Preparing for disaster recovery with Identity Management

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8

Mitigating the effects of server and data loss scenarios in IdM environments

Red Hat Customer Content Services

Abstract

Server and data loss scenarios, for example due to a hardware failure, are the highest risks in IT environments. In a Red Hat Identity Management (IdM) topology, you can configure replication with other servers, use virtual machine (VM) snapshots, and IdM backups to mitigate the effects of these situations.

Making open source more inclusive

Red Hat is committed to replacing problematic language in our code, documentation, and web properties. We are beginning with these four terms: master, slave, blacklist, and whitelist. Because of the enormity of this endeavor, these changes will be implemented gradually over several upcoming releases. For more details, see our CTO Chris Wright’s message.

In Identity Management, planned terminology replacements include:

  • block list replaces blacklist
  • allow list replaces whitelist
  • secondary replaces slave
  • The word master is being replaced with more precise language, depending on the context:

    • IdM server replaces IdM master
    • CA renewal server replaces CA renewal master
    • CRL publisher server replaces CRL master
    • multi-supplier replaces multi-master

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Chapter 1. Disaster recovery tools in IdM

A good disaster recovery strategy combines the following tools to recover from a disaster as soon as possible with minimal data loss:

Replication
Replication copies database contents between IdM servers. If an IdM server fails, you can replace the lost server by creating a new replica based on one of the remaining servers.
Virtual machine (VM) snapshots
A snapshot is a view of a VM’s operating system and applications on any or all available disks at a given point in time. After taking a VM snapshot, you can use it to return a VM and its IdM data to a previous state.
IdM backups
The ipa-backup utility allows you to take a backup of an IdM server’s configuration files and its data. You can later use a backup to restore an IdM server to a previous state.

Chapter 2. Disaster scenarios in IdM

There are two main classes of disaster scenarios: server loss and data loss.

Table 2.1. Server loss vs. data loss

Disaster type

Example causes

How to prepare

Server loss: The IdM deployment loses one or several servers.

  • Hardware malfunction

Data loss: IdM data is unexpectedly modified on a server, and the change is propagated to other servers.

  • A user accidentally deletes data
  • A software bug modifies data

Chapter 3. Preparing for server loss with replication

Follow these guidelines to establish a replication topology that will allow you to respond to losing a server.

This section covers the following topics:

3.1. Guidelines for connecting IdM replicas in a topology

Connect each replica to at least two other replicas
Configuring additional replication agreements ensures that information is replicated not just between the initial replica and the first server you installed, but between other replicas as well.
Connect a replica to a maximum of four other replicas (not a hard requirement)

A large number of replication agreements per server does not add significant benefits. A receiving replica can only be updated by one other replica at a time and meanwhile, the other replication agreements are idle. More than four replication agreements per replica typically means a waste of resources.

Note

This recommendation applies to both certificate replication and domain replication agreements.

There are two exceptions to the limit of four replication agreements per replica:

  • You want failover paths if certain replicas are not online or responding.
  • In larger deployments, you want additional direct links between specific nodes.

Configuring a high number of replication agreements can have a negative impact on overall performance: when multiple replication agreements in the topology are sending updates, certain replicas can experience a high contention on the changelog database file between incoming updates and the outgoing updates.

If you decide to use more replication agreements per replica, ensure that you do not experience replication issues and latency. However, note that large distances and high numbers of intermediate nodes can also cause latency problems.

Connect the replicas in a data center with each other
This ensures domain replication within the data center.
Connect each data center to at least two other data centers
This ensures domain replication between data centers.
Connect data centers using at least a pair of replication agreements
If data centers A and B have a replication agreement from A1 to B1, having a replication agreement from A2 to B2 ensures that if one of the servers is down, the replication can continue between the two data centers.

3.2. Replica topology examples

The figures below show examples of Identity Management (IdM) topologies based on the guidelines for creating a reliable topology.

Replica Topology Example 1 shows four data centers, each with four servers. The servers are connected with replication agreements.

Figure 3.1. Replica Topology Example 1

A diagram showing 4 data centers - Geo 1 through 4. Each data center has four servers connected to each other with replication agreements. There are also replication agreements connecting two servers from Geo 1 to two servers in Geo 2. This pattern continues with two servers in Geo 2 connected to two servers in Geo 3 and two servers in Geo 3 connected to Geo 4. This connects each data center so each server is at most 3 hops away from another Geo.



