Backup and Migration

Performing backups and migrations is a common task for a system administrator. A backup is carried out using the tools on the Backup & Restore page of the FME Server web interface. A migration is achieved by performing a backup then restoring the backup on a different system.

Make sure to manually back up the FME Server configuration files to a location outside of your FME Server installation directory in case you need to refer to them later. These configurations are not included in the primary backup procedure.

Which FME Server Configuration Components in a Backup?

The following components of your FME Server are recorded in a backup and can be migrated to a new FME Server installation:

• Repositories and the items stored in them, including workspaces, custom transformers, custom formats, templates, and resources. Any designations by users of a repository item as a ‘favorite’ are also migrated.
• Version Control information is NOT migrated. Only the active workspace is backed up.
  • If a remote Git repository is configured, perform a Push before dropping the FME Server system, to capture version control information.
• FME Server Services.
• Notifications components, including Topics, Subscriptions, and Publications.
• FME Server Apps.
• Automations.
• Security configuration, including Users, Roles, tokens, and Active Directory.
• System Events.
• Schedules.
• Job Queues.
• Resources, which include the following:
  • Resources whose definitions and files are both stored within FME Server, and are configured for migration. By default, the DATA, ENGINE, and DASHBOARD Resources are configured for migration. To determine if default resource folders are migrated, open the FME Server configuration file located at C:\Program Files\FMEServer\Server\fmeServerConfig.txt. Resources with a SHAREDRESOURCE_ISMIGRATABLE_* value of TRUE are migrated.
  • Online resources whose definitions are stored within FME Server, but whose files are stored outside FME Server. In the current version of FME Server, these resources are limited to any Amazon Web Service (AWS) S3 bucket connections and Network-based resources – for example, directories accessed via UNC. Only connection definitions are migrated (such as bucket names and authentication parameters). The files contained within these resources are not stored on FME Server.
• Database Connections and Web Connections.

The following components of your FME Server are NOT migrated:

• Job Logs: Job logs cannot be migrated and must be manually backed up. The default location is C:\ProgramData\Safe Software\FME Server\resources\logs.
• Job ID: As with Job Logs, Job ID is not migrated between FME Server instances. Job ID will start again from 0 on a new install.
• Version Control: If the FME Server you are backing up has Version Control enabled the versioning information will not be migrated. If Versioning is important ensure to keep this information in a Remote Repository like GitHub.
• Configuration Files: Any changes to FME Server that are made through configuration files, like HTTPS/SSL, will not be migrated.

Performing a Scheduled Backup of an FME Server Configuration

FME Server provides a workspace that you can configure to perform regular (scheduled) backups of your Server configuration to an FME Server configuration (.fsconfig) file.