32.1 Backing Up a ZENworks Server

Novell ZENworks 11 allows you to back up and restore the configuration files for a ZENworks Primary Server. This enables you to maintain a ZENworks Server’s identity and configuration if a server fails or if you need to upgrade to new server hardware.

A ZENworks Server only needs to be backed up once. The backup saves only the configuration files. The following items must be backed up separately:

  • The content repository (bundle, policy, and image files). You should do a separate backup for the content repository if you only have one Primary Server in the Management Zone. If you have two or more Primary Servers and you’ve replicated all content to both servers, they serve as backup copies to each other.

  • The ZENworks database (if it resides on the ZENworks Server). Backing up the ZENworks Server and backing up the ZENworks database are two separate processes. If your ZENworks database resides on the same server as one of your ZENworks Servers, first back up the database and then back up the ZENworks Server. Because the ZENworks database changes frequently, you should back up the database on a regular schedule. For information about backing up the database, see Section V, Database Management.

When you back up a ZENworks Server using a zman command, all files in the Novell\ZENworks\conf directory on a Windows server or the etc/opt/novell/zenworks/ directory on a Linux server are stored in an encrypted backup file in a location that you specify.

  1. (Conditional) If the server you are backing up hosts the ZENworks database, manually back up the database file to a safe location.

    For information about backing up the database, see Section V, Database Management.

  2. At a command prompt on the ZENworks Server, enter the following command:

    zman zenserver-backup path_to_backup_file_to_create

    For example:

    zman zenserver-backup c:\zcm_backups\zone_backup.bak

    or

    zman zenserver-backup /root/zcm_backups/zone_backup.bak

  3. When prompted, enter a ZENworks administrator name and password.

  4. When prompted, enter a passphrase (at least 10 characters) to be used for encrypting the backup file.

    Make sure you remember this passphrase. You must enter it if you ever need to restore the server.

  5. (Conditional) If this is your only Primary Server, or if this is the only Primary Server that contains all content defined in your Management Zone, manually back up your content repository to a safe location.

    For information on the content repository, see Section 13.1, Content Repository.

    IMPORTANT:If this is the only Primary Server that contains all of your defined content for the Management Zone and you do not back up the content repository, you are not prepared for a full disaster recovery.

  6. Repeat Step 1 and Step 5 on a regular basis.

    The zman command documented in Step 2 through Step 4 only needs to be run once.