Replica Topology Example 2 shows three data centers, each with a different number of servers. The servers are connected with replication agreements.

Figure 3.2. Replica Topology Example 2

A diagram showing 3 data centers: Geo 1 has 5 servers each connected to the other - Geo 2 has two servers connected to each other - Geo 3 has 3 servers connected in a triangle. There are 2 connections from each Geo connecting two of its servers to 2 servers in the next Geo.

3.3. Protecting IdM CA data

If your deployment contains the integrated IdM Certificate Authority (CA), install several CA replicas so you can create additional CA replicas if one is lost.

Procedure

  1. Configure three or more replicas to provide CA services.

    1. To install a new replica with CA services, run ipa-replica-install with the --setup-ca option.

      [root@server ~]# ipa-replica-install --setup-ca
    2. To install CA services on a preexisting replica, run ipa-ca-install.

      [root@replica ~]# ipa-ca-install
  2. Create CA replication agreements between your CA replicas.

    [root@careplica1 ~]# ipa topologysegment-add
    Suffix name: ca
    Left node: ca-replica1.example.com
    Right node: ca-replica2.example.com
    Segment name [ca-replica1.example.com-to-ca-replica2.example.com]: new_segment
    ---------------------------
    Added segment "new_segment"
    ---------------------------
      Segment name: new_segment
      Left node: ca-replica1.example.com
      Right node: ca-replica2.example.com
      Connectivity: both
Warning

If only one server provides CA services and it is damaged, the entire environment will be lost. If you use the IdM CA, Red Hat strongly recommends having three or more replicas with CA services installed, with CA replication agreements between them.

Chapter 4. Preparing for data loss with VM snapshots

Virtual machine (VM) snapshots are an integral component of a data recovery strategy, since they preserve the full state of an IdM server:

  • Operating system software and settings
  • IdM software and settings
  • IdM customer data

Preparing a VM snapshot of an IdM Certificate Authority (CA) replica allows you to rebuild an entire IdM deployment after a disaster.

Warning

If your environment uses the integrated CA, a snapshot of a replica without a CA will not be sufficient for rebuilding a deployment, because certificate data will not be preserved.

Similarly, if your environment uses the IdM Key Recovery Authority (KRA), make sure you create snapshots of a KRA replica, or you may lose the storage key.

Red Hat recommends creating snapshots of a VM that has all of the IdM server roles installed which are in use in your deployment: CA, KRA, DNS.

Prerequisites

  • A hypervisor capable of hosting RHEL VMs.

Procedure

  1. Configure at least one CA replica in the deployment to run inside a VM.

    1. If IdM DNS or KRA are used in your environment, consider installing DNS and KRA services on this replica as well.
    2. Optionally, configure this VM replica as a hidden replica.
  2. Periodically shutdown this VM, take a full snapshot of it, and bring it back online so it continues to receive replication updates. If the VM is a hidden replica, IdM Clients will not be disrupted during this procedure.

Chapter 5. Preparing for data loss with IdM backups

IdM provides the ipa-backup utility to backup IdM data, and the ipa-restore utility to restore servers and data from those backups.

This section covers the following topics:

Note

Red Hat recommends running backups as often as necessary on a hidden replica with all server roles installed, especially the Certificate Authority (CA) role if the environment uses the integrated IdM CA. See Installing an IdM hidden replica.

5.1. IdM backup types

With the ipa-backup utility, you can create two types of backups:

Full-server backup
  • Contains all server configuration files related to IdM, and LDAP data in LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF) files
  • IdM services must be offline.
  • Suitable for rebuilding an IdM deployment from scratch.
Data-only backup
  • Contains LDAP data in LDIF files and the replication changelog
  • IdM services can be online or offline.
  • Suitable for restoring IdM data to a state in the past

5.2. Naming conventions for IdM backup files

By default, IdM stores backups as .tar archives in subdirectories of the /var/lib/ipa/backup/ directory.

The archives and subdirectories follow these naming conventions:

Full-server backup

An archive named ipa-full.tar in a directory named ipa-full-<YEAR-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS>, with the time specified in GMT time.

