Backing up a tarball installation

Backup your existing DSE tarball installation.

1. Backup the schema to schema_filename.cql using cqlsh.

   /installation_location/resources/cassandra/bin/cqlsh host_ip_address:port  -e 'DESC SCHEMA;' \
    > /backup_path/schema_filename.cql

   Note: A schema backup ensures that even if data is lost you can rebuild the database structure.
2. Backup the token ranges to token_range_filename using nodetool.

   /installation_location/resources/cassandra/bin/nodetool  ring  > /backup_path/token_range_filename

3. Backup your DSE configuration files.

   Add the following configuration file types to a plain text file listing, backup_file_listing.

   • *.yaml
   • *.sh
   • *.xml
   • *.properties
   • *.default

   find /installation_location -type f -name "*.yaml" -o -name "*.sh" -o -name "*.xml" \
   -o -name "*.properties" -o -name "*.default" -type f  >> "/backup_path/backup_file_listing"

   Note: The above is a comprehensive list of all possible customizable file types. Feel free to customize depending upon your requirements.
4. Create a full snapshot, snapshot_name, using nodetool and add the snapshot filenames to a plain text file listing, backup_file_listing.

   /installation_location/resources/cassandra/bin/nodetool  snapshot -t snapshot_name
   find /data_directory_location/ -path */snapshots/snapshot_name/* -type f >> "/backup_path/backup_file_listing"

   Important: Make note of the snapshot name in case a restore is required.
5. Add the commit logs to the plain text file listing, backup_file_listing.

   sudo find /data_directory_location/commitlog -type f >> "/backup_path/backup_file_listing"

6. Tar up all the backup files into a single archive, backup_archive_name.tar, using the file list, backup_file_listing.

   sudo /bin/tar -pzcvf /backup_path/backup_archive_name.tar --files-from=/backup_path/backup_file_listing

   Tip: For large snapshots, consider using the nice command to reduce the load on the node:

   sudo /usr/bin/nice -10 /bin/tar -pzcvf /backup_path/backup_archive_name.tar --files-from=/backup_path/backup_file_listing

7. Copy backup_archive_name.tar, token_range_filename, and schema_filename.cql to a secure location in case you need to restore your existing installation.