I want to bring our Portal 6 server to v6.0.1 before it goes into production
. Is the following a valid, fool-proof way to back up and possibly restore a
 portal and Application Server installation (fairly basic install on Windows
 2003; no clustering, proce
ss server, or virtual portals, but using LDAP and MS SQL server):

- make a copy of entire WebSphere folder (which includes PortalServer, AppSe
rver and profile folders)
- back up the database

And if the update should fail, roll back the database and copy over the old 
contents of the WebSphere folder.

Are there any problems or red flags with this approach?

Thanks.

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Hi

There is also a backupconfig.bat file which creates a zip file with the conf
iguration files and there is a restoreconfig but it doesn't back up everythi
ng you need so at the end yes, you will need to copy anything. (There is the
 list of files and folders
you need in the infocenter but you will end up with a 900 mb back up so it i
s practically the same.

I did the update and it is fairly easy. (I only did the backupconfig.bat thi
ng since is what the infocenter says). I had to shut down the update twice i
n the middle and nothing happen so it is quite secure.

Regards,

Sebastian "Jack" Fratini
IBM Certified System Administrator
Sebastian.Fratini@e-nsx.com
NSX SA

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Thanks for relating your experiences; I've run the backupconfig.bat utility 
before and noticed the time and space needed to back it up (and probably lon
ger to restore if anything goes wrong), so a copy to a different drive sound
ed much more appealing.

When you say you had to shut down the update twice, do you mean you had to k
ill the update program and start over?

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Hi

Exactly. I had to shut down the process twice. My problem was that I forgot 
to modified the HTTP timeout.

Follow the indications in Update Central and you should be fine.

You need to install a couple of fixes about WAS. Actually when you download 
the package there a lot but only need the WAS ones.

Then you update the Portal. (When it tells you to select a package to instal
l, in the WAS update, you will need to select each package. In the Portal up
date you just need to select the folder. The install program will find the p
ackage itself. I donīt know
why that difference).

Good luck.

Sebastian "Jack" Fratini
IBM Certified System Administrator
Sebastian.Fratini@e-nsx.com
NSX SA

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I was pointed to this technote

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docvie...s=UTF-8&lang=en

R.

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