The Informix-Backup-IBM-COS project enables backing up Informix databases to IBM Cloud Object Storage leveraging S3 storage protocols. The utility is simple to use, and once configured, requires only knowledge of Informix backup and restore operations. The utility simply acts as a pipline to direct backup and restore streams to and from the cloud.
The Utility leverages the Backup and Restore (BAR) function with STDIO features of Informix and provides a seamless bridge to IBM Cloud Object Storage. Both log files and data files can be configured for backup and restore operations.
Full support for Informix Backup and Restore function is available as follows:
- full level 0 backups
- incremental level 1 and 2 backups
- full restore operations from last backup
- point in time restore
- point in log restore
- Informix based encrypted backup and restore
Simply use Backup and Restore (BAR) functions as you would with any other device registered with the Primary Storage Manager.
In addition to the BAR functions provided, any backup objects which are deleted from the Primary Storage Manager will result in those same objects from being deleted from the IBM Cloud Object Storage repository. This provides seamless end to end management of all backup objects on the cloud from directly within the Informix environment.
Pull the repository and execute maven to build the project. (e,g,: mvn package) This will result in the distribution being created as a compressed file. Decompress the file to access the artifacts. Distribution packages are created as TAR and ZIP archives.
NOTE: Primary testing has been completed on Linux.
Building for Linux
Pull the repository and execute a maven build. (e.g.: mvn package). This will result in a compressed tar file. Simply decompress the file (e.g.: gunzip InformixCOS-bin.tar.gz) and then extract the contents of the archive. (e.g.: tar -xvf InformixCOS-bin.tar). Once expanded, you will see the following files:
- config.props (Required configuration file)
- InformixCOS.jar (Executable jar file)
- run.sh (bash shell script)
- run.bat (Windows batch file)
Ensure that the run.sh file has an executable attribute set. (chmod +x run.sh) and the config.props file is edited with your specific runtime information. See the configuration section below for details.
| Config Variable | Example Value | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| BUCKET_NAME | mybucket | The name of the IBM Cloud Object Storage bucket | YES |
| API_KEY | cMJD73pkjfglb3skum96SxlrrZYlnEGSn-tE3i_cr7xY | The value of "apikey" from the service credentials | YES |
| SERVICE_INSTANCE_ID | crn:v1:bluemix:public:cloud-object-storage:global:a/a676d937c:a160-4583-4d7f-8bd5-e6a93b:: | The value of "resource_instance_id" from the service credentials | YES |
| SERVICE_ENDPOINT | s3-api.us-geo.objectstorage.softlayer.net | Default value should not need to be changed | YES |
| LOCATION | US | The geo location for the cloud object storage location | YES |
| IAM_ENDPOINT | https://iam.bluemix.net/oidc/token | Default value should not have to be changed | YES |
| CLIENT_TIMEOUT | 50000 | The S3 client timeout value. | YES |
InformixCOS needs to be registered with the Informix Primary Storage Manager (PSM). After placing InformixCOS on the server, use the following command to register it with PSM.
DBSPOOL Registration
onpsm -D add /home/informix/demo/BAR/PSM/STDIO/InformixCOS/run.sh -t STDIO -g DBSPOOL --write_arg "BACKUP @obj_name1@.@obj_id@.@obj_part@" --read_arg "RESTORE @obj_name1@.@obj_id@.@obj_part@" --drop_arg "DELETE @obj_name1@.@obj_id@.@obj_part@"
LOGPOOL Registration
onpsm -D add /home/informix/demo/BAR/PSM/STDIO/InformixCOS/run.sh -t STDIO -g LOGPOOL -p HIGHEST --write_arg "BACKUP @obj_name1@.@obj_id@.@obj_part@" --read_arg "RESTORE @obj_name1@.@obj_id@.@obj_part@" --drop_arg "DELETE @obj_name1@.@obj_id@.@obj_part@"
After PSM registration is completed, use onbar to execute Informix backup and restore operations and InformixCOS will automatically store and retrieve your backups to and from IBM Cloud Object Storage.
IBM Cloud Object Storage encrypts all data in motion and at rest. In addition, the encryption features of Informix can be leveraged to store backup files directly as Informix encrypted objects, offering an additional level of security for data at rest.