Export and Import Snapshots

You can save snapshots to your local file system or cloud storage and upload them back to the cloud. Exporting and importing snapshots enables you to back up and restore your content or migrate content between development, test, and production environments.

Topics:

• Export Snapshots

• Import Snapshots

Export Snapshots

Use the export option to save a snapshot to your local file system or to a storage bucket on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Exporting allows you to store and manage any snapshots you might take of your system.

The snapshot exports as an archive file (.bar). The time it takes to export your snapshot depends on the size of the .bar file.

Note:

If you regularly export large snapshots (over 5GB or larger than the download limit of your browser), you must set up a storage bucket on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure 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 save large snapshots on your local file system. See Set Up a Oracle Cloud Storage Bucket for Snapshots.

If you haven't taken the snapshot yet, you’ll need to do that first.

1. Click Console.
2. Click Snapshots.
3. Select the snapshot that you want to export.
4. Click Snapshot Actions .
5. Click Export.
6. Select where you want to export the snapshot to.
   • Local File Storage: Export the snapshot to your browser’s download folder.
   • Oracle Cloud Storage: Export the snapshot to an existing storage bucket on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Click Storage Details to specify connection details for the storage bucket. If you need to create a storage bucket, see Set Up a Oracle Cloud Storage Bucket for Snapshots.
7. If you select Oracle Cloud Storage, provide the connection details, a name for snapshot, and the folder you want to use.
   1. In Storage Container Details, specify a storage bucket for the snapshot, together with the security keys and Oracle Cloud IDs (OCIDs) required to access the bucket on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Storage, and then click Next.

      You need access to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console to generate or obtain this information. If you don't have access, contact your administrator.

      • Bucket Name: Name of the bucket. For example: My_OAC_Snapshot_StorageBucket
      • OCI Region: Region identifier for the region where the bucket is located. For example: us-phoenix-1
      • OCI Tenancy ID: OCID for the tenancy that's hosting the bucket.

        For example: ocid1.tenancy.oc1..<unique_ID>

        See Where to Get the Tenancy's OCID.

      • OCI User ID: OCID for a user who created and uploaded the signing key pair required to access the bucket.

        For example: ocid1.user.oc1..<unique_ID>

        See Where to Get a User's OCID. See also How to Upload the Public Key.

      • Key Fingerprint: Fingerprint of the private key required to access the bucket.

        The fingerprint looks something like this: 99:34:56:78:90:ab:cd:ef:12:34:56:78:90:ab:cd:ef

        See How to Get the Key's Fingerprint.

      • Private Key: Name and location of the user's private key file in PEM format.

        For example: oci_private_key.pem

        See How to Generate a Signing Key.

   2. Optional: In Save Snapshot As, use the File Name field to change the name of snapshot .bar file or select a different folder for the snapshot.

      By default, snapshots are saved to the bucket's root folder and named <timestamp>.bar. For example: 20210824140137.bar.

      • To use a different name, enter a new name for the snapshot in the File Name field. For example: 24August2021.bar
      • To select a specific folder, either navigate to the required folder or type the folder name in the File Name field. For example: MyDaily_Snapshots/August/24August2021.bar

      Click the Refresh Data icon to switch back to the default file name and location.

      Note:

      You don't see every file and folder in the storage bucket through the Save Snapshot As dialog. You see only snapshots (BAR files) and folders that contain snapshots.
   3. Click OK to confirm that you want to save the snapshot with this name and location.
8. In Snapshot Password, enter and confirm a password for the snapshot.

   The password must be between 8 and 50 characters long and contain at least one numeric character, one uppercase letter, and one lowercase letter.

   Don’t forget this password. You’ll be asked for this password when you try to import the file in the future. For example, if want to restore or migrate the content stored in the snapshot.

9. Click Export.

   The time it takes to export depends on the size of the file.

Import Snapshots

You can import a snapshot that you previously saved on your local file system or a storage bucket on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. The time it takes to import the snapshot depends on the size of the snapshot .bar file.

When you import a snapshot, the file itself is uploaded to your system but the artifacts stored inside the snapshot aren’t immediately available in your environment. Snapshots you import display in the snapshot list. When you’re ready to do so, you can overwrite your current artifacts, such as your catalog, by restoring the snapshot.

