Restoring backups

Restoring a Meridian Enterprise vault from backup consists of the following tasks that must be performed in the order listed:

1. Restore files to disk that were backed up with your normal backup software.
2. Reindex the vault using the sorting order of the current operating system as described in Changing operating system versions. This task is only necessary if the operating system of the server where the vault will be restored is different from the server where the vault was backed up.
3. Restore the vault from the restored files using the following instructions.The Restart After Restore from Backup Wizard in Meridian Enterprise Administrator does this without stopping the Meridian services. Regardless, restoring a vault should not be performed during production hours except in emergencies.

To restore a vault to a different location, see the topics listed at the end of this topic.

Before you begin

Warning    Restoring a vault will completely overwrite the vault’s existing database. Be very certain that no valuable data will be lost before proceeding.

To restore a vault from a backup:

1. Ensure that no users will access the vault while it is being restored. If the BlueCielo File System (AMFS) is enabled, ensure that no vault files are open by users. Although the vault is closed after a period of idle time, users may not be able to save vault documents to the restored vault.

   Tip    The easiest way to prevent vault access is to temporarily disconnect the server from the network.

2. Restore the Backup folder using your normal backup software’s restore features. If no streams files yet exist, also restore the entire streams folder structure. Under most circumstances, you should restore the files to their original locations and overwrite all existing files. For this reason, all vault backups should be verified as complete and accurate before they are restored for production use. This step completes the restoration of stream files. The remaining steps in this task describe how to restore the vault database.
3. In Meridian Enterprise Administrator, click EDM Server in the left pane. The active vaults are listed in the right pane.
4. From the Action menu, point to All Tasks and select Restart After Restore From Backup Wizard. The Restart After Restore From Backup Wizard appears.
5. Click Next. The Locate Backup Information File page appears.
6. Click Browse and select the DataStore.ini file restored in step 1. By default, the file is located in the folder C:\BC-Meridian Vaults\Backup. The backup information about the vault is shown in Information about this backup.

Note    This file will cause the vault to be restored to its original location. To restore a vault to a different location, see Moving a Hypertrieve vault.

7. Click Next. The Completing the Restart After Restore From Backup Wizard page appears.
8. Confirm the backup information is correct and click Finish. The time required to restore a vault depends on the size of the vault and the database engine used. A message will appear when restoration is complete.

Note

• If any documents were added to the vault after the Prepare for Backup wizard was run and its files backed up, they will be missing from the vault restored by the Restart After Restore wizard.  However, their streams (content files) may still exist in the vault folder structure. The Stream Recovery Wizard may be run to reuse the files.
• If the source vault had content indexing enabled and is being restored on a different server, the content index update scheduled task may need to be re-created as described in Restoring a vault that has been indexed.
• If the EDM Server service fails for reasons such as insufficient memory or disk space and automatic restoration of the vault database also fails, no subsequent operations on the vault will be possible until the problem is resolved. Preserve all disk files, disable the vault as described in Disabling a vault, and contact BlueCielo Technical Support.