Take Snapshots and Restore Information

You can take a snapshot of your system at any time using the Console.

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Note:

You can also manage snapshots using the REST API. The Snapshots page in Oracle Analytics Cloud Console lists the snapshots that you take using the Console. Snapshots that you take and register using the REST API don't display in the Snapshots page. See Manage Snapshots Using REST APIs.

Take a Snapshot

Administrators can take a snapshot of the system at any time.

Click Console.
Click Snapshots.
Click Create Snapshot.
Enter a short description for the snapshot to help you remember later why you took it.

For example, why you created the snapshot and what it contains.
Select the content you want to include, Everything or Custom.
- Everything - Include everything about your environment in the snapshot .
- Custom - Select only the content types you want to save in the snapshot. Deselect any items that you don't want.
Click Create.

The latest content is saved to a snapshot.

Restore from a Snapshot

If something goes wrong, you can easily restore your content to a previous working state from a snapshot. You also restore snapshots when you migrate content between environments.

Before you start, read these tips about restoring snapshots.

As you start to restore the snapshot, users currently signed in have their session terminated.
After you restore from a snapshot, allow time for the restored content to refresh (for example, approximately 15 to 30 minutes for a large snapshot).
Delivery schedules aren’t automatically restored or activated when you restore catalog content from a snapshot. This is so you can restore and activate deliveries at a time that suits you. See Restore and Enable Delivery Schedules.
You can restore snapshots taken at the same version (or earlier version) as the target environment.

You might experience unexpected results if you try to restore from a snapshot that was taken from a more recent update of Oracle Analytics.
When you restore a snapshot taken from a different environment, you must upload the data associated with your file-based datasets to the target environment.
You can take and restore snapshots using the Console or REST API. The Snapshots page in the Console lists the snapshots that you take using the Console. Snapshots that you take and register using the REST API don't display in the Snapshots page. See Manage Snapshots using REST APIs.

To restore a snapshot:

Click Console.
Click Snapshots.
Select the snapshot that you want to use to restore your system.
Click Snapshot Actions .
Click Restore to return your system to the state when this snapshot was taken.
In the Restore Snapshot dialog, select only those elements you want to restore.
For example, you may not want to include application roles if you’re restoring a snapshot taken from a pre-production environment, to a production environment. Pre-production roles often have different members to the production environment. If so, select Custom and deselect Application Roles before you restore.
1. Select the Restore option you want.
  - Replace Snapshot Content Only - Replace all the content types included in snapshot (listed in the description field) with the content inside the snapshot.
    The restore process replaces entire content types on the target. For example, if your target includes workbooks A and B and the snapshot contains workbook A, only workbook A will exist on the target after you restore the snapshot.
    
    Select this option if you don't want to replace or remove any other content types that exist on the target, that is, only replace the content types inside the snapshot.
  - Replace Everything - Overwrite all your existing content. Replace your existing content with the content included in this snapshot (listed in the description field).
    
    Any content types not included in the snapshot, excluding file-based datasets, plug-ins and extensions, are removed and restored with default settings.
  - Custom - Select only the content types you want to restore. You can restore with content saved inside the snapshot or restore content with default settings if that content is missing from the snapshot.
    - Content saved inside the snapshot is listed in the description field.
    - Content not included in the snapshot is marked with a warning icon . Only restore content marked with a warning icon if you want to restore that content with default settings.
    If you don’t want to restore everything, deselect all the items you want to keep.
2. If you select Custom, select only those items you want to restore.
For auditing purposes, enter the reason why you’re restoring.

It's good practice to include a restore reason. Later on you might want to analyze the restore history, and this information can help you remember why you restored the snapshot.
Click Restore.

A warning message is displayed because restoring a snapshot can be very disruptive.
Click Yes to restore the selected snapshot, or click No to abandon the restore.
Wait for the restore to complete, and then wait a few more minutes for the restored content to refresh through your system.
The time it takes to restore your system depends on the size of your snapshot. For a large snapshot, allow approximately 15 to 30 minutes.
Sign out and then sign back in to see the restored content and inherit newly restored application roles, if any.

Track Who Restored What and When

You can check the restore history to learn exactly when and what content was restored, and to check for any errors during the restore process. This might be useful if you experience issues during or after you restore a snapshot.

Click Console.
Click Snapshots.
Click the Page menu and select Show Restore History.

Edit Snapshot Descriptions

You can add or update the description for any snapshot.

Click Console.
Click Snapshots.
Select the snapshot you want to edit.
Click Snapshot Actions .
Click Edit Name.
Update the description, and click OK.

Delete Snapshots

From time to time, delete snapshots that you don’t need.

Click Console.
Click Snapshots.
Select the snapshot that you want to delete.
Click Snapshot Actions .
Click Delete to confirm that you want to delete the snapshot.

Schedule Regular Snapshots (Backups)

You must take snapshots regularly as part of your organization's business continuity plan to minimize data loss. If something goes wrong with your content or service, you can revert to the user content that you recently saved in a snapshot. For example, user content such as reports, dashboards, data visualization workbooks, pixel-perfect reports, datasets, data flows, semantic models, security roles, system settings, and so on.

Back Up Frequently

Oracle recommends that you take snapshots at significant checkpoints, for example, before you make a major change to your content or environment. In addition, Oracle recommends that you take regular weekly snapshots or at your own defined frequency based on the rate of change of your environment and rollback requirements. You can keep up to 40 snapshots online and export as many as you want to offline storage (that is, to your local file system or to your own Oracle Cloud storage). See Take a Snapshot and Export Snapshots.

Store Backups on Oracle Cloud

Oracle recommends that you adopt a regular practice of exporting snapshots to offline storage. If you regularly export large snapshots (over 5GB or larger than the download limit of your browser), Oracle recommends that you set up a storage bucket on Oracle Cloud and save your snapshots to cloud storage. This way, you can avoid export errors due to size limitations and timeouts that can sometimes occur when you export snapshots to your local file system. See Set Up a Oracle Cloud Storage Bucket for Snapshots.

Automate Backups using REST APIs

Use REST APIs to programmatically create, restore, and manage your snapshots in Oracle Cloud storage. For example, might create a script that takes regular backups (snapshots). See Manage Snapshots Using REST APIs.

Disaster Recovery

If an unforeseen disaster happens, a well-architected business continuity plan will enable you to recover as quickly as possible and continue to provide services to your Oracle Analytics Cloud users. Taking regular snapshots is one of the ways you can help minimize disruption for users.

You can also deploy a passive backup Oracle Analytics Cloud environment in a different region to mitigate the risk of region-wide events. For more information and best practices, see Disaster Recovery Configuration for Oracle Analytics Cloud.