Running the ArcGIS Server backup and restore utilities on Amazon Web Services

ArcGIS Server includes backup and restore utilities that preserve properties of your site configuration. You can use these utilities in combination with Cloud Builder backups if you want a basic backup of your site properties that can be stored in a different physical location and restored without site downtime.

When you run the ArcGIS Server backup and restore utilities on your site, make sure to do the following:

• When you provide the utility parameters, use the public DNS or LOCALHOST in the server URL; do not use the Elastic Load Balancer name.
• Copy the backup file .agssite to a location apart from the EC2 instance, such as Amazon S3. This allows you to recover your site configuration even if you lose the original EC2 instances or your Cloud Builder backup.
• After running the restore utility, use Cloud Builder to stop your site, then start it again. This restores your original number of instances to the site.

You may see error messages related to the Elastic Load Balancer when you run the restore utility. This is expected.