1. Click Console.
2. Click Snapshots.
3. Click the Page actions menu and select Import Snapshot.
4. Select where you want to import the snapshot from.
   • Local File Storage: Import a snapshot from your local file system.
   • Oracle Cloud Storage: Import a snapshot located in a storage bucket on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Click Storage Details to specify connection details for the storage bucket.
5. If you select Local File Storage, click Select to locate the snapshot that you want to upload.

   Select the snapshot file (.bar) that contains your snapshot. You can upload snapshots taken from Oracle Analytics Cloud, Oracle Analytics Server, and Oracle BI Enterprise Edition 12c.

6. If you select Oracle Cloud Storage, provide the connection details, and select the snapshot you want to import.
   1. In Storage Container Details, specify the storage bucket containing the snapshot, together with the security keys and Oracle Cloud IDs (OCIDs) required to access the bucket on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Storage, and then click Next.

      You need access to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console to obtain this information. If you don't have access, contact your administrator.

      • Bucket Name: Name of the bucket. For example: My_OAC_Snapshot_StorageBucket
      • OCI Region: Region identifier for the region where the bucket is located. For example: us-phoenix-1
      • OCI Tenancy ID: OCID for the tenancy that's hosting the bucket.

        For example: ocid1.tenancy.oc1..<unique_ID>

        See Where to Get the Tenancy's OCID.

      • OCI User ID: OCID for a user who created and uploaded the signing key pair required to access the bucket.

        For example: ocid1.user.oc1..<unique_ID>

        See Where to Get a User's OCID. See also How to Upload the Public Key.

      • Key Fingerprint: Fingerprint of the private key required to access the bucket.

        The fingerprint looks something like this: 99:34:56:78:90:ab:cd:ef:12:34:56:78:90:ab:cd:ef

        See How to Get the Key's Fingerprint.

      • Private Key: Name and location of the user's private key file in PEM format.

        For example: oci_private_key.pem

        See How to Generate a Signing Key.

   2. In Select Snapshot, navigate to the snapshot you want to import.

      Alternatively, type the folder path and the name of the snapshot in the File Name field. For example: MyDaily_Snapshots/August/24August2021.bar

      Click the Refresh Data icon to clear your selection and start again.

      Note:

      You don't see every file and folder in the storage bucket through the Select Snapshot dialog. You see only snapshots (BAR files) and folders that contain snapshots.
   3. Click OK to confirm that you want to import the selected snapshot.
7. Enter the snapshot password.

   This is the password that you specify whenever you export a snapshot to your local file system or cloud storage.

8. Click Import.

Set Up a Oracle Cloud Storage Bucket for Snapshots

If you want to store your Oracle Analytics Cloud snapshots on Oracle Cloud, you (or your administrator) must complete several set up steps. You need to create the storage bucket that you plan to use and generate an API signing key that authorizes you (or another user) to access the bucket from Oracle Analytics Cloud.

1. In Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console, create a user in IAM with authorization to create and connect to the bucket.

   You can skip this step if the user exists. See Adding Users.

2. Generate an API signing key pair for this user.

   See How to Generate an API Signing Key.

   When you use the Console to add the API signing key pair, a configuration file preview snippet is generated with the following information.

   • user - OCID of the user for whom the key pair is being added.
   • fingerprint - Fingerprint of the key that was just added.
   • tenancy - Your tenancy's OCID.
   • region - Currently selected region in the Console.
   • key_file- Path to the private key file you downloaded. You must update this value to the path on your file system where you saved the private key file.
3. Make a note of the information displayed in the snippet. When you export snapshots from Oracle Analytics Cloud to Oracle Cloud storage (or import a snapshot stored on Oracle Cloud) you'll be asked to provide the following:

   OCI User ID: user

   Key Fingerprint: fingerprint

   Private Key: key_file

   OCI Tenancy ID: tenancy

   OCI Region: region
4. Create a storage bucket for snapshots.

   You can skip this step if the bucket exists. See Create a Bucket.

   The user you created the signing key for must have read-write access to the storage bucket. Specifically, this user must have the following permissions on the storage bucket where the snapshots are stored:

   • OBJECT_CREATE
   • OBJECT_OVERWRITE