BACKUP and RESTORE TOOL in BPC 7.5NW

Business Scenario

Typically in a project, we might have a situation where our Production Application Set needs a change in structure, modification. If all the landscapes namely DEV, QA and PROD are in sync, then we can follow the standard transport methodology using T-Code UJBPCTR but if the landscapes are not in sync, then it becomes tough to test whatever change we are supposed to make in PROD. For this need, the Backup and Restore functionality of BPC can be used.

Backup and Restore tends to solve many purposes. Here are a few of them,

1. To test a change that we make to the PROD Application Set before we actually manually make it in the PROD landscape.
2. To bring the Application-Set in all the landscapes in sync.
3. It can be used as a disaster recovery solution to restore the Application Set within the same landscape.
4. This can be used to create test Application sets with or without transactional/master data for any demo, proof of concept or any sandbox activities.

Introduction

The Transaction Code used for Backup and Restore functionality is UJBR.

There would be primarily three sections namely:

1. Execution – this section determines our purpose whether we intend to do a backup or a restore process.
2. Execute in… – The options here are “Background” and “Foreground”. Typically “Foreground” is selected as this gives us an option to back-up the Application Set as a zip file on the local drive. If we run the backup job in the “Background”, then we have to specify a local ABAP Server path and not the local drive path.
3. Parameters & Procedures – The primary options here are to select the Application Set we require to backup or restore and then specify the name of directory where we need to save the backup (this may refer to a local drive). Then there are other options to mention whether we want to backup the Application Set with or without Transaction Data.

The below screenshot is the default screen when we enter UJBR T-Code. An alternative method to access the Backup and Restore functionality is by using the program UJT_BACKUP_RESTORE_UI. The transaction code where we execute this program is SE38.

HOW TO PROCEDURE:

STEP1:

BACK-UP:

Prior to backing up an Application Set, it is a good practice to Process all the Dimensions and Light Optimize all the Applications present within the Source Application Set which we intend to backup. This would ensure to prevent any data inconsistency issues, close all the open requests present and compress the applications.

Once the processing of dimensions and optimization of Applications is done, we should login the source landscape in BW and enter the T-Code UJBR.

The options to be selected are:

-Execute Backup

-Foreground

-Appset Id: Enter the Id of Source Application Set. In this case the Id is “TEST”

-Download Directory Name: Since “Foreground” option was selected, we will now have the flexibility to back-up the Application Set “TEST” as a zip file on the local folder. In this case, a path to the desktop was selected.

-Backup Metadata tables, Backup Master Data, Backup Transaction Data: These options depend on the requirement; in this case we are backing up only with Master Data and Metadata Tables. If Transaction Data option too needs to be sent to the Target Application Set, then Record Count has to be mentioned to prevent memory issues. If the Record Count = 0, then all the data will be backed up.

Then click the executebutton to initialize the Backup process.

Once the Backup process is complete, the following success message would appear.

This completes the Backup process.

STEP2:

RESTORE:

The options to be selected for Restore process are:

-Execute Restore

-Foreground

-Appset Id: Enter the Id of Target Application Set. In this case the Target Application Set Id is same as source which is “TEST”. It has to be noted that there should be no pre-existing Application Set with the same Id in the landscape we are trying to restore.

-Download Directory Name: Select the path of the local folder where we backed up the Source Application Set.

-Restore Metadata tables, Restore Master Data, Restore Transaction Data: These options depend on what we have selected while backing up the Source Application Set.

Apart from the options that we see when we backup the Application Set, there is an additional option “Use Tech Names from Backup Files”. If this option is checked, then the restored Application Set would have the same technical names as Source Application Set else the technical names of all the Dimensions, Tables and Applications would be different. Checking this option plays a vital role, if the intention of the user is to bring the systems across different landscapes in Sync.

Then click the executebutton to initialize the Restore process.

Once the Restore process is complete, the following success message would appear.

Once this is complete, we need to login into the restored Application Set via Admin Client. The steps to be performed then are:

• Set Application Set status to “Available”.
• Process All Dimensions.
• Light Optimize All Applications within the Application Set.

This completes the Restore process.

COMMON ISSUES/IMPORTANT NOTES WHILE USING THIS FUNCTIONALITY:

1) If the Service Pack on which this functionality is being used is SP5 or less than that, then it is almost certain we would have memory issues while backing up and restoring the Application Set. A workaround for this would be to delete the unnecessary log files. The steps to delete these log files are:

• Goto T-Code UJFS.
• Goto root->webfolders->TEST(Application Set ID)->(Application Name)->privatepublications->(domain name)->(user name)->temp files and then delete all the files underneath that. This should be done for all the applications to minimize the memory while backing up the Application Set. All the files being deleted are just log files and would not impact the functionality of the Application Set in any way.

2) If the option “Use Tech Names from Backup Files” is not checked while restoring the Application Set, then the Application Set would be created with different technical Names. Then the standard transport functionality cannot be implemented as BW treats the restored Application Set differently from the Source Application Set present in other landscape.