Implement Service Manager disaster recovery

Article
01/22/2024

Important

This version of Service Manager has reached the end of support. We recommend you to upgrade to Service Manager 2022.

This article describes the steps needed to recover from potential software and equipment failures in your System Center - Service Manager environment. It includes information about how to recover Service Manager databases, management servers, and unsealed management packs.

Restore a database

To restore a database (which includes the encryption keys) for Service Manager, you rebuild a new computer using the same computer names and instance names as the original. Your disaster recovery strategy for the Service Manager databases should be based on general procedures for SQL Server disaster recovery. For more information, see Planning for Disaster Recovery. Remember that if you restore a database, you must give the new computer the same name as the original computer and use the same instance name as the original instance.

In addition, you must use the script that you created in the Backing Up Unsealed Management Packs in Service Manager article in this guide. You use this script to restore permissions for the recreated database.

Warning

Long-term historical data is stored in the Service Manager data warehouse and the current snapshot of the system is stored in the Service Manager database. Recreating the Service Manager data warehouse databases should only be used as a measure of last resort. When possible, you should try to restore the Service Manager data warehouse databases from backups and avoid recreating those databases. If reinstalled, the newly created Service Manager data warehouse databases will be able to synchronize the current snapshot of the system from the Service Manager database-however, historical data will be lost.

Recover a management server

This section describes how to recover a Service Manager management server or a data warehouse management server. If you installed additional Service Manager management servers, you've the option of promoting an additional Service Manager management server. Regardless of whether you encounter software or hardware failures of the Service Manager management server, your recovery process is based on restoring a computer that has the same computer name.

For either management server, your first step must be to restore the encryption key before you start the management server setup.

Restore the Service Manager encryption key

You can use the following procedure to restore the encryption keys before you run Setup.exe to restore a part of Service Manager.

To restore the encryption key

Sign in to the computer that will host the Service Manager part that you're attempting to recover by using an account that is a member of the Administrators group. For example, sign in to the computer that will host the Service Manager or data warehouse management servers.
In Windows Explorer, open the Tools\SecureStorageBackup folder on the installation media.
Right-click SecureStorageBackup.exe and select Run as administrator to start the Encryption Key Backup or Restore Wizard.

Note

In this release, the wizard contains references to Operations Manager. This issue will be resolved in a future release.
On the Introduction page, select Next.
On the Backup or Restore? page, select Restore the Encryption Key, and select Next.
On the Provide a Location page, enter the path and file name for the encryption key. For example, if you want to specify the file name SMBackupkey.bin for the encryption key on the server MyServer in the Backup shared folder, enter \\MyServer\Backup\SMBackupkey.bin, and select Next.
On the Provide a Password page, enter the password that you used to back up the encryption key in the Password box. In the Confirm Password box, reenter the same password, and select Next.
After you receive the message Secure Storage Key Restore Complete, select Finish.

Restore the server

You can use the following procedure to reinstall a management server in Service Manager.

Note

You must restore the encryption key before starting this procedure.

To recover a Service Manager management server

Sign in to the computer that will host the new Service Manager management server using an account that has administrator rights.
On the Service Manager installation media, double-click the Setup.exe file.
On the Service Manager Setup Wizard page, select Service Manager management server.
On the Product registration page, enter the information in the text boxes. If applicable, select I have read, understood, and agree with the terms of the license agreement, and select Next.
On the Installation location page, verify that sufficient free disk space is available, and select Next. If necessary, select Browse to change the location in which you want to install the Service Manager management server.
On the System check results page, ensure that the prerequisite check passed or at least passed with warnings, and select Next.
On the Configure the Service Manager database page, do the following:
1. In Database server, enter the name of the computer that is hosting the Service Manager database, and then press the TAB key.
2. Select Use an existing database.
3. Select the Database list, select the database name for the Service Manager database (the default name is ServiceManager), and select Next.
On the Configure the Service Manager management group, wait until the Management group name and Management group administrators fields have been populated. Then select Next.
On the Configure the account for Service Manager services page, select Domain account; specify the user name, password, and domain for the account; and select Test Credentials. Ensure that you receive the following message: The credentials were accepted, and select Next.
On the Help improve System Center page, indicate your preference for participation in both the Customer Experience Improvement Program and Error Reporting. For more information, select Tell me more about the program, and select Next.
On the Installation summary page, select Install.
On the Setup completed successfully page, select Close.

Recover a data warehouse management server

You can use the following procedure to reinstall a data warehouse management server for Service Manager.

Note

You must restore the encryption key before starting this procedure.

