How to Schedule Backups of Operations Manager Databases

Applies To: Operations Manager 2007 R2, Operations Manager 2007 SP1

Schedule a Database Backup

Use the procedure below to schedule a database backup using Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 2005 or SQL Server Management Studio 2008). Use this procedure to back up the OperationsManager, OperationsManagerAC, and OperationsManagerDW databases.

To schedule a database backup to a file

  1. Start SQL Server Management Studio.

  2. In the Connect to Server dialog box, select the appropriate values in the Server type drop-down list, in the Server name box, and in the Authentication box.

  3. Click Connect.

  4. In Object Explorer, expand Databases.

  5. Right-click the database that you want to back up, click Tasks, and then click Back Up.

  6. In the Back Up Database dialog box, type the name of the backup set in the Name box, and then under Destination, click Add.

  7. In the Select Backup Destination dialog box, type a path and a file name in the Destination on disk box, and then click OK.

    Important

    The destination location must have enough available free disk space to store the backup files based upon the frequency of your backup schedule.

  8. In the Script list, click Script Action to Job.

  9. If you want to change job parameters, in the New Job dialog box, under Select a page, click Steps, and then click Edit.

  10. Under Select a page, click Schedules, and then click New.

  11. In the New Job Schedule dialog box, type in the job name in the Name box, specify the job schedule, and then click OK.

    Note

    If you want to configure alerts or notifications, you can click Alerts or Notifications under Select a page.

  12. Click OK twice.

OperationsManager Database

The OperationsManager database contains almost all of the Operations Manager environment configuration settings, agent information, management packs with customizations, operations data, and other data required for Operations Manager to operate properly.

It is critical that you back up the OperationsManager database regularly to preserve the latest information about your Operations Manager environment. A database failure without a recent backup will result in the loss of almost all Operations Manager-specific data, and you will need to rebuild the entire Operations Manager environment.

Note

If your backup procedure sets the OperationsManager database to be offline during backup, Operations Manager caches incoming data, and then, after backup is complete, Operations Manager stores that data in the database.

Reporting Databases

Operations Manager Reporting uses the following databases:

  • Operations Manager 2007 data warehouse (OperationsManagerDW)

  • SQL Server Reporting Services databases (ReportServer and ReportServerTempDB)

The OperationsManagerDW database contains all of the performance and other operational data from your Operations Manager environment. SQL Reporting Services then uses this data to generate reports such as trend analysis and performance tracking.

To be able to restore reporting functionality in case of failure, it is critical that you back up the OperationsManagerDW database. When determining how often and when to back up this database, you should consider the following:

  • This database can grow to a very large size (more than one terabyte) over time.

  • Management servers frequently write data to this database.

  • IT SLA requirements are based on the need for reporting availability in the organization.

Note

The OperationsManagerDW database uses a simple recovery model, which truncates all transactions after completion. Therefore, backing up only the log file is insufficient; you must back up the entire database.

The SQL Server Reporting Services databases store report definitions, report metadata, cached reports, and snapshots. In case of failure, you can re-create report definitions by re-importing the reports. However, cached reports, which are reports that have already been created, will be lost.

To be able to restore reporting functionality in case of failure, it is recommended that you back up the SQL Server Reporting Server databases.

ACS Database

The Audit Collection Services (ACS) database, OperationsManagerAC, is the central repository for events and security logs that are collected by ACS forwarders on monitored computers.

The OperationsManagerAC database can grow significantly depending upon how many ACS forwarders send events to the ACS database and the filters configured to control what events are written to the database.

Master Database

The master database is a system database, which records all of the system-level information for a Microsoft SQL Server system, including the location of the database files. It also records all logon accounts and system configuration settings. The proper functionality of the master database is key to the operation of all of the databases in a SQL Server instance.

MSDB Database

The MSDB database, Msdbdata, is a SQL system database, which is used by the SQL Server agent to schedule jobs and alerts and for recording operators. The proper functionality of the MSDB database is key to the operation of all the databases in a SQL Server instance.

Note

This database contains task schedules that are vital to the health of the Operations Manager 2007 database, and it should be included in your backup plan. You need to back up this database only after you configure Operations Manager 2007 or if you change the scheduled agent jobs.