[root@server ~]# ll /var/lib/ipa/backup/ipa-full-2021-01-29-12-11-46
total 3056
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root     158 Jan 29 12:11 header
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 3121511 Jan 29 12:11 ipa-full.tar
Data-only backup

An archive named ipa-data.tar in a directory named ipa-data-<YEAR-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS>, with the time specified in GMT time.

[root@server ~]# ll /var/lib/ipa/backup/ipa-data-2021-01-29-12-14-23
total 1072
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root     158 Jan 29 12:14 header
-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 1090388 Jan 29 12:14 ipa-data.tar
Note

Uninstalling an IdM server does not automatically remove any backup files.

5.3. Considerations when creating a backup

The important behaviors and limitations of the ipa-backup command include the following:

  • By default, the ipa-backup utility runs in offline mode, which stops all IdM services. The utility automatically restarts IdM services after the backup is finished.
  • A full-server backup must always run with IdM services offline, but a data-only backup may be performed with services online.
  • By default, the ipa-backup utility creates backups on the file system containing the /var/lib/ipa/backup/ directory. Red Hat recommends creating backups regularly on a file system separate from the production filesystem used by IdM, and archiving the backups to a fixed medium, such as tape or optical storage.
  • Consider performing backups on hidden replicas. IdM services can be shut down on hidden replicas without affecting IdM clients.
  • Starting with RHEL 8.3.0, the ipa-backup utility checks if all of the services used in your IdM cluster, such as a Certificate Authority (CA), Domain Name System (DNS), and Key Recovery Agent (KRA), are installed on the server where you are running the backup. If the server does not have all these services installed, the ipa-backup utility exits with a warning, because backups taken on that host would not be sufficient for a full cluster restoration.

    For example, if your IdM deployment uses an integrated Certificate Authority (CA), a backup run on a non-CA replica will not capture CA data. Red Hat recommends verifying that the replica where you perform an ipa-backup has all of the IdM services used in the cluster installed.

    You can bypass the IdM server role check with the ipa-backup --disable-role-check command, but the resulting backup will not contain all the data necessary to restore IdM fully.

5.4. Creating an IdM backup

Follow this procedure to create a full-server and data-only backup in offline and online modes using the ipa-backup command.

Prerequisites

  • You must have root privileges to run the ipa-backup utility.

Procedure

  • To create a full-server backup in offline mode, use the ipa-backup utility without additional options.

    [root@server ~]# ipa-backup
    Preparing backup on server.example.com
    Stopping IPA services
    Backing up ipaca in EXAMPLE-COM to LDIF
    Backing up userRoot in EXAMPLE-COM to LDIF
    Backing up EXAMPLE-COM
    Backing up files
    Starting IPA service
    Backed up to /var/lib/ipa/backup/ipa-full-2020-01-14-11-26-06
    The ipa-backup command was successful
  • To create an offline data-only backup, specify the --data option.

    [root@server ~]# ipa-backup --data
  • To create a full-server backup that includes IdM log files, use the --logs option.

    [root@server ~]# ipa-backup --logs
  • To create a data-only backup while IdM services are running, specify both --data and --online options.

    [root@server ~]# ipa-backup --data --online
Note

If the backup fails due to insufficient space in the /tmp directory, use the TMPDIR environment variable to change the destination for temporary files created by the backup process:

[root@server ~]# TMPDIR=/new/location ipa-backup

For more details, see ipa-backup Command Fails to Finish.

Verification Steps

  • The backup directory contains an archive with the backup.

    [root@server ~]# ls /var/lib/ipa/backup/ipa-full-2020-01-14-11-26-06
    header  ipa-full.tar

5.5. Creating a GPG2-encrypted IdM backup

You can create encrypted backups using GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) encryption. The following procedure creates an IdM backup and encrypts it using a GPG2 key.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  • Create a GPG-encrypted backup by specifying the --gpg option.

    [root@server ~]# ipa-backup --gpg
    Preparing backup on server.example.com
    Stopping IPA services
    Backing up ipaca in EXAMPLE-COM to LDIF
    Backing up userRoot in EXAMPLE-COM to LDIF
    Backing up EXAMPLE-COM
    Backing up files
    Starting IPA service
    Encrypting /var/lib/ipa/backup/ipa-full-2020-01-13-14-38-00/ipa-full.tar
    Backed up to /var/lib/ipa/backup/ipa-full-2020-01-13-14-38-00
    The ipa-backup command was successful

Verification Steps

  • Ensure that the backup directory contains an encrypted archive with a .gpg file extension.

