The CMS IMPORT/EXPORT button is available with SmartServer 3.5 and higher. For SmartServer releases PRIOR to 3.5, and with 2.7 update 1 and Higher, the CMS import/export feature is available with the CMS Settings button. 

This section consists of the following:

Overview

The SmartServer ships with an SD Card inserted into the appropriate slot on the device (as shown in the figure below). The CMS database is located on the SD Card.This SD Card must remain inserted in the SmartServer whenever power is applied to the SmartServer.  

The SmartServer system and database information that is backed up or stored can be used to configure another SmartServer. 

Depending on whether you do a full restore or clone restore, various SmartServer settings are overwritten and changed. Review the descriptions of these methods below before proceeding with the restore operations to ensure that the SmartServer information that is being overwritten is intentionally changed.

• Backing Up and Replacing a SmartServer – the backup/replace method (full restore) can use a backup image for the same SmartServer only (or a replacement SmartServer). This method overwrites the new SmartServer's serial number, host name, MAC addresses, install code, segment ID (SID), and apollo password. For a full restore, you should use the Import/Export () button → IMPORT tab → Full System Backup Contents option → Restore Original Segment ID option set to Yes. 
  
  

• Backing Up and Cloning a SmartServer to Multiple Sites – the backup/clone method (clone restore) backs up the SmartServer configuration and data. This method preserves the new SmartServer's serial number, host name, MAC addresses, and install code, but changes the apollo password to the old SmartServer's password and the SID, which is defined from the source. In most cases, when you restore a database backup onto a new SmartServer, you will use the cloning method. For a clone restore, you should use the Import/Export () button → IMPORT tab → Full System Backup Contents option → Restore Original Segment ID option set to No. 
  
  

• Importing and Exporting SmartServer Configuration Files – the export/import method saves the SmartServer configuration for deploying to multiple SmartServers. This method is typically used when building up your network. 

With SmartServer 4.0, the Ready LED () may initially flash red (instead of blue) during an export/import of the SmartServer database or settings. Once the export/import is finished, the CMS will restart resulting in a flashing blue Ready LED. A solid blue Ready LED indicates normal operations.

The table below summarizes the different types of backups/restores that can be performed.

Backing Up the Database and/or Settings, or System

You can back up the contents of the flash memory in your SmartServer in order to recover from a hardware failure of your SmartServer should it occur.

To backup SmartServer database and/or settings, or system, follow these steps:

1. Save the apollo password for any backed-up SmartServer system image. If you restore a system image onto a new SmartServer, then the new SmartServer will have its password changed to the old SmartServer's password (from the backup image file).
   
   

2. Open the SmartServer CMS.

   
   
   

3. Click the Import/Export button () located on the SmartServer app bar.
   
   
   
   The Import/Export dialog appears.
   
   
   
   
4. Click the EXPORT tab.
   
   The EXPORT view appears.
   
   
   
   
5. Verify the SmartServer from which the contents are to be backed up.
   
   If you have multiple SmartServers, then select the SmartServers from which the contents are to be backed up using the checkmarks (yellow indicates selected, blue indicates not selected), or use the Select All button () to select all SmartServers.
   
   
   Single SmartServer – selected by default for Local CMS
   
   
   Multiple SmartServers – select using checkmarks
   
   
   All SmartServers – selected by default for Remote CMS
   
   
6. Select the Export Destination using the pulldown menu.
   
   1. Download – saves the SmartServer backup file to your PC

   2. Local Storage – saves the SmartServer backup file to a specified SmartServer directory

      
      

      
      
7. If you selected Local Storage as the Export Destination, then verify or define the backup location in the Export Directory field.
   
   For Local CMS and backing up to Local Storage, do not change the default /media/sdcard/backups directory setting. Files in this directory do not get backed up to prevent backups of backups from being created. 
   
   
   
   

8. If you selected Local Storage as the Export Destination, then then verify or define the backup filename in the Export Filename field.
   
   For Local CMS and backing up to Local Storage, do not specify an Export Filename. 
   
   

   
   With Export Filename specified
   
   
   Without Export Filename specified
   
   

9. Select the Export Contents:

   • Database and Settings (default) 

   • Database

   • Settings

   • Full System

   • Remote CMS  – for Remote CMS, you can also backup the remote CMS database by selecting the Remote CMS option. You can backup the remote CMS database in the following configurations:

     • Remote CMS database only
     • Remote CMS database, local database, and settings
     • Remote CMS database and local database
     • Remote CMS database and full system

     
     Local CMS Export Contents
     
     
     Remote CMS Export Contents
     
     

10. Click EXPORT.
    
    If you selected the Settings option only, then the Status column will indicate that the backup is in progress. You will not be able to use the CMS for a few moments until the settings backup is completed.

    
    
    If you selected the Database option, or the Database and Settings option, then the Status column will indicate that the backup is in progress and a message will appear stating that the database backup has started. You will not be able to use the CMS until the database backup is completed (about 10 minutes).
    
    
    
    If you selected the Full System option, the Status column will indicate that the backup is in progress and a message will appear stating that the system backup has started. You will not be able to use the CMS until the system backup is completed (about 30 minutes).

    

Retrieving Backup Files When Using the Download Method

If you used the Download method and are retrieving backup files, use the Use the Download button () to retrieve the backup file.

In order to be able to retrieve the backup files when you are using the Download method as the Export Destination, most networks will resolve the hostname that is set in the SmartServer Network Configuration page. If your network does not resolve the hostname, then you will see an error message similar to the following:

You may see this problem if you remotely access the SmartServer or DNS resolution does not work.

