Backup and History

In IBM Process Mining, you can create a backup to save the current state of your project and view the list of backups applied on the project.

A project backup in IBM Process Mining contains many core elements of a process analysis such as cost model, analytics dashboard, field mapping, reference model, and filter templates. You can use the backup to import metadata of one project to another. This feature enables you to reuse the process mining analysis. When you complete a process analysis, you can export a backup to reuse the metadata in similar cases.

You can select the elements and attributes you want to include in the project backup. Also, when you apply a backup, you can select the elements or attributes that are imported to the project.

The Backup & History page of the IBM Process Mining application includes the following tabs:

  • Backups

    You can use the Backups tab to create, upload, apply, download, and delete a backup.

    If a backup is not imported when you create a project, the system automatically creates a backup of the project and names it as "Default initial backup". The created backup includes the metadata based on data mapping (which is performed during the project creation process) and reference models (if any). You can locate the created backup in the Saved backups section as shown in the following figure.

    Default backup

    However, if a backup was uploaded during the project creation phase, then the backup is automatically added to the list of saved backups. This backup also includes the reference models (if any) imported to the project during the project creation phase.

    Default backup from imported file

  • History

    You can use the History tab to view the list of backups that are applied to the project. For more information, see the Viewing the backup history topic.

Refer to the following topics to learn more on using the Backup & History page:

Creating a backup

You can use the following steps to create a backup:

  1. Open the project and then go to Manage > Backup & History.

  2. On the Backups tab of the Backup & History page, click Create backup.

  3. On the Create backup dialog, do the following steps:

    a. In the Name field, type a name for the backup.

    b. Select the element and attributes you want to include in the backup.

    • In the Create backup dialog, you can choose from the elements and attributes that are available in the project. The unavailable elements and attributes are disabled.
    • By default, the Data Stream checkbox not selected even when the project contains a Data Stream. This is because when you export a Data Stream, the credentials associated with it are also exported.

    Even if the process contains "Data Streams", the checkbox will not be sele cted by default.

    c. Click Create backup.

    Create backup dialog

The created backup is listed in the Saved backups section. You can expand the created or existing backup to view the list of elements and attributes in it.

Uploading a backup

You can use the following steps to upload a backup:

  1. Open the project and then go to Manage > Backup & History.

  2. On the Backups tab of the Backup & History page, click Upload backup.

  3. In the dialog, select the required file, and then click Open.

The uploaded backup is listed in the Saved backups section. You can expand the backup to view the list of elements and attributes in it.

Applying a backup

To import and reuse the metadata in a backup, you must apply it to the project.

You can use the following steps to apply a backup:

  1. Open the project and then go to Manage > Backup & History.

  2. On the Backups tab, click Apply backup corresponding to the required backup.

    Backup apply

  3. In the Apply backup dialog, select or clear the checkboxes that are related to the element and attributes you want to apply to the project, and then click Apply backup.

    Apply dialog

  • You can select or clear an element to include or exclude its attributes in the backup. Additionally, you can individually select or clear attributes as you require.
  • When you apply a backup with analytics dashboards to a project, it creates new copies of analytics dashboards in the project instead of overwriting the existing dashboards.

Downloading a backup

To ensure reusability of a project analysis, you can download the backup to your device. You can use the following steps to download a backup:

  1. Open the project and then go to Manage > Backup & History.

  2. On the Backups tab of the Backup & History page, click the name of the backup that you want to download.

    Download backup

  • The Backup downloaded message appears to indicate that the backup is successfully downloaded.

You can import the downloaded backup to the project by using any one of the following methods:
- The Upload backup button in the Backup & History page
- The Upload the data source page in the 'Create a process-mining project' wizard.

Searching a backup

On the Backups tab of the Backup & History page, you can use the search box of the Saved backups section to search for the backups based on the name and author. This field is not case-sensitive.

Deleting a backup

You can delete an existing backup only if it is not applied to the project. For example, in the following figure, the ⓘ icon next to the backup name indicates that the backup is already applied to a project. Additionally, the Delete button corresponding to the backup is disabled.

Deleting backup

To delete a backup, click the Delete button corresponding to the backup.

The ⓘ icon next to the backup name provides additional information related to the backup file. For example, you can verify the information on the icon to identify the default backup created by the system.

By default, the Delete button for the default backup is disabled.

Viewing the backup history

The History tab of the Backup & History page displays the list of backups that are applied to the project.

Backup history

The following table describes the various elements of the History tab.

Element Description
Search for backups by name Use this field to search for a backup by using the name.
Filter backups by attributes Use the Filter backups by attributes list to search for the backups that include the selected attribute.
Applied backup name Indicates the backups that were applied to the project from earliest to latest. The first row of the table indicates the latest backup that is applied to the project.
Available attributes Indicates the number of attributes the backup includes.
Applied attributes Indicates the number of attributes that you had selected when applying the backup.
Applied timestamp Indicates the timestamp at which the backup was applied.

You can expand each backup to view the list of attributes that were selected before you applied the backup.