Prepare for Service Manager disaster recovery

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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 that you must take for Service Manager disaster recovery before problems occur. The steps that you take to recover from a disaster are based on the completion of the steps that are outlined here. In general, preparing your Service Manager environment for disaster recovery involves the following:

  1. Deploying Service Manager with management servers and databases on separate computers
  2. Backing up the encryption keys on the Service Manager and data warehouse management servers
  3. Backing up the SQL databases
  4. Backing up your unsealed management packs

Deployment strategy for disaster recovery

As a best practice, deploy your management servers and associated databases for Service Manager on separate computers. Isolating the management servers and databases provides for a successful disaster recovery operation in the event of potential software and equipment failures.

You must have a functioning database to restore a failed management server. Recovery of a management server is impossible if the management server and the associated database are on the same physical computer and that computer fails. For more information, see Installing Service Manager on Four Computers.

Back up Service Manager management servers

When you deploy Service Manager, an encryption key is created and stored in the registry on the management servers. A matching encryption key is created in the associated databases. The encryption keys for the Service Manager and data warehouse management servers are stored in the Service Manager database. The matching encryption key for the data warehouse management server is stored in the DWStagingAndConfig database. By backing up the SQL Server databases, you back up the encryption key.

In addition, the computer name of the management server and Self-Service Portal is stored in the associated databases. Regardless of whether you encounter a software or hardware failure of a management server or Self-Service Portal, your recovery process is based on restoring a computer that has the same computer name as the computer that failed.

The steps for recovering from a management server failure are as follows:

  1. Restore the encryption keys before you run Setup, and install the new management servers.
  2. Install the new management server on a computer that has the same name as the original computer.
  3. When you install the management server, select Use an existing database, and then specify the name of the computer that hosts the associated database.

For more information about these steps, see Implement Service Manager disaster recovery.

Back up the Service Manager encryption key

Your disaster recovery strategy for Service Manager depends on backing up the encryption keys as soon as you complete the Service Manager installation. After you back up the encryption keys and store them in a safe location, you can recover from software or hardware failures on the Service Manager and data warehouse management servers.

You use the Encryption Key Backup or Restore Wizard to back up encryption keys on the management servers and Self-Service Portal. This wizard is located on the Service Manager installation media in the Tools\SecureStorageBackup folder.

Back up the encryption key

  1. Sign in to the computer that hosts the Service Manager management server of data warehouse management server by using an account that is a member of the Administrators group.

  2. In Windows Explorer, open the Tools\SecureStorageBackup folder on the installation media.

  3. Right-click SecureStorageBackup.exe and select Run as administrator to start the Encryption Key Backup or Restore Wizard.

  4. On the Introduction page, select Next.

  5. On the Backup or Restore? page, select Backup the Encryption Key, and select Next.

  6. 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 MyServer server in the Backup shared folder, enter \\MyServer\Backup\SMBackupkey.bin, and select Next.

  7. On the Provide a Password page, in the Password box, enter a password that contains at least eight characters. In the Confirm Password box, reenter the same password, and select Next.

    Important

    Recovery of the password is not possible if the password is lost or forgotten.

  8. After you see the message Secure Storage Backup Complete, select Finish.

Back up System Center - Service Manager databases

There are up to eight databases in a System Center - Service Manager environment:

  • ServiceManager
  • DWDataMart
  • DWRepository
  • DWStagingAndConfig
  • ReportServer
  • Analyst
  • OMDWDataMart
  • CMDWDataMart

The first four databases in this list need to connect and exchange data with the Service Manager and data warehouse management servers. Data is encrypted during these exchanges. On the management servers, the encryption keys are backed up and restored as necessary, as explained in this article. For the servers that host databases, the encryption keys are stored in the databases themselves.

If a computer that hosts a database fails, all you need for recovery is the ability to restore the databases, which include the encryption keys, to a computer with the same name as the original computer. Your disaster recovery strategy for the Service Manager databases should be based on procedures for general SQL Server disaster recovery. For more information, see Planning for Disaster Recovery.

