The Persistent Chat Server role is optional, and not all deployments include this role. If the role is not implemented, there is really nothing to worry about here.
In the event that the Persistent Chat Server role is deployed, it could be on a separate pool and have a different set of databases than the rest of the Lync deployment. This will vary between the Standard Edition (collocated) and Enterprise Edition deployments. The backup and restore is done with their own set of backup commands and must be performed using PowerShell.
The Persistent Chat database and information is not included in the Export-CsConfiguration or Get-CsTopology command (except for the name of the pools, database, and core information).
This task can only be performed in PowerShell and must be done in the elevated administrative mode.
To get a list of the servers and instances in use by the deployment, run this:
Get-CsService -PersistentChatDatabase | Select-Object poolfqdn, sqlinstancename | fl
The Export-CsPersistentChatData and Import-CsPersistentChatData commands are primarily for migration purposes, but why not use them as an extra backup?
The following are the three steps to back up the Persistent Chat databases:
- Start PowerShell in the elevated administrative mode.
- For each server returned by the
getcommand, run this:Export-CsPersistentChatData –DBInstance´ sql_srv.mydomain.commypreschatinst –FileName´ "c:ackupPersistantChatDBx.zip - Store those files in a secure location.
The following are the two steps to restore data:
The Export-CsPersistentChatData command can be used to make a more granular export/backup. There are a couple of switches to control the output. These can be very useful to control the amount of data exported. The switches are as follows:
- Level: This is used to control what type of data we export. The values that are allowed areAll(default),User,Category,RoomDirectory, andContent.- Scope: This is used to control what category to export.- Startdate: This is used to control how much old data to export. Not all data from the beginning of time is relevant when doing backups. This switch can only be used whenLevelis set toRoomDirectory.Note
Running the
Export-CsPersistentChatDatacommand without specifying any of these additional switches will create a backup from the beginning of time. If this is undesirable, the export job should be split into several jobs using theLevelswitch. However, in a large deployment, this can easily get very complex and hard to control. Keep it as simple as possible.
- The Export-CsPersistentChatData post at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj205378.aspx
- The Import-CsPersistentChatData post at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj204709.aspx