To recover a data warehouse management server

Sign in to the computer that will host the new data warehouse management server using an account that has administrator rights.
On the Service Manager installation media, double-click the Setup.exe file.
On the Service Manager Setup Wizard page, select Service Manager data warehouse management server.
On the Product registration page, enter the information in the boxes. If applicable, select I have read, understood, and agree with the terms of the license agreement, and select Next.
On the Installation location page, verify that sufficient free disk space is available, and select Next. If necessary, select Browse to change the location in which you want to install the Service Manager data warehouse management server.
On the System check results page, ensure that the prerequisite check passed or at least passed with warnings, and select Next.
On the Configure the data warehouse database page, do the following:
1. In the Select a database to change its default properties area, select Staging and Configuration.
2. In Database server, enter the name of the computer that is hosting data warehouse databases, and then press the TAB key.
3. Select Use an existing database.
4. Select the Database list, select the database name for the Staging and Configuration database (the default name is DWStagingAndConfig), and select Next.
On the Configure the data warehouse management group page, wait until the Management group name and Management group administrators fields have been populated, and select Next.
On the Configure the reporting server for the data warehouse page, in the Report server text box, enter the computer name of the computer that hosts SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), and select Next.

Note

You must use the original URL for the Reporting Server.
On the Configure the account for Service Manager services page, select Domain account; specify the user name, password, and domain for the account; and select Test Credentials. Ensure that you receive the following message: The credentials were accepted, and select Next.
On the Configure the reporting account page, specify the user name, password, and domain for the account, and select Test Credentials. After you receive a The credentials were accepted message, select Next.
On the Help improve System Center page, indicate your preference for participation in both the Customer Experience Improvement Program and Error Reporting. For more information, select Tell me more about the program, and select Next.
On the Use Microsoft Update to help keep your computer secure and up-to-date page, indicate your preference for using Microsoft Update to check for Service Manager updates, and select Next.
On the Installation summary page, select Install.
On the Setup completed successfully page, select Close.

Promote a Service Manager management server

When you first ran Setup for Service Manager, you installed the initial Service Manager management server and you defined the management group for your installation. The initial management server handles all the workflows in your Service Manager environment. You can use additional Service Manager management servers to load-balance Service Manager console connections. Also, you can promote one of the additional Service Manager management servers to take over the role of a failed initial Service Manager management server. For more information, see Deploying Additional Service Manager Management Servers.

You can use the following procedures to promote a secondary Service Manager management server.

To prepare the secondary management server

On the secondary management server, close the Service Manager console.
On the Windows desktop, select Start, and select Run.
In the Run dialog, in the Open text field, enter services.msc, and select OK.
In the Services window, in the Services (Local) pane, locate the following three services, and for each one select Stop:
- System Center Data Access Service
- Microsoft Monitoring Agent
- System Center Management Configuration
Leave the Services window open.
Open Windows Explorer. Locate the folder \Program Files\Microsoft System Center <version>\Service Manager.
In this folder, delete the Health Service State folder and all of its contents.

To define the computer name for the Service Manager database

On the Service Manager database, on the Windows desktop, select Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft SQL Server, and select SQL Server Management Studio.
In the Connect to Database Engine dialog, do the following:
1. In Server name, enter the name of the server that hosts the Service Manager database.
2. In Authentication, select Windows Authentication.
3. Select Connect.
In the Object Explorer pane, expand Databases, and select ServiceManager.
On the toolbar, select New Query.
In the SQLQuery1.sql pane (the center pane), type the following, where <FQDN of your server> is the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the management server that you're promoting:
```
EXEC p_PromoteActiveWorkflowServer '<FQDN of your server>'  
```
On the toolbar, select Execute.
At the bottom of the SQLQuery1.sql pane (the center pane), confirm that the "Query executed successfully" message appears.
Exit Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.

To restart the services on the secondary management server

On the secondary management server, on the Windows desktop, select Start, and select Run.
In the Run dialog, in Open, enter services.msc, and select OK.
In the Services window, in the Services (Local) pane, locate the following three services, and for each one select Start.
- System Center Data Access Service
- Microsoft Monitoring Agent
- System Center Management Configuration

Your secondary management server is now the primary management server for the management group.

Import Service Manager unsealed management packs

After you've restored your Service Manager management server, the next step is to import unsealed management packs.

Import management packs

You can use this procedure to import the unsealed management packs that you saved earlier as part of your disaster recovery procedures for Service Manager.

To import management packs

In the Service Manager console, select Administration.
In the Administration pane, expand Administration, and select Management Packs.
In the Tasks pane, under Management Packs, select Import.
In the Select Management Packs to Import window, under Favorite Links, specify the location where you backed up your unsealed management packs, select the files, and select Open.
In the Import Management Pack window, select Import.