Cloning cluster data from clusters managed by the same OpsCenter instance

Clone cluster data from one DSE cluster to another using the Restore Backup feature in OpsCenter. This workflow requires the source and target clusters to both be managed by the same OpsCenter instance.

1. Click cluster name > Services.
2. Click the Details link for the Backup Service.
3. In the Activity tab, click Restore Backup.

   The Restore from Backup dialog appears.

   
4. In the Backups tab, select the backup that contains the data you want to clone and click Next.
   Note: On Server backups are not eligible for cloning.
   The Restore from Backup: Step 2 of 2 dialog appears.
5. In Keyspaces and Graphs, select the tables or graphs you want to restore.
   • Click All Keyspaces or All Graphs to restore all keyspaces or all graphs.
   • Click the keyspace name or graph name to include all tables or all graphs in the keyspace.
   • To select specific tables or graphs, expand the keyspace name or graph name and select the specific tables or graphs to back up.
   Note: For DSE 6.0.0-6.0.4, when restoring a DSE Graph backup without selecting Use sstableloader, DSE must be restarted to ensure all data is available.
6. Under Location, select the target cluster for the restored data. Select a different cluster than the one that was backed up to clone the data to the cluster.
   The Location list is only available when there are multiple clusters and both clusters are managed by the same instance of OpsCenter.
7. When cloning data, it is not necessary to select the Truncate/delete existing data before restore option because it is a not operational for a cloning workflow. The truncate option purges data on a target before a restore runs. When using the restore feature to clone, the truncate option does not do anything because there is no data to purge before the restore runs.
8. To prevent overloading the network, set a maximum transfer rate for the restore using the Throttle DSE stream throughput at ____ MB option.
   Note: To enter a value for this option, you must select Use sstableloader. Otherwise, the transfer rate value is ignored.
9. Optional: To bulk load external data into a cluster, select Use sstableloader.
   Important: OpsCenter 6.7.5 and earlier cannot execute a restore that bypasses sstableloader for DataStax Enterprise (DSE) 6.7.6 and later, DSE 6.0.11 and later, and DSE 5.1.17 and later. This issue is caused by an OpsCenter check that cannot validate the SSTable format change in DSE 6.7.6. To restore data on a cluster from a DSE backup with the new SSTable format, select Use sstableloader when restoring data or upgrade to OpsCenter 6.7.6 or later. (OPSC-16237)

   Note: Using sstableloader restores data to a cluster regardless of its original topology, at the expense of speed and performance. Restoring to a cluster that uses tiered storage requires using sstableloader. See sstableloader for details.

   When restoring from a backup, OpsCenter might report that the restore was successful, even if it failed. This behavior can occur when copying SSTables into the new data directories and running nodetool refresh afterward. To determine whether the restore failed, search the DataStax Agent logs for a string indicating "Error copying sstables to data dir:". This issue is present only in OpsCenter 6.7.0.

10. Optional: If necessary, change the staging directory by setting the backup_staging_directory configuration option in address.yaml.
11. Click Restore Backup.

    The Confirm Restore dialog appears.

    

    Warning: If a value was not set for throttling stream output, a warning message indicates the consequences of unthrottled restores. Take one of the following actions:

    • Click Cancel and set the throttle value in the Restore from Backup dialog.
    • Set the stream_throughput_outbound_megabits_per_sec and inter_dc_stream_throughput_outbound_megabits_per_sec values in cassandra.yaml.
    • Proceed anyway at the risk of creating network bottlenecks.

    Tip: If using LCM to manage DSE cluster configuration, update Cluster Communication settings in cassandra.yaml in the configuration profile for the cluster and run a configuration job. Stream throughput (not inter-dc) is set to 200 in LCM defaults.

    

12. Click Start Restore to confirm the restore.

    If the pre-restore checks detected schema differences that could not automatically be validated, the Restore Schema Validation dialog appears. Possible issues are listed and a comparison of the backup and current schema are presented side-by-side.

    

13. Review the information to determine if adjustments or corrections to the current schema are required :
    • To correct schema issues, click Cancel, rectify the issues, and try the restore again.
    • To proceed despite the schema mismatch, click Continue Restore.
      Warning: Attempting to restore a backup with an incompatible schema might result in corrupt or inaccessible data. Before forcing the restore, back up your current data.

Results

The details and progress of the restore operation are displayed in a progress dialog, and also appear in the Backup Activity of the target cluster. If you close the progress dialog, track the progress and status of the restore in the target cluster's Backup Activity section.

The progress and details of the restore operation are displayed in the Restore Report.