Backing up and Restoring the ActiveMatrix BPM System

State information about BPM applications is maintained in two places - in the ActiveMatrix database and in the CONFIG_HOME file system. Both of these entities need to be backed up as part of an ActiveMatrix BPM system backup, but must (obviously) be backed up in different ways that cannot be perfectly sycnhronized. Consequently, conflicts could occur if state changes to BPM applications occurred while these backups were being taken (for example, if a user completed the final work item in a process instance, or deployed a new version of an application).

To avoid this, you can use either of the following methods to back up an ActiveMatrix BPM system. Both methods ensure that no state changes to BPM applications can occur while the backups are being taken, ensuring the validity of the backup set should a restore be needed:

  • Take an offline backup. This requires you to shut down the ActiveMatrix enterprise that hosts the ActiveMatrix BPM system. This ensures that application state changes cannot occur while the backups are being taken, but you cannot use the ActiveMatrix BPM system until the backup has completed and you have restarted the system.
  • Take an online backup. This requires you to suspend the ActiveMatrix Enterprise that hosts the ActiveMatrix BPM system, but you do not need to shut down the ActiveMatrix BPM system. (This allows you to take a backup if your operational requirements do not allow for a suitable window in which to perform an offline backup.)

    You can continue to use the ActiveMatrix BPM system while the online backup is being performed. Any state changes to BPM applications that occur are not processed immediately, but are queued instead. When the backup has completed, you revert the ActiveMatrix enterprise to its unsuspended (normal) state. Any state changes to BPM applications that were queued while the enterprise was suspended are then processed as normal.

If you subsequently need to restore the ActiveMatrix BPM system from an offline or online backup, see Restoring the ActiveMatrix BPM System from a Backup.

Important: Do not take a backup of the ActiveMatrix BPM system without first either shutting down (to take an offline backup) or suspending (to take an online backup) the ActiveMatrix enterprise. Taking a backup of a running ActiveMatrix BPM system while the ActiveMatrix enterprise is unsuspended can result in conflicts between the states of BPM applications as recorded in the backups of the CONFIG_HOME file system and the ActiveMatrix Administrator database. For example, an application's state could be recorded as READY_FOR_UNDEPLOY in the backup of the file system, but as PREPARING_FOR_UNDEPLOY in the backup of the ActiveMatrix Administrator database. If the ActiveMatrix BPM system were subsequently restored from this backup set, these conflicts may result in stuck or failed applications or process instances on the restored system.