How to backup a KACE SDA appliance (4300798)

The KACE System Deployment Appliance (KACE SDA) backup is a granular process; each item needs to be chosen to be exported.

However, when exporting a Scripted Install or Image, it will include all things needed for that deployment. For example, if exporting a System Image, the SDA will export the image files and any pre-install, mid-level, or post-installation tasks that are included in the deployment and bundle them into one package.

It is recommended to backup all files and copy them to a location other than the SDA for disaster recovery purposes.

There are two steps needed to backup items from the SDA.

Step 1 - Exporting the files

The recommended way is to schedule the exports to happen automatically, but it is possible to export items manually too.

Scheduling the exports

1. Go to the Settings and click on the Package Management
2. Select Export packages
3. Place a check box next to the items that want to be exported out
4. From the "Choose Action" drop-down box, select Schedule export for selected.
5. Specify how often you would like to export the selected items

Note: Any item that has been exported will not be exported again until a change has been made to it and causes the version number of that item to increment. At a glance, the color coding will tell you if an item has been backed up on the current version, a previous version, or not at all. 

Manually exporting

1. Go to Settings and click on 'Package Management' 
2. Select 'Export packages'
3. Place a check box next to the items you want to export out
4. From the Choose Action drop-down box, select Export selected
5. The items will begin exporting immediately

Note: Exporting files can take up a large amount of disk space. It is a good idea to export small groups of items, and then move them out of the \\\Restore share. Repeat the steps as needed to export the remaining packages. If you are scheduling the exports and you have a lot of items, try spreading the exports out across the week and have the Off-Board Package Transfer copy the files out every day.

Step 2 - Offboarding the files to another location

The recommended way is to schedule the packages to be copied off automatically.

Schedule the file copy process

1. Go to the Settings and click on the Package Management
2. Select Off-board Package Transfer
3. Select the checkbox Enable Backup
4. Fill out the information for the location where the backups will be stored and provide credentials that have written access to the target location.
5. Enable the "cleanup restore" option if you would like the SDA to automatically delete the exported files from the SDA after the package transfer is completed.

Note: Exporting files can take some time, especially if you are exporting large items or a large amount of items. Make sure to leave time for the export to finish before scheduling the offboarding process.

Manually copy the files.

1. Access the KACE SDA Restore share (\\\Restore) and enter your Samba share credentials.
2. Copy the files (we recommend copying both .PKG and .XML files for each package) to another location.
3. Delete the files from the share if you need to recover the disk space.