location and movements of all the instances at periodic snapshots.

In addition to the databases mentioned above take the backup of  Datamart and Directory Database as well that is really important.

Database	Description
Datamart Database	Old data from BAM moves to datamart after the given time for performance purposes
Directory Database	Necessary for Distaster Recovery as contains all the projects, engines, users, organizations and variable information from the production environment.

Other then the default databases if there is any other external database present should be added to back up list.

Creating a Backup Engine Node

Creating Backup Engine nodes using Process Administrator

1. Login to Process Administrator
2. Click Engines. The list of available Process Execution Engines appears.
3. Select the Process Execution Engine for which you want to configure backup nodes.
4. Select the Basic Configuration tab
5. Click Engine Nodes
6. Click Add
7. Enter connectivity information for the backup Process Execution Engine node.

Actual hostname or IP address of the backup engine should be used. Don’t use localhost or a loopback IP address (for example, 127.0.0.1) because these will not work in a failover situation.

The back up engine node works nicely in case of engine failover. If primary node fails secondary node becomes the primary node. When the failed node is back it joins the backup nodes.

Point to be noted is that in case of network failures the nodes don't change.

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