Most Planning Analytics as a Service sites have at least two environments – Development and Production, and sometimes will have three – Development, Test and Production. We will need to migrate systems between environments from time to time. This is really easy. This post will take you through how to copy a database from, say, Dev to Test, or Dev to Prod or backwards from Production to Development or Prod to UAT.
How to Migrate a Complete Planning Analytics as a Service Database from one Environment to Another
Time needed: 20 minutes
There are a number of steps required to complete this. In essence, we need to copy the underlying database (the TM1 model) and the PAW front end over that database.
This post takes you through all of the steps required to backup and download a zip of a TM1 model, then how to create a new Planning Analytics database (if required), upload the zip and restore it into your new database, then how to create a Planning Analytics Workspace migration package and deploy that as well, so that everything is in sync.
- Create a backup of the source database
The first major step is to migrate the TM1 database. When this is complete, we will migrate hte PAW assets using Lifecycle Manager. But you need the database first.
Please see this post for detailed instructions on how to create a manual backup of Planning Analytics as a Service. - Download the backup zip file
After the backup is complete, download to your local computer the zip file of the backed up database.
To download the backup, hit the three little vertical dots on the right hand end of the backup you have just taken.
Then, assuming you are using Windows, you will see when the download successfully completes.
- Create a new database (if it doesn’t already exist)
If the database you want to restore into doesn’t already exist, then go create it. See this post for instructions about how to create a new database in Planning Analytics as a Service.
- Go to the Backup tab of the Target database
In the administration area for the database you are going to restore into (i.e. the Target NOT the source you just backed up!), click on the Backup tab.
- Upload the backup zip file
On the Backup tab, find the little up arrow on the far right next to Create and click it.
- Restore the Uploaded backup zip file
Follow these instructions to restore the uploaded backup zip file into the target database. This might take several minutes to complete.
- Wait for the Restore to complete
- Create Migration Package of PAW Assets
Moving the database (or model) is just half the job. We also need to move the Planning Analytics Workspace assets to the new environment as well. In the Source environment, go to Administration and select the Lifecycle Management tab. Then follow the instructions on this post to create a migration package using Lifecycle Management of all the PAW assets required to be migrated.
- Import PAW Migration Package
The penultimate technical step is for you to deploy the PAW migration package. Please see this post for the details on the steps to follow to update your PAW environment to match the underlying database.
- Deploy the PAW Migration Package
Finally, after importing the migration package, you need to deploy it to your target environment. Here are the steps for that last exercise.