    [root@server ~]# ls /var/lib/ipa/backup/ipa-full-2020-01-13-14-38-00
    header  ipa-full.tar.gpg

Additional resources

5.6. Creating a GPG2 key

The following procedure describes how to generate a GPG2 key to use with encryption utilities.

Prerequisites

  • You need root privileges.

Procedure

  1. Install and configure the pinentry utility.

    [root@server ~]# yum install pinentry
    [root@server ~]# mkdir ~/.gnupg -m 700
    [root@server ~]# echo "pinentry-program /usr/bin/pinentry-curses" >> ~/.gnupg/gpg-agent.conf
  2. Create a key-input file used for generating a GPG keypair with your preferred details. For example:

    [root@server ~]# cat >key-input <<EOF
    %echo Generating a standard key
    Key-Type: RSA
    Key-Length: 2048
    Name-Real: GPG User
    Name-Comment: first key
    Name-Email: root@example.com
    Expire-Date: 0
    %commit
    %echo Finished creating standard key
    EOF
  3. (Optional) By default, GPG2 stores its keyring in the ~/.gnupg file. To use a custom keyring location, set the GNUPGHOME environment variable to a directory that is only accessible by root.

    [root@server ~]# export GNUPGHOME=/root/backup
    
    [root@server ~]# mkdir -p $GNUPGHOME -m 700
  4. Generate a new GPG2 key based on the contents of the key-input file.

    [root@server ~]# gpg2 --batch --gen-key key-input
  5. Enter a passphrase to protect the GPG2 key. You use this passphrase to access the private key for decryption.

    ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ Please enter the passphrase to                       │
    │ protect your new key                                 │
    │                                                      │
    │ Passphrase: <passphrase>                             │
    │                                                      │
    │	 <OK>                             <Cancel>         │
    └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
  6. Confirm the correct passphrase by entering it again.

    ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │ Please re-enter this passphrase                      │
    │                                                      │
    │ Passphrase: <passphrase>                             │
    │                                                      │
    │	 <OK>                             <Cancel>         │
    └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
  7. Verify that the new GPG2 key was created successfully.

    gpg: keybox '/root/backup/pubring.kbx' created
    gpg: Generating a standard key
    gpg: /root/backup/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
    gpg: key BF28FFA302EF4557 marked as ultimately trusted
    gpg: directory '/root/backup/openpgp-revocs.d' created
    gpg: revocation certificate stored as '/root/backup/openpgp-revocs.d/8F6FCF10C80359D5A05AED67BF28FFA302EF4557.rev'
    gpg: Finished creating standard key

Verification Steps

  • List the GPG keys on the server.

    [root@server ~]# gpg2 --list-secret-keys
    gpg: checking the trustdb
    gpg: marginals needed: 3  completes needed: 1  trust model: pgp
    gpg: depth: 0  valid:   1  signed:   0  trust: 0-, 0q, 0n, 0m, 0f, 1u
    /root/backup/pubring.kbx
    ------------------------
    sec   rsa2048 2020-01-13 [SCEA]
          8F6FCF10C80359D5A05AED67BF28FFA302EF4557
    uid           [ultimate] GPG User (first key) <root@example.com>

Additional resources

Chapter 6. Backing up IdM servers using Ansible playbooks

Using the ipabackup Ansible role, you can automate backing up an IdM server and transferring backup files between servers and your Ansible controller.

This section covers the following topics:

6.1. Preparing your Ansible control node for managing IdM

As a system administrator managing Identity Management (IdM), when working with Red Hat Ansible Engine, it is good practice to do the following:

  • Create a subdirectory dedicated to Ansible playbooks in your home directory, for example ~/MyPlaybooks.
  • Copy and adapt sample Ansible playbooks from the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/* and /usr/share/doc/rhel-system-roles/* directories and subdirectories into your ~/MyPlaybooks directory.
  • Include your inventory file in your ~/MyPlaybooks directory.

By following this practice, you can find all your playbooks in one place and you can run your playbooks without invoking root privileges.

Note

You only need root privileges on the managed nodes to execute the ipaserver, ipareplica, ipaclient, ipabackup, ipasmartcard_server and ipasmartcard_client ansible-freeipa roles. These roles require privileged access to directories and the dnf software package manager.