As part of your disaster recovery preparation, you run a script to capture the Security log to preserve user role information for each database. After you deploy Service Manager and, if necessary, run the Data Warehouse Registration Wizard, you use the SQL Server Script Wizard to create a script that captures SQL Server logon permissions and object-level permissions. Then, if you need to restore a new server for the Service Manager databases, you can use this script to recreate the necessary logon permissions and object-level permissions.

Enable common language runtime on SQL Server

During installation of the Service Manager database, Service Manager Setup enables common language runtime (CLR) on the computer that is running SQL Server. If you restore a Service Manager database to another computer running SQL Server, you must enable CLR manually. For more information, see Enabling CLR Integration.

Start the SQL Server Script wizard

You can use the following procedure as part of your disaster recovery preparation steps for Service Manager to generate a script to capture SQL Server logon permissions and object-level permissions. You perform this procedure on the computer that hosts SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) and on the computers that host the following Service Manager and data warehouse databases:

  • DWDataMart
  • DWRepository
  • DWStagingAndConfig
  • ServiceManager
  • ReportServer

To start the SQL Server Script wizard

  1. Using an account with Administrator privileges, sign in to the computer that hosts the Service Manager or data warehouse database.
  2. On the Windows desktop, select Start, point to Programs, point to the Microsoft SQL Server version installed on your computer, and select SQL Server Management Studio.
  3. In the Connect to Server dialog, do the following:
    1. In the Server Type list, select Database Engine.
    2. In the Server Name list, select the server and the instance for your Service Manager database. For example, select computer\INSTANCE1.
    3. In the Authentication list, select Windows Authentication, and select Connect.
  4. In the Object Explorer pane, expand Databases.
  5. Right-click the database name, point to Tasks, and select Generate Scripts. For this example, right-click ServiceManager, point to Tasks, and select Generate Scripts.
  6. In the Generate and Publish Scripts Wizard, do the following:
    1. On the Introduction page, select Next.
    2. On the Choose Objects page, select Select specific database objects, and select Select All.
    3. In the database objects list, expand Tables.
    4. Clear the checkbox for the following tables:
      • dbo.STG_Collation
      • dbo.STG_Locale
      • dbo.STG_MTD_ConverisonLog
    5. Scroll up to the top of the list, and then collapse Tables.
    6. Expand Stored Procedures.
    7. Clear the checkbox for the following stored procedures:
      • dbo.STG_DTS_ConvertToUnicode
      • dbo.STG_DTS_CreateClonedTable
      • dbo.STG_DTS_InsertSQL
      • dbo.STG_DTS_ValidateConversion
    8. Select Next.
    9. On the Set Scripting Options page, select Save scripts, select Save to file, select Single file, specify a file location in File name, and select Next.
    10. On the Summary page, select Next.
    11. When the script is complete, on the Save or Publish Scripts page, select Finish.
  7. If you need to restore a database, use this script to set permissions.

Back up unsealed management packs

Part of the disaster recovery plan for your Service Manager management server involves backing up your unsealed management packs. The following procedure describes how to back up your unsealed management packs.

Back up unsealed management packs

You can use the Windows PowerShell command-line interface to identify and copy your unsealed management packs to a folder on your hard disk drive. After you copy them, save these management packs so that as part of your disaster recovery plan for Service Manager you can later import these management packs.

To back up unsealed management packs

  1. On the computer that hosts the Service Manager management server, create a folder on the hard disk drive where you'll store the backup copy of the management packs. For example, create the folder C:\mpbackup.

  2. On the Windows desktop, select Start, point to Programs, point to Windows PowerShell 1.0, right-click Windows PowerShell, and select Run as administrator.

  3. In the Service Manager console, select Administration.

  4. In the Tasks pane, select Start PowerShell Session

  5. At the Windows PowerShell command prompt, enter the following command:

    Get-SCSMManagementPack | where {$_.Sealed -eq $false}|Export-SCSMManagementPack -Path c:\mpbackup

  6. Save the unsealed management packs on a separate physical computer.

Next steps

Implement Service Manager disaster recovery.