Backing up a package installation

This topic describes how to manually back up an existing DataStax Enterprise (DSE) package installation.

Before continuing, make sure you have sufficient disk space to store a complete data snapshot as well as an archive of the snapshot.

To back up a DSE installation, do the following:

Back up the schema to schema_filename.cql using cqlsh.
```
cqlsh host_ip_address:port  -e 'DESC SCHEMA;' > /backup_path/schema_filename.cql
```
A schema backup ensures that even if data is lost you can rebuild the database structure.
Backup the token ranges to token_range_filename using nodetool.
```
nodetool ring > /backup_path/token_range_filename
```
Add the following DSE configuration file types to a plain text file listing, backup_file_listing.
- *.yaml
- *.sh
- *.xml
- *.properties
- dse (DSE configuration filename)
  sudo find /etc/dse /etc/default /usr/share/dse -type f -name "*.yaml" -o -name "*.sh" -o -name "*.xml" \ -o -name "*.properties" -o -name "dse" -type f >> "/backup_path/backup_file_listing"
The above is a comprehensive list of all possible customizable file types. Feel free to customize depending upon your requirements.
Create a full snapshot, snapshot_name using nodetool, and add the snapshot filenames to a plain text file listing, backup_file_listing.
```
nodetool snapshot -t snapshot_name
sudo find /var/lib/cassandra/data -path */snapshots/snapshot_name/* -type f >> "/backup_path/backup_file_listing"
```
Make note of the snapshot name in case a restore is required.

Add the commit logs to the plain text file listing, backup_file_listing.

sudo find /var/lib/cassandra/commitlog -type f >> "/backup_path/backup_file_listing"

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

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

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.

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