How to Restore in a Single-Server Deployment

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Applies To: System Center Essentials 2010

Use the following procedure to restore System Center Essentials 2010 in a single management server deployment.

To restore Essentials 2010 data

  1. Repair the failing Essentials management server, or designate a new server for that role. In either case, follow these guidelines:

    • The new Essentials management server must be configured with the original Essentials management server name.

    • The new Essentials management server must be in the same original domain. If you could not correctly uninstall Essentials 2010 after the failure, then you must delete the computer container for the Essentials management server before re-joining the server to the domain.

    • If Active Directory has also been failing, then it must be restored. Verify that the System Center Essentials All Computers Policy and the System Center Essentials managed computers policy ([SCESERVER]_MG) exist.

  2. If you have a backup of the update content files folder, copy those files into a location that the Essentials management server can access.

  3. Install Essentials 2010 on the new Essentials management server:

    1. Select a database instance with the same name as the previous Essentials 2010 database instance.

    2. Specify the same action account that was used before.

    3. Specify the location of the existing update content files folder during Essentials 2010 setup.

      Note

      For example, if the update content files are stored in the %SYSTEMDRIVE%\SYSTEM CENTER ESSENTIALS\WsusContent folder, then you have to specify the Update content location as %SYSTEMDRIVE%\SYSTEM CENTER ESSENTIALS during Essentials 2010 setup.

    4. Complete Essentials 2010 setup.

  4. On the Essentials management server, stop the following services:

    • System Center Management

    • System Center Management Configuration

    • System Center Data Access

    • Update Services

    • Virtual Machine Manager (if present)

  5. Detach the newly created databases from the selected SQL Server 2008 database instance as follows:

    1. Start SQL Server Management Studio.

    2. Right-click the Essentials 2010 database name, and select Tasks > Detach to detach the Essentials 2010 database (System Center Essentials).

    3. Repeat step b for the WSUS (SUSDB) and the Essentials 2010 data warehouse databases (OperationsManagerDW, VirtualManagerDB).

    4. Right-click the Databases node, and then click Attach.

    5. Click Add, and then select the .mdf and .ldf files of the previous Essentials database from your backup.

    6. Repeat steps d and e for the WSUS (SUSDB) and Essentials 2010 data warehouse databases (OperationsManagerDW, VirtualManagerDB).

  6. Set ENABLE_BROKER for the SystemCenterEssentials database if needed. For more information to determine if this step is required, and for information about how to perform it, see the Set ENABLE_BROKER section below.

  7. Run the SecureStorageBackup tool from the Essentials 2010 installation folder, and use the Encryption Key Backup or Restore Wizard to restore the management server encryption key. For information about how to restore the encryption key, see How to Restore the Encryption Key.

  8. Restart the following services:

    • System Center Management

    • System Center Management Configuration

    • System Center Data Access

    • Update Services

    • Virtual Machine Manager (if present)

  9. Restore the WSUS Code Signing Certificate as follows:

    1. To start a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) session, click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK.

    2. Add the Certificates snap-in to the MMC console as follows:

      1. Click File, and then click Add/Remove Snap-in.

      2. In the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box, click Add.

      3. In the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, in the Snap-in list, double-click Certificates.

      4. On the Certificates snap-in page, click Computer account, and then click Next.

      5. In the Select Computer page, select Local computer, and then click Finish.

      6. Close the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, and then click OK to close the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box.

    3. In the Console Root window, expand Certificates (Local Computer).

    4. Run the Certificate Import Wizard to import the <Essentials InstallDir>/Certificates/WSUSCodeSigningCert.cer (the WSUS code signing certificate file) to the Local Computer Trusted Publisher store, the Trusted Root Certification Authorities, and the Third-Party Root Certification Authorities stores.

