moving Vault database to a different server

[david.allen728896]

I have been lightly scanning the Vault help files, and have not come across any info on how hard it would be to relocate a Vault database from one server to another. I haven't been able to locate our product manual, but they are usually not a lot of help anyway. Anyone have any experience in this area?

[jpaulsen]

I have done some quick tests with this process and it seems to work fine. My tests were on very small databases.

The recommended process for moving to another computer is:
1) Open Vault Manager and perform a "Backup"
2) Install the Vault server on the new machine
3) Open Vault Manager on the new install and "Restore" the backup from step 1.

[jonathan.landeros]

I have been lightly scanning the Vault help files, and have not come across any info on how hard it would be to relocate a Vault database from one server to another. I haven't been able to locate our product manual, but they are usually not a lot of help anyway. Anyone have any experience in this area?

I've done this a few times with mostly small databases and haven't had a problem either. I've also used Jeff's backup/restore method.

[mbenion]

I have done some quick tests with this process and it seems to work fine. My tests were on very small databases.

The recommended process for moving to another computer is:
1) Open Vault Manager and perform a "Backup"
2) Install the Vault server on the new machine
3) Open Vault Manager on the new install and "Restore" the backup from step 1.

What if you are not able to perform a backup on the old hardware using the ADMS? What are the steps to move the database to new hardware?

[dmiller]

I have successfully done this a couple times using SQL Server Management Studio. I recommend this be done by someone familiar with SQL Server, preferably your DBA.
Stop SQL Server Service on the old server (You could detach all the Vault databases from the existing SQL Server, including and especially VaultKnowledgeMaster db, but stopping the service and copying is safer for your existing server's config) and copy the MDFs, LDFs and filestore to appropriate places on the new server. Attach the databases to the new SQL Server (already installed as AUTODESKVAULT instance per Advanced Configuration Guide for ADMS). Make sure you duplicate the file locations as they were on the old server (the db stores the filestore location). You can move them later if you want using the new ADMS. Install ADMS on the new server. The installation program should see the db files and configure accordingly.

It's been a while since I've done this and there may be some little gotchas I forgot about. Having a second machine makes it easier since you're not taking a risk with your production machine. Plan to do this on the weekend, though. Copying the filestore can take a while. And I ALWAYS run into some quirk that makes the whole process take longer than expected.

David Miller
Configuration Manager

[mbenion]

I have successfully done this a couple times using SQL Server Management Studio. I recommend this be done by someone familiar with SQL Server, preferably your DBA.
Stop SQL Server Service on the old server (You could detach all the Vault databases from the existing SQL Server, including and especially VaultKnowledgeMaster db, but stopping the service and copying is safer for your existing server's config) and copy the MDFs, LDFs and filestore to appropriate places on the new server. Attach the databases to the new SQL Server (already installed as AUTODESKVAULT instance per Advanced Configuration Guide for ADMS). Make sure you duplicate the file locations as they were on the old server (the db stores the filestore location). You can move them later if you want using the new ADMS. Install ADMS on the new server. The installation program should see the db files and configure accordingly.

It's been a while since I've done this and there may be some little gotchas I forgot about. Having a second machine makes it easier since you're not taking a risk with your production machine. Plan to do this on the weekend, though. Copying the filestore can take a while. And I ALWAYS run into some quirk that makes the whole process take longer than expected.

David Miller
Configuration Manager

Great. We will give it a try. Thanks for the response.