Restoring SAS to another Server

[ronnynch]

Hello Everyone,

I am trying to simulate a restoration procedure for my current SAS server. Currently, I am running on SAS 9.4M8 on Windows Server 2019. I want to backup the server and restore all the content to another server with different hostname and IP address. My question is, how do perform the update on SAS itself to reflect the new hostname and IP address? Is updating the information via hostname reference is sufficient?

Thanks.

[michele_sas]

Hi @ronnynch 

I would recommend starting with the SAS 9.4 Disaster Recovery Policy which explains the supported options for recovering SAS content.   https://support.sas.com/en/technical-support/services-policies/disaster-recovery-policy.html

If you are planning to use the SAS Deployment Backup and Recovery Tool for recovering content, that is supported only when using Option A in the policy and the machine names of the target system must be the same as the machine names used in the deployment of the production (source) system.  The requirement about the machine names is discussed in the in Limitations and Considerations section of the policy.  After you have restored and validated the target system, if you want to change the machine names for the deployment on the target system, look at Update Hostname References with SAS Deployment Manager SAS Help Center: Using the SAS Deployment Manager to Update Host Name References 

[ronnynch]

Thanks @michele_sas. We just want to restore to a temporary server with different hostname and IP address and perform some testing. No changes to the current server.

[michele_sas]

Hi @ronnynch  

You would still take the approach in option A which is to clone your server to a new machine. Then on the new machine run the SAS Deployment Manager Update Host Name References tool to update your SAS deployment with the new machine name.  The idea is that SAS doesn't support restoring a backup of just the SAS installation and configuration directories to a new machine.  If you want to restore a backup of your server to a new machine, that has to be full system images like what is defined in option A of the SAS Disaster Recovery Policy as an exact clone.  The requirement for an exact clone also applies to using the Update Host Name References tool on the new machine.  See Use Case 2: One or More Servers Have Been Cloned to New Machines SAS Help Center: Overview of Updating Host Name References  

 

[Kurt_Bremser]

Do you plan to do this for disaster recovery, or do you want to move your SAS operations to a new environment?

[ronnynch]

Hi Kurt,

We just want to ensure our enterprise backup tool is working. So, the plan is the backup the current production SAS server and restore to another temporary server with different hostname and IP address and perform some testing there. We will not change anything to the current production server.

Thanks.

[Kurt_Bremser]

Do a proper fail-over test. On a weekend, shut down your SAS server, start up the backup server and check if it works as expected. Then revert to your normal server.

This should be part of your standard operating procedures, performed at least once a year.

[ronnynch]

Hi Kurt,

Is there any foreseeable issue if I don't shut down my SAS server? The plan is to let the current production server run as per usual while we do the testing on the temporary server.

Thanks.

[Kurt_Bremser]

The only real test is when you shut down your original environment. That's why you do the test on a weekend (or other planned downtime), so it can't disrupt your operations.

[Sajid01]

Hello @ronnynch 

Your question is "My question is, how do perform the update on SAS itself to reflect the new hostname and IP address? Is updating the information via hostname reference is sufficient?"
In short.
Well, the part of change in hostnames has to be performed manually by the SAS admin by running the deployment manager.
The change in I/P has to be done by the OS Administrator - the windows administrator.

Typical industry practice.
As an FYI, Disaster recovery operation are a routine and in a typical   DR environment, the restored server has the same hostname as the original. The corporate DNS service takes care of hostname I/P name resolution.  In the case I/P's are hard coded in any of the config files, then the config files are updated to reflect the new I/P's.
In my experience SAS servers are a part of the corporate IT infrastructure. Therefore, the corporate policies are followed.

[MargaretC]

I agree with reviewing the SAS Disaster Recovery policy that has been mentioned. 

Also, there is a recent paper where we list all the files that are not in the SASHOME directory that are needed for a SAS 9.4 install to run and be updated (either applying the maintenance release or hotfix).  Operating System Lifecycle for Red Hat Enterprise Linux – Enhancing SA... - SAS Support Communities  

Hope the above paper helps.