In this case, you need to either replace the hostname with the SmartServer IP address in the URL, or modify your /etc/hosts file to associate the SmartServer IP address with the SmartServer hostname as shown in the examples that follow. You can find your SmartServer IoT IP address and hostname on the SmartServer Network Configuration page as shown below.

SmartServer IoT Network Configuration page

Examples

Example 1: Modify the URL by replacing https://smartserver-17qes5s/iap/cms/storage/download/JWGHGIKID8 with https://10.0.0.1.6/iap/cms/storage/download/JWGHGIKID8.

Example 2: Modify the /etc/hosts file as shown in the figure below:

/etc/hosts file

Restoring the Database and/or Settings, or System

Restoring a backup will change the password of the SmartServer to the password of the backed-up SmartServer. For system restore operations, you can either do a full system replacement (i.e., an identical replacement), or you can clone a device. Cloning is used when you are deploying a backed-up image to multiple devices and you want to keep the new devices information (i.e., MAC IDs). A full system replacement changes the new devices' MAC IDs to what is stored on the backup, which can cause conflicts when doing a full restore on more than one SmartServer in a network. 

To restore a system with a full restore, you must first create a full system backup, as described in the Backing Up the Database and/or Settings, or System section and then see Backing Up and Replacing a SmartServer for more information.

To restore a system with a clone restore, you must first create a full system backup, as described in the Backing Up the Database and/or Settings, or System section and then see Backing Up and Cloning a SmartServer to a Multiple Sites for more information.

To restore a database and/or settings backup onto a new SmartServer, you must first create a database and/or settings backup, as described in the Backing Up the Database and/or Settings, or System section, and then follow the steps below.

1. Save the apollo password for any backed-up SmartServer system image before continuing with restore operations.
   
   

2. Remove power from the new SmartServer.
   
   

3. Remove the SD Card from the SmartServer.
   
   

4. Insert your SD Card with the backup image to be restored into the SmartServer.
   
   

5. Open the SmartServer CMS.

   
   
   

6. Click the Import/Export button () located on the SmartServer app bar.
   
   

   
   The Import/Export dialog appears.
   
   
   
   
7. If you are restoring a SmartServer 4.3 or prior database onto a SmartServer 4.4 system, then perform the following steps: 
   
   1. Create a full system backup for the SmartServer 4.3 or prior system as described in the Backing Up the Database and/or Settings, or System section.

   2. Import that full system backup onto the SmartServer 4.3 or prior system as described in the steps that follow.

   3. Update the SmartServer 4.3 or prior system to SmartServer 4.4 using the Update Loader (GLPO) method. See Updating the SmartServer using the SmartServer CMS with an Internet Connection.
      
      

8. Verify the SmartServer to be restored.
   
   If you have multiple SmartServers, then select which SmartServers are to be restored using the checkmarks (yellow indicates selected, blue indicates not selected), or use the Select All button () to select all SmartServers.
   
   
   Single SmartServer – selected by default for Local CMS
   
   
   Multiple SmartServers – select using checkmarks
   
   
   All SmartServers – selected by default for Remote CMS
   
   
9. Select the Import Source using the pulldown menu.
   
   1. Upload – retrieves the SmartServer backup file from your PC
   2. Local Storage – retrieves the SmartServer backup file from a specified SmartServer directory
      
      
      
      
10. If you selected Local Storage as the Import Source, then verify or define the backup location in the Backup Location field.
    
    
    
    

11. If you selected Local Storage as the Import Source, then select the backup file from the Select a Backup File list.
    
    
    Local Storage method
    
    If you selected Upload as the Import Source, then select the backup file from your PC using the browse feature or place it in the Drop files to import area.
    
    
    Upload method
    
    

12. Click IMPORT.
    
    

13. If the IMPORT button appears greyed-out (disabled), then verify that the SmartServer is selected. If the SmartServer is not automatically selected, then click the checkmark next to the name of the SmartServer. 
    
    

    If you selected the Settings option only, then an indicator will appear showing that the restore is in progress. You will not be able to use the CMS for a few moments until the settings restore is completed.

    
    
    If you selected the Database option, or the Database and Settings option, then messages will appear stating that the database file is being loaded to the server and that the restore has started. You will not be able to use the CMS until the database restore is completed (about 10 minutes). 

    
    
    
    

Deleting Backups

The CMS Devices widget, SEGMENT CONTROLLERS tab provides the ability to view system information including internal flash memory, CPU utilization, and log sizes. It also provides the ability to enable or disable data and/or event logging and to delete backups.

You can delete backup files by performing the following steps:

1. Open the SmartServer CMS.

   
   
   

2. Open the Devices widget. Click the Expand button (  ). 

   
   
   

3. Select the SEGMENT CONTROLLER tab.

   
   
   

4. Click the Action button () and select the Delete Backups action.
   
   
   
   The Delete Backups view appears allowing you to select the backup files to be deleted.
   
   
   
   For Remote CMS, an additional option will appear (Remote CMS).
   
   
   
   
5. Select the type(s) of Backup Contents that you want to delete (i.e., Database, Settings, Full System, and/or if available, Remote CMS). 
   
   A list of available backup files is displayed for each of the various backup contents.
   
   
   Backup Contents example
   
   
6. Select the backup file(s) to be deleted by clicking the checkmark(s), or click the Select All button ( ) for all files. The checkmark changes from blue to yellow.
   
   
   
   
7. Click DELETE SELECTED.
   
   The backup file(s) that you selected is deleted from the SmartServer and the Devices widget appears.