Backing up a collection from local file system

Back up Solr collections to a shared file system to minimize data loss caused by accidental or malicious administrative actions. Learn how to create backup of a collection from the local file system (FS).

If you use local FS to store backups, each Solr host stores its backup directory locally, that is, server X contains the backup directory snapshots.shard1, server Y contains snapshots.shard2 and you need to copy those to a shared location in order to be able to restore them later. Because of this, Cloudera recommends to target backups to a shared file system, even if your Solr collection uses local FS.

If you are using a secure (Kerberos-enabled) cluster, specify your jaas.conf file by adding the following parameter to each command:

--jaas [***/PATH/TO/JAAS.CONF***]

Optional: Create a snapshot. On a host running Solr Server, run the following command:
```
solrctl collection --create-snapshot [***USER_DEFINED_NAME_OF_THE_SNAPSHOT***] -c [***NAME_OF_THE_COLLECTION_TO_BE_BACKED_UP***]
```
This step is optional. You can back up this snapshot by specifying the [***USER_DEFINED_NAME_OF_THE_SNAPSHOT***] as the value of commitName parameter. If you do not create and specify a snapshot, the backup exports the index state corresponding to the current latest finished commit.
For example, for a collection named tweets the command:
```
solrctl collection --create-snapshot tweets-$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M) -c tweets
```
creates the snapshot tweets-202103281043.
Create the backup. The destination directory must exist and be writable by the Solr superuser (solr by default).
- To back up a snapshot, use the following command:
```
curl -k --negotiate -u : 'http://[***HOST***]:[***PORT***]/solr/admin/collections?action=BACKUP&name=[***BACKUP_NAME***]&commitName=[***SNAPSHOT_NAME***]&collection=[***COLLECTION_NAME***]&location=***BACKUP_LOCATION***'
```
  For example:
```
curl -k --negotiate -u : 'http://host1.example.com:8983/solr/admin/collections?action=BACKUP&name=mybackup&commitName=tweets-202103281043&collection=tweets&location=/tmp'
```
  The example URL targets one (any one) of the Solr servers and creates a backup of the entire collection.
- To back up the current state of the index:
```
curl -k --negotiate -u : 'http://[***HOST***]:[***PORT***]/solr/admin/collections?action=BACKUP&name=[***BACKUP_NAME***]&collection=tweets&location=/tmp'
```
  For example:
```
curl -k --negotiate -u : 'http://host1.example.com:8983/solr/admin/collections?action=BACKUP&name=mybackup&collection=tweets&location=/tmp'
```
  The example URL targets one (any one) of the Solr servers and creates a backup of the entire collection.
[***HOST***]

is a host name or IP address valid in your environment

[***PORT***]

is the port where you can access your Solr instance

[***BACKUP_LOCATION***]

specifies the directory (for example, /tmp) of the backup target defined in solr.xml where the backup is to be stored. If you have defined a HDFS target backup repository, the backup is stored on HDFS at [***BACKUP_LOCATION***]

[***BACKUP_NAME***]

specifies the name of the backup - the backup is created in the subdirectory [***BACKUP_NAME***] of the backup repository directory [***BACKUP_LOCATION***].

[***SNAPSHOT_NAME***]

is the name of the snapshot you want to back up

[***COLLECTION_NAME***]

specifies the collection that you want to back up

tip
To use a specific repository as a backup target, use the repository parameter.
```
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
<lst name="responseHeader"><int name="status">0</int><int name="QTime">3636</int></lst>
</response>
```
After completing a backup, the data is stored in the standard backup format:

To check the backup files, run the following command:

hdfs dfs -ls /tmp/mybackup

Found 4 items
-rw-rw-rw-   2 solr supergroup        181 2021-01-13 21:33 /tmp/mybackup/backup.properties
drwxrwxrwx   - solr supergroup          0 2021-01-13 21:33 /tmp/mybackup/snapshot.shard1
drwxrwxrwx   - solr supergroup          0 2021-01-13 21:33 /tmp/mybackup/snapshot.shard2
drwxrwxrwx   - solr supergroup          0 2021-01-13 21:33 /tmp/mybackup/zk_backup

Delete the snapshot after exporting:

solrctl collection --delete-snapshot [***NAME_OF_THE_SNAPSHOT_TO_BE_DELETED***] -c [***COLLECTION_NAME***]

For example:

solrctl collection --delete-snapshot tweets-202103281043 -c tweets