Migration overview

This page summarizes the high level steps to migrate an RTM database to another server.

Important: Keep your old production RTM server running until migration is successful. Do not shut down your RTM server until you are satisfied that the migration has worked.
  1. Audit the old server to see how much data is being used and where it is located. Have this data available for comparison, to make sure that you have enough space for the migration.
  2. Verify that the old RTM server is configured to use a service account. Review the contents of the file /opt/IBM/etc/lsfpollerd.conf for Daemon_user. If the value is different from the default apache or wwwrun account, substitute the actual account in use.
  3. Make the new RTM server a client on each cluster to be monitored.
  4. Install RTM on the new server that uses the appropriate service account.
  5. Upgrade the RTM installation on the old server to match the new server or make sure that the new RTM server is at the same version as the old RTM server.
  6. Force an RTM backup from the old server: Console > Grid Utilities > Force Cacti Backup
  7. Download the backup to your local machine.
  8. Import the backup file on the new RTM server: Console > Grid Settings > Maint
  9. Copy any custom data collection scripts from the old server to the new server. Custom data collection scripts are typically in /opt/IBM/cacti/scripts. Scripts typically have a PHP extension, and are not encoded. However, if you monitor servers, routers, or switches outside of the default installation there may be more scripts in other locations.
  10. Copy any custom data query XML files from the old server to the new server. Custom data query XML files are typically in /opt/IBM/cacti/resource/script_server. They have a date different from the main files in this directory.
  11. If you installed other Cacti data queries that use Net-SNMP, or that are script-based, review the contents of the following two directories and transfer the contents of them as well: /opt/IBM/cacti/resource/snmp_queries and /opt/IBM/cacti/resource/script_queries.
  12. Use scp to copy any custom or third-party Cacti plug-ins. Find the scripts you need to copy by comparing the /opt/IBM/cacti/plugins directory on the old RTM servers to the new one and copying what might be missing.
  13. Reinstall Cacti Spine if you used it on your old server: Console > Settings > Poller
  14. Repopulate the RTM poller cache if you moved your RTM_TOP from /opt/IBM to some other location, or if you changed the location of RTM_TOP during migration.
  15. Run rsync to synchronize your RRD files from the old server to the new server. The location is /opt/IBM/cacti/rra. This location can be a symbolic link. If you make it a symbolic link, make sure to run rsync with the correct location. If you use the boost plug-in, flush the boost cache before you run the rsync.
  16. Make sure that all LSF clusters appear in the new RTM servers cluster dashboard. Correct any issues with LSF before you complete the remaining steps.
  17. Dump tables on the old server that are not part of the operational backup and restore them on the new server. Following the detailed steps in “Table dumps”
  18. If you use the syslog features of RTM, redirect your execution host's syslog forwarding to the new RTM server. Refer to the syslog documentation for your execution hosts for instructions.