Database Backup - VMware ACE Management Server Administrator's Manual

ACE Management Server Administrator's Manual

Database Backup

If you are using an external database, use a backup and recovery strategy that is appropriate for your database
system. Back up your ACE Management Server database on a regular basis to ensure that the database can be
recovered promptly if needed.
If you are using the embedded database, you can use standard file‐backup tools, such as ntbackup or dd. The
data is stored in one of the following locations:

Windows – C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware ACE Management Server\db\acesc.bin.

Linux – /var/lib/vmware/acesc/db/acesc.bin
If you are using the embedded database in a production environment, stop the server, copy the file to a
different location for the backup, and restart the server. SQLite is file based, so the database file might be
modified by the ACE Management Server process at the same time that it is being copied for backup. An
inconsistent database snapshot might be produced. This problem is unlikely to occur because the file is usually
not large and is copied quickly.
Other alternatives for backing up an open database, as recommended by members of an SQLite community,
are the following:

Use the sqlite3 command‐line tool to log in to the SQLite database. Use the .dump command, store the
result in a separate file, and back up that result file. An SQL script recreates the database.

Use the Shadow Volume Copy mechanism on Windows systems or LVM volume snapshots on Linux (and
the crash‐restore feature of SQLite) to back up the complete database directory, including journal files if
they are present. On a Windows XP SP1 or later operating system, use ntbackup on the database
directory.

Use the sqlite3 command‐line tool to log in to the SQLite database. Use the BEGIN EXCLUSIVE
command, copy the database file, and then use the COMMIT command.
For information to help you use your company's own management or reporting tools or automated scripts
with the data in the VRM database, see "Appendix: Database Schema and Audit Event Log Data" on page 55.
54 VMware, Inc.