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Backup and Restore

This topic describes the backup and restore capabilities available in Paragon Automation. Although Paragon Automation is a GUI-based application, the backup and restore operations are managed from the Paragon Insights cMGD CLI. Postgres is the primary persistent storage database for microservices. Backup files are saved in a local persistent volume on the cluster nodes. The backup procedure can be performed while microservices are running and does not affect the operation of the cluster. However, for restore procedures, microservices are stopped and the cluster is not functional until the databases are restored.

Currently, you cannot schedule a backup or restore procedure. Also, you cannot select applications to be backed up and restored. You can back up and restore only a preconfigured and fixed set of applications for each component.

You use containerized scripts invoked through Kubernetes jobs to implement the backup and restore procedures.

Figure 1: Backup and Restore Process Backup and Restore Process

Back Up the Configuration

Data across most Paragon Automation applications is primarily stored in Postgres. When you back up a configuration, system-determined and predefined data is backed up. When you perform a backup, the operational system and microservices are not affected. You can continue to use Paragon Automation while a backup is running. You'll use the management daemon (MGD) CLI, managed by Paragon Insights (formerly Healthbot), to perform the backup.

To back up the current Paragon Automation configuration:

  1. Determine the name of the MGD Kubernetes pod, and connect to the cMGD CLI using this name.

    For example:

    Note:

    The main CLI tool in Kubernetes is kubectl, which is installed on a primary node. You can use a node other than the primary node, but you must ensure that you copy the admin.conf file and set the kubeconfig environment variable. Alternatively, you can use the export KUBECONFIG=config-dir/admin.conf command.

    You can also access the Kubernetes API from any node that has access to the cluster, including the control host.

  2. Enter the request system backup path path-to-backup-folder command to start a backup job that backs up all databases up until the moment you run the command.

    For example:

    The command creates a corresponding Kubernetes db-backup-hello-world job. The Kubernetes job creates a backup of the predefined data. The files are stored in a local persistent volume.

  3. After backup is complete, you must explicitly and manually back up the base platform resources using kubectl.
    1. Back up jobmanager-identitysrvcreds and devicemodel-connector-default-scope-id.
    2. (Optional) If SMTP is configured on the Paragon Automation cluster, then back up the available iam-smtp-config secret.

      If this command fails, then SMTP is not configured in the cluster and you can ignore the error.

Frequently Used kubectl Commands to View Backup Details

To view the status of your backup or the location of your backup files, or to view more information on the backup files, use the following commands.

  • Backup jobs exist in the common namespace and use the common=db-backup label. To view all backup jobs:

  • To view more details of a specific Kubernetes job:

  • To view the logs of a specific Kubernetes job:

  • To determine the location of the backup files:

    The output points you to the local persistent volume. Use that persistent volume to determine the node on which the backup files are stored.

    To view all the backup files, log in to the node and navigate to the location of the backup folder.

To view commonly seen backup and restore failure scenarios, see Common Backup and Restore Issues.

Restore the Configuration

You can restore a Paragon Automation configuration from a previously backed-up configuration folder. A restore operation rewrites the databases with all the backed-up configuration information. You cannot selectively restore databases. When you perform a restore operation, a Kubernetes job is spawned, which stops the affected microservices. The job restores the backed-up configuration and restarts the microservices. Paragon Automation remains nonfunctional until the restoration procedure is complete.

You cannot run multiple restore jobs at the same time because the Kubernetes job stops the microservices during the restoration process. Also, you cannot run both backup and restore processes concurrently.

Note:

We strongly recommend that you restore a configuration during a maintenance window, otherwise the system can go into an inconsistent state.

To restore the Paragon Automation configuration to a previously backed-up configuration:

  1. Determine the name of the MGD Kubernetes pod, and connect to the cMGD CLI using this name.

    For example:

  2. Enter the request system restore path path-to-backup-folder command to restore the configuration with the files in the specified backup folder on the persistent volume.

    For example:

    A corresponding Kubernetes db-restore-hello-world job is created. The restore process takes longer than a backup process because the Kubernetes job stops restarts the microservices. When the restoration is complete, the Paragon Automation system is not operational immediately. You must wait around ten minutes for the system to stabilize and become fully functional.

    Note:

    If you are logged in during the restore process, you must log out and log back in after the restore process is complete.

  3. After restore process is complete, you must explicitly restore the base platform resources with the previously manually backed-up base-platform backup files.
    1. Delete the jobmanager-identitysrvcreds and devicemodel-connector-default-scope-id base-platform secrets resources.
    2. Restore the previously backed-up base-platform resources.
    3. Restart the jobmanager and devicemodel-connector base-platform services.
    4. (Optional) If SMTP is configured on the Paragon Automation cluster, delete the current SMTP secrets file and restore from the previously backed-up file.
    5. (Optional) Delete the manually backed-up files.

Frequently Used kubectl Commands to View Restore Details

To view more information and the status of your restore process, use the following commands:

  • Restore jobs exist in the common namespace and use the common=db-restore label. To view all restore jobs:

  • To view more details of a specific Kubernetes job:

  • To view the logs of a particular Kubernetes job:

To view commonly seen backup and restore failure scenarios, see Common Backup and Restore Issues.

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