Backup and Recovery

Infoblox recommends that you regularly back up your configuration files and/or discovery database files. You can back up your system files locally on the appliance or to your management system, or use TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol), FTP (File Transfer Protocol), or SCP (Secure Copy) to back them up to a remote server.

Automated Backup

To configure automatic backup of configuration files and/or discovery database files, use the following procedure:

1. In Grid Manager, navigate to the Grid → Grid Manager tab.

2. In the Toolbar, click the dropdown for Backup. Select Grid Backup and then Schedule Backup.

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3. In the Schedule Backup dialog box, select the destination from the Backup to dropdown.

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4. Fill in details based on your destination selection:

   1. TFTP: Back up system files to a TFTP server.

• Keep local copy: Select this to also save a local copy of the backup file on your appliance. This is disabled by default. The local backup contains only the Grid backup, it does not contain backups for reporting and Network Automation. Note that when you select this, the total backup time will increase.

• IP Address of TFTP Server: Enter the IP address of the TFTP server to which you want to back up the system files.

• Directory Path: Enter the directory path of the file. For example, you can enter /archive/backups. The directory path cannot contain spaces. The folder or directory you enter here must already exist on the specified server. Do not include the file name in the directory path.

• Recurrence: Select how often you want to back up the files. You can select Weekly, Daily, or Hourly from the drop-down list. When you select Weekly, complete the following:

  • Every: Choose a day of the week from the drop-down list.

  • Time: Enter a time in the hh:mm:ss AM/PM format. You can also click the clock icon and select a time from the drop-down list. The Grid Master creates a backup file on the selected day and time every week.

• Disable Scheduled Backup: Select this if you want to disable automatic backups from occurring now. You can still save the settings for future use.

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2. FTP: Back up system files to an FTP server.

• Keep local copy: Select this to also save a local copy of the backup file on your appliance. This is disabled by default. The local backup contains only the Grid backup, it does not contain backups for reporting and Network Automation. Note that when you select this, the total backup time will increase.

• IP Address of FTP Server: The IP address of the FTP server.

• Directory Path: Enter the directory path of the file. For example, you can enter /archive/backups. The directory path cannot contain spaces. The folder or directory you enter here must already exist on the specified server. Do not include the file name in the directory path.

• Username: Enter the username of your FTP account.

• Password: Enter the password of your FTP account.

• Recurrence: Select how often the scheduled backups should occur. You can select Weekly, Daily, or Hourly. For information, see TFTP.

• Disable Scheduled Backup: Select this if you want to disable automatic backups from occurring now, but want to save the settings for future use.

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3. SCP: Back up system files to an SSH server that supports SCP.

• Keep local copy: Select this to also save a local copy of the backup file on your appliance. This is disabled by default. The local backup contains only the Grid backup, it does not contain backups for reporting and Network Automation. Note that when you select this, the total backup time will increase.

• IP Address of SCP Server: The IP address of the SCP server.

• Directory Path: Enter the directory path of the file. For example, you can enter /archive/backups. The directory path cannot contain spaces. The folder or directory you enter here must already exist on the specified server. Do not include the file name in the directory path.

• Username: Enter the username of your SCP account.

• Password: Enter the password of your SCP account.

• Optionally, select Use Keys and select keys to Upload.

• Recurrence: Select how often the scheduled backups should occur. You can select Weekly, Daily, or Hourly. For information, see the TFTP section.

• Disable Scheduled Backup:Select this if you want to disable automatic backups from occurring now. You can still save the settings for future use.

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4. Grid Master (Local): Back up to a local directory on the Grid Master. This is the default.

• Recurrence: Select how often the scheduled backups should occur. You can select Weekly, Daily, or Hourly. For information, see the TFTP section.

5. Click Save & Close.

Restoring From Backup

To restore a backup file to a standalone appliance or Grid Master, use the following procedure:

1. In Grid Manager, navigate to the Grid → Grid Manager tab.

2. In the Toolbar, click the dropdown for Restore. Select Restore Grid.

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3. In the Restore dialog box, choose a location from the Restore from dropdown list.

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4. Fill in details based on your selection:

1. My Computer: Restore a file from your local computer. This is the default.

• Filename: Click Select File to navigate to the configuration file.

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2. TFTP: Restore a file from a TFTP server.

• Filename: Enter the directory path and the file name you want to restore. For example, you can enter /archive/backups/Infoblox_backup.

• IP Address of TFTP Server: Enter the IP address of the TFTP server from which you restore the configuration file.

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3. FTP: Restore a file from an FTP server.

• Filename: Enter the directory path and the file name you want to restore. For example, you can enter /archive/backups/Infoblox_backup.

• IP Address of FTP Server: Enter the IP address of the FTP server.

