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Chapter 8. Preparing for data loss with IdM backups


IdM provides the ipa-backup utility to backup IdM data, and the ipa-restore utility to restore servers and data from those backups. A proactive backup plan ensures that configuration and database archives are available to restore your environment to a functional state.

Note

Run backups as often as necessary on a hidden replica with all server roles installed, especially the Certificate Authority (CA) role if the environment uses the integrated IdM CA. See Installing an IdM hidden replica.

8.1. IdM backup types

To select the correct strategy for protecting your IdM data, you must understand the differences between a full-server backup and a data-only backup.

Full-server backup
  • Contains all server configuration files related to IdM, and LDAP data in LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF) files.
  • IdM services must be offline.
  • Suitable for rebuilding an IdM deployment from scratch.
Data-only backup
  • Contains LDAP data in LDIF files and the replication changelog.
  • IdM services can be online or offline.
  • Suitable for restoring IdM data to a state in the past.

8.2. Naming conventions for IdM backup files

Understand how IdM automatically names backup files so you can easily locate, archive, and differentiate between full-server and data-only backups. By default, IdM stores backups as .tar archives in subdirectories of the /var/lib/ipa/backup/ directory.

The archives and subdirectories follow these naming conventions:

Full-server backup

An archive named ipa-full.tar in a directory named ipa-full-<YEAR-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS>, with the time specified in GMT time.

[root@server ~]# ll /var/lib/ipa/backup/ipa-full-2021-01-29-12-11-46
total 3056
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root     158 Jan 29 12:11 header
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 3121511 Jan 29 12:11 ipa-full.tar
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Data-only backup

An archive named ipa-data.tar in a directory named ipa-data-<YEAR-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS>, with the time specified in GMT time.

[root@server ~]# ll /var/lib/ipa/backup/ipa-data-2021-01-29-12-14-23
total 1072
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root     158 Jan 29 12:14 header
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 1090388 Jan 29 12:14 ipa-data.tar
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Note

Uninstalling an IdM server does not automatically remove any backup files.

8.3. Considerations when creating a backup

Before you attempt to create a backup of your IdM deployment, review the prerequisites and important considerations about the ipa-backup utility.

The important behaviors and limitations of the ipa-backup command include the following:

  • By default, the ipa-backup utility runs in offline mode, which stops all IdM services. The utility automatically restarts IdM services after the backup is finished.
  • A full-server backup must always run with IdM services offline, but a data-only backup can be performed with services online.
  • By default, the ipa-backup utility creates backups on the file system containing the /var/lib/ipa/backup/ directory. Red Hat recommends creating backups regularly on a file system separate from the production filesystem used by IdM, and archiving the backups to a fixed medium, such as tape or optical storage.
  • Consider performing backups on hidden replicas. IdM services can be shut down on hidden replicas without affecting IdM clients.
  • The ipa-backup utility checks if all of the services used in your IdM cluster, such as a Certificate Authority (CA), Domain Name System (DNS), and Key Recovery Agent (KRA), are installed on the server where you are running the backup. If the server does not have all these services installed, the ipa-backup utility exits with a warning, because backups taken on that host would not be sufficient for a full cluster restoration.

    For example, if your IdM deployment uses an integrated Certificate Authority (CA), a backup run on a non-CA replica will not capture CA data. Red Hat recommends verifying that the replica where you perform an ipa-backup has all of the IdM services used in the cluster installed.

    You can bypass the IdM server role check with the ipa-backup --disable-role-check command, but the resulting backup will not contain all the data necessary to restore IdM fully.

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