Backing up and restoring configuration

You should take regular backups of the configuration data on your Management Node, particularly before and after Upgrading the Pexip Infinity platform. This allows you to restore your configuration to a specific point in time, or to restore your configuration if you have to deploy a new Management Node.

There are 2 ways to maintain copies of your Management Node configuration data:

• use your hypervisor's tools to create a full snapshot of the Management Node VM
• use the backup and restore mechanism built into the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface

We recommend that you use both methods to preserve your configuration data. The VM snapshot should be your primary mechanism, as this allows you to easily restore your configuration back to its state at the time the snapshot was taken. The Pexip Infinity backup and restore mechanism is your fallback mechanism, as this allows you to preserve a copy of your data in an alternative location, in case you lose your VM environment.

You can also separately backup and restore just your Virtual Meeting Room and Virtual Auditorium configuration, see Bulk import / export of basic Virtual Meeting Room or Virtual Auditorium configuration.

Note that Conferencing Nodes do not need to be backed up. They receive all their configuration information from the Management Node and can simply be redeployed if necessary. However, if your Conferencing Nodes are geographically spread out and redeploying them would consume significant bandwidth or take a significant length of time, they can also be backed up with your hypervisor's backup tools.

Using your hypervisor's tools to take and restore snapshots

You can use your hypervisor's own backup tools, or any other third-party tool that supports VM backups, to create a full snapshot of the Management Node. This snapshot can then be re-deployed at a later date if required.

Consult your hypervisor documentation for more information about taking and restoring snapshots.

Using backup and restore via the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface

You can use Pexip Infinity's inbuilt backup and restore mechanism to backup and restore the configuration data on a Management Node.

• All backup files are encrypted. The administrator enters a passphrase at the time of taking the backup and must remember this for restoration.
• Restoration must occur on exactly the same version that the backup was taken from.
• The data contained in the backup contains all configuration data, including IP addresses, custom themes, certificates and call history.
• The backup data does not contain licenses, the Administrator log, the Support log or usage statistics.

Note that this function can only be used to replicate the configuration of a previous Management Node onto a new node. It cannot be used to redeploy Conferencing Nodes.

Creating a backup file

To create and download a backup file:

1. Go to Utilities > Backup/Restore.

2. Enter a Passphrase.

   The text entered here is used to encrypt the backup file. You must remember this text as it will be required if you need to subsequently restore the data from this file.

3. Select Create backup.

   After a few seconds you will see a message: "Successfully created the backup file: <file_name>" where <file_name> takes the format:

   pexip_backup_<hostname>_<version>_<build>_<date>_<time>.tar.gpg

4. Download the file from the host VM:
   1. From the Existing backup files section at the bottom of the page, select Download backup for the file you have just created.
   2. Follow your browser's prompts to save or download the file to your local file system.

   3. If required, you can delete unwanted backup files from your host VM by selecting Delete backup.

      The system keeps only the 5 most recent backups.

Restoring data to the Management Node

You can restore configuration data to the Management Node. This could be restored to the original Management Node from which the backup was taken, or it could be restored to a newly deployed Management Node (if the original node was lost due to, for example, issues with its VM environment).

Any in-progress calls will not be affected while data is being restored to the Management Node.

To restore configuration data:

1. If required, deploy a new Management Node as described in Installing the Management Node.
   • Complete the installation wizard as normal.
   • The IP address you enter at this stage is temporary (it can be the same as the previous Management Node).
   • All the configuration data you enter, including the IP address, will be subsequently replaced.
2. If any new Conferencing Nodes have been deployed since the backup was taken:
   • Power these Conferencing Node off and delete them before restoring the Management Node data.
   • These additional Conferencing Nodes will not be recognized by the restored Management Node. You will have to create them again after the restore has completed.
3. If previously configured Conferencing Nodes have been deleted since the backup was taken:
   • There is no need to do anything at this stage; the restore will complete successfully.
   • Simply delete the Conferencing Nodes from the restored configuration, after the restore has completed.
4. Restore your previous backup file:
   1. Go to Utilities > Backup/Restore.

   2. Enter the Passphrase.

      The text entered here must be identical to the text that was used to create the backup file.

   3. Select Choose File.

   4. Choose the backup file that you want to restore.

      The file must be chosen from your local file system (you cannot select a file from the list of Existing backup files).

   5. Select Restore backup.

5. If the restore is successful, after a few seconds you will see a "Successfully restored the backup file" message and the Management Node will reboot.

   You will need to wait for it to return from rebooting before you can access it again.

   If you have restored a file where the IP address of the Management Node in the backup file is different from the node's current address (prior to the restore), you will need to manually enter this IP address into the web browser to access the restored Management Node's web interface login page.

   If you see a "Decryption Error: decryption failed" message, the most likely reason for this is that you have entered an incorrect passphrase.

6. If you have restored your configuration onto a new VM (and were unable to return the licenses from your previous VM), you must contact Pexip support (support@pexip.com) to get your licenses reapplied on your new VM.