Follow this procedure to create the ~/MyPlaybooks directory and configure it so that you can use it to store and run Ansible playbooks.

Prerequisites

  • You have installed an IdM server on your managed nodes, server.idm.example.com and replica.idm.example.com.
  • You have configured DNS and networking so you can log in to the managed nodes, server.idm.example.com and replica.idm.example.com, directly from the control node.
  • You know the IdM admin password.

Procedure

  1. Create a directory for your Ansible configuration and playbooks in your home directory:

    $ mkdir ~/MyPlaybooks/
  2. Change into the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory:

    $ cd ~/MyPlaybooks
  3. Create the ~/MyPlaybooks/ansible.cfg file with the following content:

    [defaults]
    inventory = /home/your_username/MyPlaybooks/inventory
    
    [privilege_escalation]
    become=True
  4. Create the ~/MyPlaybooks/inventory file with the following content:

    [ipaserver]
    server.idm.example.com
    
    [ipareplicas]
    replica1.idm.example.com
    replica2.idm.example.com
    
    [ipacluster:children]
    ipaserver
    ipareplicas
    
    [ipacluster:vars]
    ipaadmin_password=SomeADMINpassword
    
    [ipaclients]
    ipaclient1.example.com
    ipaclient2.example.com
    
    [ipaclients:vars]
    ipaadmin_password=SomeADMINpassword

    This configuration defines two host groups, eu and us, for hosts in these locations. Additionally, this configuration defines the ipaserver host group, which contains all hosts from the eu and us groups.

  5. [Optional] Create an SSH public and private key. To simplify access in your test environment, do not set a password on the private key:

    $ ssh-keygen
  6. Copy the SSH public key to the IdM admin account on each managed node:

    $ ssh-copy-id admin@server.idm.example.com
    $ ssh-copy-id admin@replica.idm.example.com

    You must enter the IdM admin password when you enter these commands.

6.2. Using Ansible to create a backup of an IdM server

The following procedure describes how to use the ipabackup role in an Ansible playbook to create a backup of an IdM server and store it on the IdM server.

Prerequisites

  • You have configured your Ansible control node to meet the following requirements:

    • You are using Ansible version 2.14 or later.
    • You have installed the ansible-freeipa package on the Ansible controller.
    • The example assumes that in the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory, you have created an Ansible inventory file with the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the IdM server.
    • The example assumes that the secret.yml Ansible vault stores your ipaadmin_password.
  • The target node, that is the node on which the ansible-freeipa module is executed, is part of the IdM domain as an IdM client, server or replica.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory:

    $ cd ~/MyPlaybooks/
  2. Make a copy of the backup-server.yml file located in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks directory:

    $ cp /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/backup-server.yml backup-my-server.yml
  3. Open the backup-my-server.yml Ansible playbook file for editing.
  4. Adapt the file by setting the hosts variable to a host group from your inventory file. In this example, set it to the ipaserver host group:

    ---
    - name: Playbook to backup IPA server
      hosts: ipaserver
      become: true
    
      roles:
      - role: ipabackup
        state: present
  5. Save the file.
  6. Run the Ansible playbook, specifying the inventory file and the playbook file:

    $ ansible-playbook --vault-password-file=password_file -v -i ~/MyPlaybooks/inventory backup-my-server.yml

Verification steps

  1. Log into the IdM server that you have backed up.
  2. Verify that the backup is in the /var/lib/ipa/backup directory.

    [root@server ~]# ls /var/lib/ipa/backup/
    ipa-full-2021-04-30-13-12-00

Additional resources

  • For more sample Ansible playbooks that use the ipabackup role, see:

    • The README.md file in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/roles/ipabackup directory.
    • The /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/ directory.

6.3. Using Ansible to create a backup of an IdM server on your Ansible controller

The following procedure describes how to use the ipabackup role in an Ansible playbook to create a backup of an IdM server and automatically transfer it on your Ansible controller. Your backup file name begins with the host name of the IdM server.

Prerequisites

  • You have configured your Ansible control node to meet the following requirements:

    • You are using Ansible version 2.14 or later.
    • You have installed the ansible-freeipa package on the Ansible controller.
    • The example assumes that in the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory, you have created an Ansible inventory file with the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the IdM server.
    • The example assumes that the secret.yml Ansible vault stores your ipaadmin_password.
  • The target node, that is the node on which the ansible-freeipa module is executed, is part of the IdM domain as an IdM client, server or replica.

