Backing up important files for Groove Server Relay
Applies to: Groove Server 2010
Topic Last Modified: 2010-02-16
Immediately after you install and before reinstalling or upgrading Groove Server Relay, you should back up critical key files, registry settings, and database directories, and save them to a secure location. In addition, you should consider backing up these settings, files, and directories periodically, such as when you rename or regenerate key files. If you neglect to back up these items and then uninstall or reinstall Groove Server Relay, or if the Relay server disk drive fails, you risk permanently losing Relay server identity information. Groove Server Relay is installed to automatically back up Relay server registry and critical files locally. Use the following procedures to back up important Relay files to a safe location on a protected network or secure media, where settings may have changed since initial server installation. You can back up these files at any time, even while the Groove Relay service is running.
These procedures require that Groove Server Relay is installed as described in Install and configure Groove Server 2010 Relay.
In this article:
Backing up Relay key files
Backing up Relay registry settings
Backing up Relay database files
Backing up Relay key files
The following procedure explains how to back up Relay key files, located in the Groove Relay installation directory.
To back up Relay key files (including the private key, certificate, and identification files) and registry settings
Find the Relay Backup directory in the Groove Server Relay installation. The Relay Backup directory is created automatically during Relay server installation and is located by default in the Relay server Data directory.
Note
The Groove Server Relay installation directory is specified in the "InstallDir" value under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\14.0\Groove\Groove Relay\Parameters registry key.
Copy the latest Relay Backup directory to protected media or a protected location on your network.
The following key files in the Groove Server Relay installation directory are backed up:
<relay name>Backup.reg – Export of the registry hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\14.0\Groove\Groove Relay
privkey.dat - Cannot be recreated; cannot be accessed if the server passphrase is lost or forgotten.
ServerCertificate.cer
ServerCertificate.xml - Cannot be recreated; cannot be accessed if the server passphrase is lost or forgotten.
Serverid.xml - Can be recreated via the Groove Server Relay Configuration Control Panel item.
ServerSOAPCertificate.cer
ServerSOAPKeyStore.xml - Cannot be recreated; cannot be accessed if the server passphrase is lost or forgotten.
Backing up Relay registry settings
You can back up Groove Server Relay registry settings, including Relay and Manager server credentials, by using the Windows regedit tool.
To back up Relay registry settings
Enter regedit from the Start menu to back up the Relay registry settings and all values under the following keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\14.0\Groove\GrooveRelay
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\Groove\GrooveRelay\Parameters\ManagementServers
Backing up Relay database files
Groove Server Relay data directories are created during initial Groove Server Relay startup to hold database environment, parameters, and log files. The Groove Relay provides the FFQBackup utility (FFQBackup.exe) to perform selective online backups of client data.
Several common backup products lock files while backing them up, and these products can interfere with the correct operation of the Relay server, possibly causing it to crash. The use of backup products to back up database/log or store files is not supported. For more information about the Relay server database and FFQs (Flat File Queues), see Managing Groove Server Relay databases.
The FFQBackup utility runs on demand to examine all the queue store files (extents) on the Relay server, and then copying new or changed extents to a mirror path and deleting extents from the mirror path that are no longer on the Relay server. FFQBackup copies (or mirrors) the queue store data to a separate disk path, typically one that is frequently accessed via a network share. In this manner, as client data is written to the store it is available to be copied to the mirror path. As the selected SharePoint Workspace client data is deleted from the store, it is deleted from the mirror path.
SharePoint Workspace can re-fetch most user content if it is lost; such content is known as device-targeted and includes updates to Groove workspaces. However, some data cannot be re-fetched by the client; such data is usually identity-targeted and includes Groove instant messages and invitations. Optional switches can configure FFQBackup to limit mirroring to specific types of client data - identity-targeted data, for example. Reducing the amount of data that must be copied helps control backup bandwidth usage and lets you run FFQBackup more frequently (every few hours, for example).
You can run the FFQBackup command from a command line or schedule FFQBackup via the Windows task scheduler. The examples in the following table show how you can use FFQBackup from a Windows command line to configure typical client backup processes:
| FFQBackup task | FFQBackup command (from Groove Server Relay installation directory) |
|---|---|
View valid FFQBackup options |
FFQBackup.exe -? |
Back up client data |
FFQBackup, followed by the appropriate arguments as shown in subsequent examples. |
Back up all client content to the default mirror path \\StandIn\Relay |
FFQBackup -s d:\Data\FFQ -m \\StandIn\Relay where -s is the path of the source FFQ files -m is the path of the mirrored destination |
Back up only identity-targeted client content to the mirror path \\StandIn\Relay |
FFQBackup -s d:\Data\FFQ –m \\StandIn\Relay -r "grooveIdentityMessage://*" where -s is the path of the source FFQ files -m is the path of the mirrored destination -r is a wildcard string for Resources to include |
Back up only device-targeted client content to the mirror path \\StandIn\Relay |
FFQBackup –s d:\Data\FFQ –m \\StandIn\Relay -r "grooveDeviceMessage://*" -s is the path of the source FFQ files -m is the path of the mirrored destination -r is a wildcard string for Resources to include |
Use the following procedure to back up Relay databases to a safe location.
To backup Relay databases
Stop the Groove Relay service. Make sure that the Groove Relay process has exited completely before continuing.
Export the identity-targeted messages using FFQBackup (as described in in the preceding table).
From a command line, enter the following (modified for your context):
mkdir \im-backup-2006-03-28
d:
cd\relay
FFQbackup -m c:\im-backup-2006-03-28 -s Data\FFQ -r "grooveIdentityMessage:/ /*"