Maintain the AOLserver Directories

The AOLserver directories described below should be backed up regularly to ensure against file system failure.

Back Up the Pages Directory

The location of the pages directory for each virtual server is determined by the server-specific PageRoot entry in the AOLserver configuration file (see Chapter 4). Normally, it is the /servers/servername/pages subdirectory under the AOLserver home directory.

Use whatever file system backup procedure you have in place at your site. To schedule nightly backups, use the Unix cron facility.

Back Up the Access Log

The access log file needs to be backed up regularly. By default, the access log for each virtual server is in the /servers/server-name/modules/nslog/access.log file under the AOLserver home directory.

The access log can be configured to limit the number of old logs maintained (with the MaxBackup parameter). This sets an upper limit on the amount of disk space the access logs take. However, because old logs beyond the limit configured to be saved by the AOLserver are deleted automatically, you must back up old logs if you require a complete history of access to your site. For example, if the MaxBackup parameter in the configuration file is set to 5, only five old access log files will remain on disk. When a sixth log file needs to be opened, the oldest log is removed.

Back Up the Server Log

Ordinarily, the server log file grows at a slow rate and does not need regular truncation. However, while debugging new applications, you should set the Verbose parameter in the [NS\Module\nsdb\Pool\pool-name] section in the configuration file to on instead of off (the default). Every SQL statement sent to the database is logged in the error log and causes the file to grow much more quickly. In this case you may want to back up the error log.

Back Up the Tcl Scripts Directory

The Tcl scripts directory contains the source to the Tcl scripts that provide the server with much of its advanced functionality. Tcl scripts for each virtual server are stored in the /servers/servername/modules/tcl subdirectory by default, and global Tcl scripts are stored in the /modules/tcl subdirectory by default.

If you write new Tcl scripts or edit the existing ones, you must ensure your changes are saved regularly to a safe place. Also, be sure that any external files utilized by your Tcl scripts are backed up too, including files outside the AOLserver home directory.

Back Up the bin Directory

The /bin subdirectory of the AOLserver home is the location of the AOLserver binary and the default location of any dynamically loadable C modules. If your site maintains several interesting loadable modules, you must make sure copies of the modules are backed up to avoid having to recompile them after a file system failure. Also, be sure to back up your module source code.