Back Up Measurement Data

If you back up your measurement data files, you can use the backups in case data later becomes corrupted. You may also want to create a backup to archive all the current data on a unit.

PacketWise keeps track of measurement data according to the type of measurement variable (link, partition, or class) and type of sample (day or month). Day samples, measurement data that was recorded in one-minute intervals, are stored for at least a day. Month samples, data that was recorded every hour on standard Packeteer models and every four hours on ISP models, are stored for at least a month. Thus, measurement data is stored in groups: link day, link month, partition day, partition month, class day, and class month. If you are using the host accounting feature, an additional measurement group is available for this type of data. With the measure backup CLI command, you can back up individual groups of data (for example, just class month data) or all measurement groups. Data must be backed up to an FTP server; files cannot be backed up to the unit itself.

To back up all measurement data:

1. Access the CLI.

2. Use the measure backup command with the all groups option. Add a username and password separated by a colon, an @ as a separator and then the DNS name or IP address of an FTP server. Provide a path on the FTP server where you want to save the files, you must specify a dummy file name when backing up all groups. For example, to back up all measurement data to a directory named backups inside the user home directory on the FTP server, type the following:

measure backup all groups user:password@ftp.example.com /home/user/backups/pshaper.dat

The measure backup all groups command backs up each measurement group into a separate file. The automatically-generated filenames for the backups combine a portion of the unit's serial number with a number 0-6. For example, if the serial number is 065-10001072, the bulk backup filenames will look like this:

host accounting 00010720.dat
link day              00010721.dat
link month          00010722.dat
partition day      00010723.dat
partition month  00010724.dat
class day            00010725.dat
class month        00010726.dat

To back up individual measurement groups, see measure backup.

See also:

Restore Measurement Data

Measurement Variables