Working with Backups

With FME Flow Hosted, you never have to worry about backups. FME Flow Hosted performs automatic backups of your FME Flow Hosted instance every 24 hours and at other predefined events. You can also force a backup at any time an instance is running.

Backups allow you to:

Backups are incremental disk copies of the PostGIS database and FME Flow volume, stored on the robust Amazon S3 infrastructure. In particular, backups store:

  • The FME Flow configuration and data.
  • The PostGIS database.
  • The FME Flow Hosted instance size and data storage configuration.

Changing the Number of Backups to Keep

When you create an instance, you determine the number of backups FME Flow Hosted maintains for the instance. Once this limit is reached, the oldest backup is deleted automatically. After an instance is terminated, all backups are deleted.

You can change the number of backups FME Flow Hosted maintains for an instance.

To change the number of backups to keep

  1. From the Instances page, select the instance you want to update.
  2. From the Backups tab, click Options, and select Edit number of backups.
  3. In the Modify the Number of Backups dialog, specify the new number of backups to keep, and click Save.

Automatic Backups

FME Flow Hosted performs automatic backups at the following times:

  • Every 24 hours at approximately 01:15 UTC, or after an instance is started if no automatic backup has been created yet on the same day.
  • When an instance is paused.
  • When the instance type is resized or the Primary disk of an instance is expanded.
  • Before an instance is rolled back to a previous state.

Forcing a Backup

In addition to automatic backups, you can force a backup at any time when an instance is running. When forcing a backup, keep in mind the following:

  • The instance is not available during the backup, which may take several hours, depending on the size of the Primary disk.
  • The temporary disk is not backed up.

To force a backup

  1. From the Instances page, select the instance you want to back up.
  2. From the Backups tab, click Options, and select Force Backup.
  3. In the Force Backup dialog, click Force Backup.

Rolling Back an Instance to a Previous State

An instance can be rolled back to the state of any available backups. When you roll back, the current instance is replaced by the following components of the backup:

  • The FME Flow configuration and data.
  • The PostGIS database.

Additionally, data storage and instance size are reset to the configuration at the time of the backup.

During rollback, the instance is paused, and may be unavailable for several hours, depending on the size of the Primary disk.

To rollback an instance

  1. From the Instances page, select the instance you want to roll back.
  2. On the Backups tab, click the ellipsis (...) beside the backup to which you want to roll back, and select Rollback Instance.
  3. Select the backup to which you want to roll back, and click Rollback.
  4. In the Rollback Instance dialog, click Rollback.

Creating a Snapshot of an Instance and Launching a New Instance

You can create a snapshot of a backup, and then launch a new FME Flow Hosted instance from that snapshot.

You can store up to five snapshots per account. Snapshots are maintained indefinitely or until you delete them. If you require more snapshots, contact support@fmecloud.com.

To create a snapshot

  1. From the Instances page, select the instance containing the backup you want to snapshot.
  2. On the Backups tab, click the ellipsis (...) beside the backup, and select Create Snapshot.
  3. In the Create Snapshot dialog, provide a Snapshot Name and a Snapshot Description (optional) and click Create Snapshot.

Launching a New Instance from a Snapshot

When you launch a new instance from a snapshot, you provide the instance with a new name and URL. You can also configure it to any size or data storage amount. In other respects, the instance maintains the same FME Flow and PostGIS database configuration, as well as any data that was stored, as the backup from which the snapshot was created.

When launching a new instance from a snapshot, keep in mind the following:

  • The default users superuser and dbuser are reset, and a new password must be downloaded after the instance is launched. Any other users are not affected. For more information, see Connect to the FME Flow Web User Interface.
  • You cannot use a snapshot to upgrade an instance to a newer build of FME Flow. Instead, follow the instructions in Upgrading an Instance.

To launch a new instance from a backup snapshot

  1. From the Snapshots page, click the ellipsis (...) beside the snapshot from which to launch a new instance, and select Launch to instance.
  2. On the Launch Snapshot to Instance page, follow the instructions provided in Launching an FME Flow Hosted Instance.

The new instance appears on the Instances page. To connect to the new instance, see Connect to an FME Flow Hosted Instance.