Backing Up and Restoring the Metabase Using Backup Files

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 with SP1

Metabase backup files provide a way to restore your metabase configuration and schema data if your metabase becomes corrupted. You can create backup files by using IIS Manager or an administration script. The backup files are copies of the metabase configuration file (MetaBase.xml) and the matching metabase schema file (MBSchema.xml). Use the metabase configuration backup and restore feature to restore the metabase from backup files.

You can create two types of metabase backups:

  • Portable backups. When you create a portable backup, you provide a password that is used by IIS to encrypt the backup files. IIS encrypts the password and stores it in the header of the backup file. Only the administrator password and secure properties within the backup files are encrypted; all other information within the backup files are plaintext. After the backup file is encrypted, you cannot change the password of the backup file.

  • Non-portable backups. When you create a non-portable backup, you do not supply a password. Therefore, IIS encrypts non-portable backup files with a blank password, which allows any member of the Administrators group to restore the metabase by using non-portable backup files. Only the blank password and secure properties are encrypted; all other information within the backup file is plaintext.

You can restore a metabase backup to the computer on which the backup was made or to a different computer that is running Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003, Standard Edition; Windows® Server 2003, Enterprise Edition; Windows® Server 2003, Datacenter Edition; and Windows® Server 2003, Web Edition. However, before you restore a metabase backup from one computer to another, you must first delete the machine-specific information from the metabase file. For more information about restoring a metabase backup to a different computer, see Machine-Specific and System-Specific Information in the IIS 6.0 Operations Guide, which is accessible from IIS Manager.

Before you create a backup of the metabase, consider the following:

  • A non-portable backup can only be restored to the computer on which the backup was made.

  • The metabase is locked while the backup is in progress.

  • Backup files contain only configuration data; they do not include your content.

To back up your content, use the Windows Backup feature. For more information about Windows Backup, see "Backing up and Restoring Data" in Help and Support Center for Windows Server 2003.

For more information about backing up and restoring the metabase, see Backing Up and Restoring the Metabase in IIS 6.0.