Home
Administering
Learn how to administer the product.
Administering HCL VersionVault
Learn about performing administrative tasks for an HCL VersionVault community including managing software licenses, user and group accounts, VersionVault server and client hosts, shared data, and the network that connects them.
Backing up critical HCL VersionVault data
Like all databases, VOBs, views, and the HCL VersionVault registry have special backup and restore requirements.
Backing up VOBs with standard backup procedures
If you do not use the vob_snapshot utility, you must take special precautions to ensure the integrity of VOB backups made with standard backup tools.

Administering
Learn how to administer the product.
- Administering HCL VersionVault
  Learn about performing administrative tasks for an HCL VersionVault community including managing software licenses, user and group accounts, VersionVault server and client hosts, shared data, and the network that connects them.
  - HCL VersionVault network planning and administration
  - License servers and license administration
    Most HCL VersionVault applications and commands (cleartool commands, for example, or GUIs such as the VersionVault Explorer) require a license to run.
  - Reconfiguring VersionVault to use a different JRE
    When you change the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for HCL VersionVault, you must reconfigure the product to make it work with the new JRE.
  - Administering the HCL VersionVault registry
    The HCL VersionVault registry is a central repository of information about shared resources such as VOBs and views.
  - HCL VersionVault network administration in mixed environments
    An HCL VersionVault environment that includes hosts that run Windows and hosts that run the UNIX system or Linux is said to be a mixed environment.
  - Overview of security considerations
    As an administrator, you are responsible for the security of your HCL VersionVault deployment.
  - VOB and view access control
    HCL VersionVault supports a rich set of access controls on versioned objects.
  - VOB administration
    Because VOBs are the principal repository for artifacts under HCL VersionVault control, VOB administration is one of the HCL VersionVault administrator’s most important tasks.
  - VOB datatypes and administrative VOB hierarchies
    There are many types of VOB metadata. Some are unique to a particular VOB, but many must be managed consistently across a group of VOBs that store related artifacts (components of a UCM project, for example). These topics introduce VOB metadata and describe how to use administrative VOB hierarchies to simplify sharing of type objects among related VOBs.
  - Moving VOBs and relocating VOB data
    HCL VersionVault includes tools for moving data and metadata to another VOB and for moving entire VOBs to another disk or host. You may need to use these tools to reorganize VOB directories, redistribute data storage, or rebalance server loads.
  - Views and view administration
    A view provides a workspace where users access versions of file and directory elements that are under HCL VersionVault control. Views can also contain view-private file system objects (such as ordinary files and directories) that are not under HCL VersionVault control.
  - Backing up critical HCL VersionVault data
    Like all databases, VOBs, views, and the HCL VersionVault registry have special backup and restore requirements.
    - VOB backup strategies
      An effective VOB backup strategy must provide maximum coverage while minimizing disruptions to ongoing VOB access.
    - Backing up VOBs with vob_snapshot
      The vob_snapshot utility automates snapshot backups.
    - Backing up VOBs with standard backup procedures
      If you do not use the vob_snapshot utility, you must take special precautions to ensure the integrity of VOB backups made with standard backup tools.
      - Determining the location of the VOB storage directory
      - Locking and unlocking the VOB
        A VOB backup is valid only if the VOB has been locked for all users before the backup begins.
      - If the VOB has remote storage pools
        If a VOB on a host running Linux or the UNIX system has remote storage pools, you must back them up too, regardless of the backup strategy (standard or vob_snapshot) that you use.
      - What to back up if you cannot back up everything
      - Do not perform incremental backups
        Incremental backups of VOB storage cause problems when they are restored.
    - Backing up a view
      The contents of views, unlike that of VOBs, can usually be reconstructed easily. With the exception of changes to checked-out versions and other view-private files, the contents of any view can be recovered by re-creating the view. Regular backups of views can still be important, especially if users are not in the habit of checking in their work regularly.
    - Backing up HCL VersionVault registry data
      HCL VersionVault registry data is stored in ordinary files that must be backed up regularly.
    - Backing up related databases together
      Data in multiple repositories is often related, especially when UCM is in use. Related databases should be backed up together.
    - Backing up ACL-protected VOBs
      In addition to the standard requirements for VOB and view backup toolse, in order to backup VOB with ACLs, backup tools should have the ability to preserve file system ACLs on supported platforms (Windows, Linux, and Solaris). Different platforms have different tools that can preserve ACLs, and the same tool might have different abilities to back up with ACLs. The documentation for such tools should be checked carefully before using them.
  - Restoring critical HCL VersionVault data
    If you have implemented a sound backup strategy for HCL VersionVault data, it should be easy to restore that data, if necessary.
  - Periodic maintenance
    Periodic attention to storage management and repository integrity is an important administrative function. These topics describe VOB and view storage management tasks, the checkvob utility, and the HCL VersionVault scheduler, which you can use to automate many periodic maintenance chores.
  - Importing data
    HCL VersionVault includes several utilities for importing data from other configuration management systems or directly from the file system itself.
  - Troubleshooting
    These topics cover a variety of procedures that administrators might need to follow to find and fix problems.
  - Improving client host performance
  - Improving VOB host performance
  - Configuring cross-platform file-system access
  - HCL VersionVault and Windows® domains
  - Configuring non-VersionVault access on Linux® or the UNIX system
    You can configure an HCL VersionVault host running Linux® or the UNIX system to support access to VOBs and dynamic views from computers that do not run HCL VersionVault.
  - Configuring HCL VersionVault for high availability
  - Estimating VOB size
    If you can estimate the number of elements, versions, and derived objects that a VOB will ultimately contain, you can compute a very rough estimate of the size of a VOB that can accommodate them. VOB storage includes a database and pools. On Windows®, the database and pools must reside on a single disk partition. On Linux® or the UNIX system, the pools can be located on a different partition or host, using symbolic links.
  - Administering the VersionVault WAN server
  - About VersionVault WAN server parallel view loading
  - Administering and using CMI task-provider integrations
    HCL VersionVault supports integrations with task providers such as HCL Compass through the Change Management Interface (CMI). The integrations require some configuration tasks, after which you can work with UCM activities or base VersionVault branches that are associated with the tasks.
- Administering platforms for HCL VersionVault
  Learn how to perform HCL VersionVault administrative tasks on supported platforms.
- Administering HCL VersionVault MultiSite
  Learn to configure and manage the HCL VersionVault MultiSite environment to support development activities at different locations.

Backing up VOBs with standard backup procedures

If you do not use the vob_snapshot utility, you must take special precautions to ensure the integrity of VOB backups made with standard backup tools.

About this task

Any VOB backup procedure requires these steps:

Lock the VOB for all users.
Back up the entire VOB storage directory, including any remote pools. (If necessary you may exclude certain subdirectories of the VOB storage directory from the backup. See What to back up if you cannot back up everything for details).
Unlock the VOB.

Have feedback?
Google Analytics is used to store comments and ratings. To provide a comment or rating for a topic, click Accept All Cookies or Allow All in Cookie Preferences in the footer of this page.