Procedure

  1. To store the backups, create a subdirectory in your home directory on the Ansible controller.

    $ mkdir ~/ipabackups
  2. Navigate to the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory:

    $ cd ~/MyPlaybooks/
  3. Make a copy of the backup-server-to-controller.yml file located in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks directory:

    $ cp /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/backup-server-to-controller.yml backup-my-server-to-my-controller.yml
  4. Open the backup-my-server-to-my-controller.yml file for editing.
  5. Adapt the file by setting the following variables:

    1. Set the hosts variable to a host group from your inventory file. In this example, set it to the ipaserver host group.
    2. (Optional) To maintain a copy of the backup on the IdM server, uncomment the following line:

       # ipabackup_keep_on_server: yes
  6. By default, backups are stored in the present working directory of the Ansible controller. To specify the backup directory you created in Step 1, add the ipabackup_controller_path variable and set it to the /home/user/ipabackups directory.

    ---
    - name: Playbook to backup IPA server to controller
      hosts: ipaserver
      become: true
      vars:
        ipabackup_to_controller: yes
        # ipabackup_keep_on_server: yes
        ipabackup_controller_path: /home/user/ipabackups
    
      roles:
      - role: ipabackup
        state: present
  7. Save the file.
  8. Run the Ansible playbook, specifying the inventory file and the playbook file:

    $ ansible-playbook --vault-password-file=password_file -v -i ~/MyPlaybooks/inventory backup-my-server-to-my-controller.yml

Verification steps

  • Verify that the backup is in the /home/user/ipabackups directory of your Ansible controller:

    [user@controller ~]$ ls /home/user/ipabackups
    server.idm.example.com_ipa-full-2021-04-30-13-12-00

Additional resources

  • For more sample Ansible playbooks that use the ipabackup role, see:

    • The README.md file in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/roles/ipabackup directory.
    • The /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/ directory.

6.4. Using Ansible to copy a backup of an IdM server to your Ansible controller

The following procedure describes how to use an Ansible playbook to copy a backup of an IdM server from the IdM server to your Ansible controller.

Prerequisites

  • You have configured your Ansible control node to meet the following requirements:

    • You are using Ansible version 2.14 or later.
    • You have installed the ansible-freeipa package on the Ansible controller.
    • The example assumes that in the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory, you have created an Ansible inventory file with the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the IdM server.
    • The example assumes that the secret.yml Ansible vault stores your ipaadmin_password.
  • The target node, that is the node on which the ansible-freeipa module is executed, is part of the IdM domain as an IdM client, server or replica.

Procedure

  1. To store the backups, create a subdirectory in your home directory on the Ansible controller.

    $ mkdir ~/ipabackups
  2. Navigate to the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory:

    $ cd ~/MyPlaybooks/
  3. Make a copy of the copy-backup-from-server.yml file located in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks directory:

    $ cp /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/copy-backup-from-server.yml copy-backup-from-my-server-to-my-controller.yml
  4. Open the copy-my-backup-from-my-server-to-my-controller.yml file for editing.
  5. Adapt the file by setting the following variables:

    1. Set the hosts variable to a host group from your inventory file. In this example, set it to the ipaserver host group.
    2. Set the ipabackup_name variable to the name of the ipabackup on your IdM server to copy to your Ansible controller.
    3. By default, backups are stored in the present working directory of the Ansible controller. To specify the directory you created in Step 1, add the ipabackup_controller_path variable and set it to the /home/user/ipabackups directory.

      ---
      - name: Playbook to copy backup from IPA server
        hosts: ipaserver
        become: true
        vars:
          ipabackup_name: ipa-full-2021-04-30-13-12-00
          ipabackup_to_controller: yes
          ipabackup_controller_path: /home/user/ipabackups
      
        roles:
        - role: ipabackup
          state: present
  6. Save the file.
  7. Run the Ansible playbook, specifying the inventory file and the playbook file:

    $ ansible-playbook --vault-password-file=password_file -v -i ~/MyPlaybooks/inventory copy-backup-from-my-server-to-my-controller.yml
Note

To copy all IdM backups to your controller, set the ipabackup_name variable in the Ansible playbook to all:

  vars:
    ipabackup_name: all
    ipabackup_to_controller: yes

For an example, see the copy-all-backups-from-server.yml Ansible playbook in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks directory.

