How to replicate a Spotfire Server environment

Keywords: clone, duplicate, replicate, copy, Spotfire Server, mirror, duplication, replication

This article provides instructions on how to perform a full or partial Spotfire Server environment replication. Please note that this article does not cover any network infrastructure configuration steps, for example, DNS names, network firewall rules, etc., which might be required for making the new Spotfire Server cluster fully functional.

Full Spotfire Server environment replication:

Note, this is not a straight-forward task, because Spotfire Server database contains a number of references to servers and nodes used (hostnames, connection settings, etc.), which will result in a cross-communication between environments, if this replication procedure is not performed correctly.

These are the steps to replicate a Spotfire Server environment with its entire document library:

1. Make a backup of the Spotfire Server database schema and restore it in a new location.
2. Install Spotfire Server of the exact same release and service pack as the one that was used in the source Spotfire environment on a machine in the new location. Do not start Spotfire Server service on this new server.
3. Using Spotfire Server Configuration Tool in the new environment, create a new bootstrap to the restored database schema. Remember to use the same encryption password, if this password is used in the source environment.
4. Schedule a period of downtime when the source environment will not be used. Continue with the next step at the beginning of this period.
5. Create snapshots of all Spotfire Server and Node Manager machines in the source environment. Create and archive a backup of the source (active) Spotfire Server database (or make a snapshot of the database server machine).
6. Important: Stop all Spotfire Server and Node Manager services in the source environment and leave them off until the end of this process (step 13).
7. Start Spotfire Server service in the new environment.
8. In the new environment, use the config commands 'list-nodes' and 'delete-node' to remove all nodes that belong to the source environment. Leave only the new Spotfire Server node registered in the above step 3 (bootstrap creation). Before proceeding, confirm that the 'list-nodes' command returns only the new Spotfire Server node.
9. In the Spotfire Server Configuration Tool In the new environment, do all the other post-installation tasks as needed (copy JDBC and ODBC database drivers, add Spotfire extensions, configure Kerberos authentication, copy TLS certificates, add customizations to the server.xml, set Spotfire Server public address, update Action Log configuration, etc.). Make sure to update the Spotfire Server public address, Join Database, and User Action Log values, if these are not set to their default values.
10. Restart Spotfire Server service in the new environment and monitor catalina.log and server.log files at startup (if there are any errors, setting server log configuration to debug mode helps in troubleshoot them).
11. If there aren't any issues reported in the Server logs, try to login as Spotfire admin user using the  Spotfire Server web browser admin console.
12. Continue to build the rest of the new environment, as desired, with other Spotfire Servers, Node Managers, etc.
13. Turn on all Spotfire Server and Node Manager services in the source environment, and confirm that the system is not impacted.

Replication of a Spotfire environment is not covered in formal Spotfire release documentation, implying that this activity is not supported by Spotfire Support to the degree of standard, documented processes. It should be recognized that customers using this article are taking on some amount of risk. Please use caution, carefully review all the steps above and test the outcomes of every step along the way.

Documentation reference: Server Installation and Configuration

Partial Spotfire environment replication (by copying only users, groups and library content):

If you only want to replicate a Spotfire library, not the whole Spotfire environment, then the only supported path is to use user, group and library export and import procedures. These commands are discussed in Spotfire Server documentation:

Exporting Users and Groups:

https://docs.tibco.com/pub/sfire-analyst/14.0.5/doc/html/en-US/TIB_sfire-analyst_AdminGuide/index.htm#t=dxpadminmanager%2Fexp_the_export_tab.htm

Importing Users and Groups:

https://docs.tibco.com/pub/sfire-analyst/14.0.5/doc/html/en-US/TIB_sfire-analyst_AdminGuide/index.htm#t=dxpadminmanager%2Fimp_the_import_tab.htm

Exporting from Library: https://docs.tibco.com/pub/sfire-analyst/14.0.5/doc/html/en-US/TIB_sfire-analyst_UsersGuide/index.htm#t=lib%2Flib_exporting_from_library.htm&rhsearch=import&rhsyns=%20

Exporting Library content using command line:

https://docs.tibco.com/pub/spotfire_server/14.0.6/doc/html/TIB_sfire_server_tsas_admin_help/server/topics/exporting_library_content_by_using_the_command_line.html

Importing to Library: https://docs.tibco.com/pub/sfire-analyst/14.0.5/doc/html/en-US/TIB_sfire-analyst_UsersGuide/index.htm#t=lib%2Flib_importing_to_library.htm

Importing Library content using command line:

https://docs.tibco.com/pub/spotfire_server/14.0.6/doc/html/TIB_sfire_server_tsas_admin_help/server/topics/importing_library_content_by_using_the_command_line.html

It is very important to start with the user and group export and import first, making sure to include GUIDs, so that later, during document import, document and folder permissions and ownership will be correctly mapped to imported users and groups.