- Overview
- Using the Graphical User Interface
- RADIUS Accounting
- Diameter
- Extensible Authentication Protocols
- Using Replication
- Using Identity Caching
- Using Prepaid Billing
- Using Cisco Prime Access Registrar Server Features
- Directing RADIUS Requests
- Using FastRules to Process Packet Flow
- Using LDAP
- Using Open Database Connectivity
- SIGTRAN-M3UA
- Using SNMP
- Backing Up the Database
Cisco Prime Access Registrar 9.1 User Guide
Bias-Free Language
The documentation set for this product strives to use bias-free language. For the purposes of this documentation set, bias-free is defined as language that does not imply discrimination based on age, disability, gender, racial identity, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality. Exceptions may be present in the documentation due to language that is hardcoded in the user interfaces of the product software, language used based on RFP documentation, or language that is used by a referenced third-party product. Learn more about how Cisco is using Inclusive Language.
- Updated:
- March 20, 2020
Chapter: Backing Up the Database
Backing Up the Database
This chapter describes the Cisco Prime Access Registrar (Prime Access Registrar) shadow backup facility, which ensures a consistent snapshot of Prime Access Registrar’s database for backup purposes.
Because the Prime Access Registrar’s database (called MCD) does a variety of memory caching, and might be active at any time, you cannot simply rely on doing system backups to protect the data in the database. At the time you run a system backup, there could be Prime Access Registrar operations in progress that cause the data copied to the system backup tape to be inconsistent and unusable as a replacement database.
To ensure a consistent backup, Prime Access Registrar uses a shadow backup facility. Once a day, at a configurable time, Prime Access Registrar suspends all activity to the database and takes a snapshot of the critical files. This snapshot is guaranteed to be a consistent view of the database, and it is preserved correctly on a system backup tape.
Configuration
The only configuration for this facility is through a single entry in the system Registry at $INSTALL/conf/car.conf is the registry path to this item.
This entry is a string that represents the time-of-day at which the shadow backup is scheduled to occur (in 24 hour HH:MM format). The default is 12:45.
When you remove this entry or set it to an illegal value (for example, anything that does not begin with a digit), backups are suppressed.
Command Line Utility
In addition to being available at a scheduled time of day, you can also force a shadow backup by using the mcdshadow utility located in the $INSTALL/bin directory. There are no command-line arguments.
This might take a few minutes to complete as a full copy of the database is created.
Recovery
When it is necessary to use the shadow backup to recover data, either because the regular working database has been corrupted by a system crash, or because the disk on which it resides has become corrupted.
Recovering the data using shadow backup
To use the shadow backup to recover data:
Step 1
Stop all Prime Access Registrar servers.
Step 2 Make sure three files (mcddb.d01, mcddb.d02, and mcddb.d03) exist in the $INSTALL/data/db.bak directory.
Step 3 Copy the files into the $INSTALL/data/db directory. Do not move them because they might be needed again.
Step 4 Change directory to the $INSTALL/data/db directory.
Step 5 Rebuild the key files by entering the command:
This might take several minutes.
Step 6 As a safety check, run $INSTALL/bin/dbcheck mcddb (UNIX) to verify the integrity of the database. Note, you must be user root to run dbcheck.
mcdshadow Command Files
The mcdshadow command uses the files listed in Table 16-1 .
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