Working with Snapshots

In this section:

Common Tasks in Snapshot Manager
Working with Templates
Working with Demos

PMF includes a snapshot and restore feature. Taking a Snapshot serializes the entire content of the PMF data mart to a set of files in a folder located on your server file system. These files can then be restored to another data mart on any platform or RDBMS that PMF supports.

A Snapshot or Template captures an entire PMF Data Mart. This includes all Scorecards and their components, all pooled Metrics, all Content links, any saved content references (including Analysis Designer views), Gadgets, and any Dashboards you have designed.

You can use Snapshots to:

Make a copy of your PMF data mart for use in another installed copy of PMF.
Transfer the PMF data mart from the source RDBMS to the target when moving your RDBMS system from one to another.
Preserve temporary or permanent work while you work on something else.

Snapshot Manager lets you more easily work with Snapshots, and automates many functions that used to require manual work. You no longer have to manually copy and move Snapshots from one location to another by accessing the various server file systems. With Snapshot Manager, you can easily move a Snapshot from one PMF environment to another.

Note: If you are moving Snapshots from one environment to another, note the following:

Both the source environment and the target environments need to have a fully-working copy of PMF installed.
If the versions of PMF between environments do not match, newer copies of PMF can restore older Snapshots, but older ones cannot see newer-versioned Snapshots.

Common Tasks in Snapshot Manager

How to:

Take a Snapshot
Restore a Snapshot
Download a Snapshot
Upload a Snapshot

To access the Snapshot Manager, navigate to the Manage page, click the Data Mart subtab, and then click Manage Snapshots.

The Manage Snapshots panel opens, as shown in the following image.

From the Snapshot Manager, you can:

Take a Snapshot. Copies all content from the PMF Data Mart into a portable file, which can be restored on any PMF environment.
Restore a Snapshot. Replaces all content in the current PMF Data Mart with the exact state of the Snapshot when it was taken.
Merge in a Template. Lets you incorporate the exact state of a distributed Solution Template from Information Builders or another vendor into your existing PMF Data Mart.
Upload a Snapshot. Lets you move a Snapshot in compressed (ZIP) format stored in a file-accessible location to a new PMF environment.
Download a Snapshot. Lets you obtain a Snapshot file in compressed (ZIP) format from a PMF environment and copy it to a folder on a file-accessible machine, from which it can be uploaded in the future.
Merge a Snapshot. Lets you incorporate the exact state of a Snapshot into your existing PMF Data Mart, allowing you to add objects from multiple Snapshots together.

Procedure: How to Take a Snapshot

When you Take a Snapshot, all content from the PMF Data Mart is copied into a portable file, which can later be restored to any PMF environment (including the same one).

To take a snapshot:

From the Manage Snapshot pane, Click Take Snapshot.

The Take Snapshot dialog box opens.
Enter a name for the Snapshot, or select the text box if you want to use and overwrite a previous Snapshot, as shown in the following image.
Tips:
- As you type, if a previous and similar name was used, the dialog box will display a list of matches, and you can click one of these matches if you want to replace it.
- Only alphanumeric characters are accepted, since this will become a folder and file name. Any spaces or special characters will be edited out.
Click Take. The Snapshot Manager creates the Snapshot. Once it is complete. it will appear in the list on the User Snapshots tab.

Procedure: How to Restore a Snapshot

When you restore a Snapshot, all content in the current PMF Data Mart is replaced with the exact state of the Snapshot you select, at the time it was taken. Restoring Snapshots lets you preserve the exact state of PMF, including all models, data, and content. Snapshots are good for:

PMF Data Mart backups.
Situations where you want to experiment or create new models and want to be able to preserve them.
Moving a PMF Data Mart to a new PMF environment.

The Restore button is available on the following tabs: Your Snapshots and Demo and Utility Snapshots.

To restore a snapshot:

From the Manage Snapshot pane, click the Restore button next to the snapshot you want to restore, as shown in the following image.

The Restore Snapshot dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.
Click Restore. Snapshot Manager will restore the Snapshot and notify you when the process is complete.

Note: Depending on the size of the metrics warehouse in the Snapshot, a restore can take some time.
Refresh the browser once the process is complete.

Procedure: How to Download a Snapshot

You can download a Snapshot to your browser Downloads folder. This lets you upload it to another compatible PMF environment, where it can be restored at will.

To download a Snapshot:

From the Manage Snapshot pane, click the Download button next to the Snapshot in the Your Snapshots tab that you want to download, as shown in the following image.

Snapshot Manager compresses the Snapshot to a single ZIP file, and downloads it to your browser Downloads folder.

You can upload the Snapshot to another PMF environment, either now or at a future time.

Note: If you periodically clean up your browser Downloads folder, and accidentally delete the Snapshot ZIP file, return to the PMF environment with the Snapshot you want, and download it again.

Procedure: How to Upload a Snapshot

You can upload a Snapshot from your browser Downloads folder to any compatible PMF environment. Any uploaded Snapshots are stored in the PMF environment, and can be restored at any future time.

To upload a Snapshot:

From the Manage Snapshot pane, click the Upload a Snapshot button.

The Upload Snapshot dialog box opens, as shown in the following image.
Click Choose File to select the file to be uploaded.

Your browser Downloads folder opens.
Click the compressed (ZIP) PMF Snapshot you want to upload and click Open.

Note: The dialog box varies depending on your local operating system.
The file name is shown in the Upload Snapshot dialog box. Click Upload.

Snapshot Manager uploads the file to the PMF environment. The Snapshot then appears in the Users Snapshots tab, where you can restore it at will. For more information on restoring Snapshots, see How to Restore a Snapshot.

Working with Templates

How to:

Merge In a Template

PMF ships with a set of predefined Templates that represent complete PMF Data Marts for various vertical and horizontal business cases, which you can merge in to your PMF environment. You can merge in these Templates at any time.

Note:

When you merge in a Template, you will incorporate its exact state into the currently-configured PMF Data Mart. If you want to preserve anything in your PMF environment, make sure to take a Snapshot so it can be restored again.
The list of available Templates can increase from release to release, so your list might have more items than is shown in these examples.

Procedure: How to Merge In a Template

To merge in a Template:

From the Manage Snapshots pane, click the Templates tab.

A list of available Templates is displayed, as shown in the following image.
Find the Template you want to restore and click the Merge In button next to it.

The Merge In dialog box opens.
Click Yes, merge it. Snapshot Manager will merge in the Template and notify you when the process is complete.

Note: Depending on the size of the metrics warehouse in the Template, a merge can take some time.
Refresh the browser once the process is complete.