Verification steps

  • Verify your backup is in the /home/user/ipabackups directory on your Ansible controller:

    [user@controller ~]$ ls /home/user/ipabackups
    server.idm.example.com_ipa-full-2021-04-30-13-12-00

Additional resources

  • The README.md file in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/roles/ipabackup directory.
  • The /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/ directory.

6.5. Using Ansible to copy a backup of an IdM server from your Ansible controller to the IdM server

The following procedure describes how to use an Ansible playbook to copy a backup of an IdM server from your Ansible controller to the IdM server.

Prerequisites

  • You have configured your Ansible control node to meet the following requirements:

    • You are using Ansible version 2.14 or later.
    • You have installed the ansible-freeipa package on the Ansible controller.
    • The example assumes that in the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory, you have created an Ansible inventory file with the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the IdM server.
    • The example assumes that the secret.yml Ansible vault stores your ipaadmin_password.
  • The target node, that is the node on which the ansible-freeipa module is executed, is part of the IdM domain as an IdM client, server or replica.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory:

    $ cd ~/MyPlaybooks/
  2. Make a copy of the copy-backup-from-controller.yml file located in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks directory:

    $ cp /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/copy-backup-from-controller.yml copy-backup-from-my-controller-to-my-server.yml
  3. Open the copy-my-backup-from-my-controller-to-my-server.yml file for editing.
  4. Adapt the file by setting the following variables:

    1. Set the hosts variable to a host group from your inventory file. In this example, set it to the ipaserver host group.
    2. Set the ipabackup_name variable to the name of the ipabackup on your Ansible controller to copy to the IdM server.

      ---
      - name: Playbook to copy a backup from controller to the IPA server
        hosts: ipaserver
        become: true
      
        vars:
          ipabackup_name: server.idm.example.com_ipa-full-2021-04-30-13-12-00
          ipabackup_from_controller: yes
      
        roles:
        - role: ipabackup
          state: copied
  5. Save the file.
  6. Run the Ansible playbook, specifying the inventory file and the playbook file:

    $ ansible-playbook --vault-password-file=password_file -v -i ~/MyPlaybooks/inventory copy-backup-from-my-controller-to-my-server.yml

Additional resources

  • The README.md file in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/roles/ipabackup directory.
  • The /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/ directory.

6.6. Using Ansible to remove a backup from an IdM server

The following procedure describes how to use an Ansible playbook to remove a backup from an IdM server.

Prerequisites

  • You have configured your Ansible control node to meet the following requirements:

    • You are using Ansible version 2.14 or later.
    • You have installed the ansible-freeipa package on the Ansible controller.
    • The example assumes that in the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory, you have created an Ansible inventory file with the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the IdM server.
    • The example assumes that the secret.yml Ansible vault stores your ipaadmin_password.
  • The target node, that is the node on which the ansible-freeipa module is executed, is part of the IdM domain as an IdM client, server or replica.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory:

    $ cd ~/MyPlaybooks/
  2. Make a copy of the remove-backup-from-server.yml file located in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks directory:

    $ cp /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/remove-backup-from-server.yml remove-backup-from-my-server.yml
  3. Open the remove-backup-from-my-server.yml file for editing.
  4. Adapt the file by setting the following variables:

    1. Set the hosts variable to a host group from your inventory file. In this example, set it to the ipaserver host group.
    2. Set the ipabackup_name variable to the name of the ipabackup to remove from your IdM server.

      ---
      - name: Playbook to remove backup from IPA server
        hosts: ipaserver
        become: true
      
        vars:
          ipabackup_name: ipa-full-2021-04-30-13-12-00
      
        roles:
        - role: ipabackup
          state: absent
  5. Save the file.
  6. Run the Ansible playbook, specifying the inventory file and the playbook file:

    $ ansible-playbook --vault-password-file=password_file -v -i ~/MyPlaybooks/inventory remove-backup-from-my-server.yml
Note

To remove all IdM backups from the IdM server, set the ipabackup_name variable in the Ansible playbook to all:

  vars:
    ipabackup_name: all

For an example, see the remove-all-backups-from-server.yml Ansible playbook in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks directory.

Additional resources

  • The README.md file in the /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/roles/ipabackup directory.
  • The /usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/ directory.

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