• Username: Enter the username of your FTP server account.

• Password: Enter the password of your FTP server account.

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4. To download a backup file from one appliance to a different appliance, use any of the above sources and select Force Restore from Different Grid to enable the feature, and then select one of the following:

• Retain Current Grid Master IP Settings (this is the default)

• Overwrite Grid Master IP Settings

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5. Click Restore. In the Confirm Restore dialog box, click Yes.

Instance Failure

Actions to take if an Infoblox vNIOS for AWS appliance fails differ based on whether the appliance is a Grid Master or Grid Member. 

For a Grid Master, Infoblox recommends your Grid has at least one Grid Master Candidate (GMC), an optional designation when adding a member to the Grid. The GMC holds a complete copy of the Grid database. Ideally, the GMC should be deployed in a different location than the Grid Master so an outage is unlikely to affect both (for example, deploy the GM on-premises and the GMC in AWS or deploy GM and GMC to different regions in AWS). If the Grid Master fails, the GMC can be promoted to GM. To promote a GMC, use the following procedure:

1. Establish a serial connection (through a serial console or remote access using SSH) to the Master Candidate.

2. At the CLI prompt, use the command set promote_master to promote the Master Candidate and send notifications to all Grid members immediately, or promote the Master Candidate to the Grid Master immediately and specify the delay time for the Grid members to join the new Grid Master. For more information about the command, refer to the Infoblox CLI Guide.

3. To verify the new master is operating properly, log in to the Infoblox Grid Manager on the new master using the IP address of the LAN1 port for a single master.

4. Check the icons in the Status column. Also, select the master, and then click the Detailed Status icon in the table toolbar. You can also check the status icons of the Grid members to verify that all Grid members have connected to the new master. If you have configured delay time for Grid member notification, it will take some time for some members to connect to the new master. You can also check your firewall rules and log in to the CLI to investigate those members.

For a Grid with no GMC or a standalone appliance, a new vNIOS appliance can be deployed and restored from a backup as described in the Restoring From Backup section of this document.

If a Grid Member fails, actions to take will depend on the services that member was providing. Attempt to restart/restore the member. If this fails, a new member can be deployed and added to the Grid to backfill the role. No restore from backup is necessary as the Grid Master will push configuration to the new virtual appliance.

RTO and RPO

Core network services such as DNS and DHCP provided by the Infoblox Grid should have a recovery time objective (RTO) shorter than that of the most critical application using these services. You can decrease RTO of Infoblox core network services by implementing the highly available, redundant configurations for the Grid, DNS, and DHCP detailed in the Configuring for Highly Available Services section of this guide.

The Infoblox Grid is designed to avoid data loss and provide for short recovery point objectives (RPO). Local changes on DNS and DHCP appliances, such as issuing a DHCP lease or updating a DNS record are propagated almost immediately to the Gid Master and vice versa. The Grid database contained on the Grid Master and Master Candidates reflects the real-time state of data across all appliances in the Grid. 

The following failure scenarios demonstrate how the Infoblox Grid maximizes availability of services and minimizes RTO/RPO:

1. Loss of connectivity between a member and the Grid Master: The member devices will enter a disconnected operation state and continue to provide all services. Any updates bound for the GM are queued until connectivity is restored. When connectivity to the GM is restored, the member will propagate all updates to the GM. Once the GM receives updated data, it will synchronize with all Grid members.

2. Replacement of a failed appliance or virtual appliance: Any appliance or virtual appliance of the same type can be used to replace a failed appliance. For example a new vNIOS TE-V1425 instance on AWS can replace a failed TE-V1425. Once the new appliance is configured with the IP address of the failed one and reaches out to the GM, the following will take place automatically:

   1. The new appliance establishes connectivity with the GM.

   2. The GM checks the version of software on the replacement member.

   3. The GM will download and upgrade the new appliance software to the version running on the Grid.

   4. The GM will load all configuration and service data and will start services on the replacement appliance.

3. Loss of Grid Master: If the GM fails or becomes unreachable due to network or other failure, all member appliances will enter the disconnected operation state and continue to provide services. At any time, before or after the loss of the GM, an administrator can promote a Grid Master Candidate to the master role as described in the Instance Failure section of this guide. The GMC will then assume the role of GM and contact all members informing them of the change.

If the promotion takes place before a GM is lost, the newly promoted candidate’s database will contain an identical copy of the master’s database, so time required to re-synchronize between the new GM and members will be minimal.

If the promotion takes place after failure of the GM, and member devices have entered the disconnected operation state, the new GM will automatically re-synchronize the Grid. This can occur in a matter of seconds depending on the total number of objects in the database, bandwidth of network connections, and number of changes that occurred during disconnected operation. At no time is service interrupted on the member devices and synchronization activities are invisible to users.