    5. Use the WSUSCertificateRestore.exe tool to restore the WSUS Code Signing Certificate’s .pfx file to the Essentials management server. In a Command Prompt window, go to the <Essentials installation>\Tools folder, and type:

      WSUSCertificateRestore [PFXCertificateFile] [PFXPassword]

    6. Ensure that the WSUSCodeSigningCert.cer certificate file is in the <Essentials Installation>/Certificates folder.

  10. If the domain-based policies, System Center Essentials All Computers Policy and the Essentials 2010 managed computers policy ([SCESERVER]_MG), were previously used and are no longer available in Active Directory, then start the Essentials console, and run the Configure System Center Essentials Wizard to re-create them.

  11. Run the Certificate Import Wizard to import the <Essentials InstallDir>/Certificates/WSUSSSLCert.cer certificate file to the Local Computer Trusted Root Certification Authorities store.

  12. If using local policy or if the domain-based policy is still available, attach the WSUSSSLCert.cer to the WSUS Administration Web site in IIS. Verify that the WSUSSSLCert.cer certificate file is in the <Essentials Installation> /Certificates folder.

    For more information, see the IIS Help topic on TechNet Installing Server Certificates (IIS 6.0).

  13. This step is necessary only if you selected the Local Policy option for configuring Essentials management servers and managed computers in the Configure System Center Essentials Wizard. Select the Repair option for all managed computers as follows:

    1. In the Essentials console, click the Administration button.

    2. In the Administration pane, expand Device Management, and then click Agent Managed.

    3. Right-click all managed computers, and click Repair.

  14. If any computers were added after the date of the database snapshot, you can restore them as follows:

    1. In the Essentials console, select Administration.

    2. In the Administration pane, select Settings.

    3. In the Settings pane, expand the Server group, and then double-click Security.

    4. In the Server Settings–Security dialog box, select the Review new manual agent installation in pending management view option, and then click OK.

    5. You can view and re-approve these agents in the Administration pane when you expand Device Management, and Pending Management.

Set ENABLE_BROKER

Before you can run tasks and use the Discovery Wizard to install agents, you have to set the ENABLE_BROKER value.

After moving the SystemCenterEssentials database, the status of the SQL Broker Availability Monitor might be set to ‘critical’ or to 'SQL Broker is disabled'. You can check the state of the SQL Broker Availability Monitor by running the following SQL Server query:

SELECT is_broker_enabled FROM sys.databases WHERE name='SystemCenterEssentials'

Where ‘SystemCenterEssentials’ is the default database name, replace this name as appropriate.

If the query result is ‘0’, then the SQL Broker is disabled, and you must re-enable it using the following procedure.

To set ENABLE_BROKER

  1. Open SQL Server Management Studio.

  2. In the Connect to Server dialog box, select the appropriate values in the Server type list, in the Server name list, in the Authentication list, and then click Connect.

  3. Click New Query.

  4. In the query window, enter the following query:

    ALTER DATABASE SystemCenterEssentials SET SINGLE_USER WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE

  5. Click Execute.

  6. Enter the following query:

    ALTER DATABASE SystemCenterEssentials SET ENABLE_BROKER

  7. Click Execute.

  8. Close SQL Server Management Studio.

    Note

    Closing SQL Server Management Studio closes the connection to the database in single user mode. Depending on your configuration, you might have to manually kill any process that is connected to the database before completing the ALTER query below.

  9. Open SQL Server Management Studio.

  10. In the Connect to Server dialog box, select the appropriate values in the Server type list, in the Server name list, in the Authentication list, and then click Connect.

  11. Click New Query.

  12. In the query window, enter the following query:

    ALTER DATABASE SystemCenterEssentials SET MULTI_USER

  13. Click Execute.

You can verify the setting for ENABLE_BROKER is set to 1 by using this SQL Server query: SELECT is_broker_enabled FROM sys.databases WHERE name='SystemCenterEssentials'.

Note

Before you can use discovery, you must restart the following services: System Center Data Access, System Center Management Configuration, and System Center Management. You might also have to restart the following services: SQL Server and SQL Server Agent.