You may be in a situation where you either want to clone your LIVE server to a TEST server, or may be undertaking a migration to a newer version of Sage X3 and want to copy over all the administration data form your SOURCE (LIVE) server to the TARGET (TEST) server, so what are the options to achieve this?
There is no step-by-step guide generally available from Sage which describes copying/cloning a Sage X3 instance from one server to another (Although check my blog “Index page: Test system Build Diary index” for an example for a TEST server. You can also check my blog article "How can I clone a Sage X3 Server?" ) The steps to take the child folder data across from one system to another is relatively straightforward and well understood, however one particular problem area is how to copy over the relevant administration data, which is stored in the MongoDB database.
NOTE: be aware this is not a discussion about specifically upgrading data from one version of Sage X3 to a different version. For this you would need to review the Sage X3 Migration or Upgrade documents.
The online help document which discusses the overall options for transferring MongoDB data is "Strategies for transferring mongoDB data between environments” Be warned that this help page is not really all that detailed and is also not really a complete set of steps. It has been mostly superseded by the “Syracuse Server Migration Tool” anyway.
There are some generic documents available which may help with the tasks of identifying and transferring Administration data, discussed below:
X3 Users Import
https://online-help.sageerpx3.com/erp/12/staticpost/user-imports/
This will take the folder users and create a corresponding entry in Syracuse (after the folder data has been transferred over to the TARGET system)
Export Profiles
https://online-help.sageerpx3.com/erp/12/staticpost/export-profiles/
Allows you to extract data from one instance and use the corresponding Import tool (https://online-help.sageerpx3.com/erp/12/staticpost/import-tool/ ) to import the data into a separate instance.
This is also discussed in more detail in the online help article "How to transfer administration data" This will work across different versions of X3 (PU9 to V12 for example)
You can also take a look at "Worked example to demonstrate how to transfer Administration Data"
Personalisation Management
https://online-help.sageerpx3.com/erp/12/staticpost/personalization-management/
Allows you to export personalised dashboards, vignettes, menu items, and personalized pages allowing the data to be imported into a separate instance using the Import tool.
Syracuse Server Migration Tool
This is described in the online help "Syracuse Server Migration Tool" Bear in mind this tool does not take into account upgrading to different version, so is not suitable for migrating on it’s own.
You can also read my new blog article “Syracuse Migration Tool” which discusses this in more detail.
General issues to consider
In more general terms, if you are copying data from LIVE to TEST you should consider such things as:
1. Security and permissions
- Make sure the TEST server is as secure as the LIVE server (as you have the same data set)
- Don't allow users access to processes they are not entitled to on LIVE
- Don't allow people access to the Sage X3 database (using SQL tools for example) unless they can do this on LIVE already
- You may need to consider obfuscating sensitive data, e.g. personally identifiable information (PII) data
2. Check for any configuration in TEST instance pointing to LIVE servers or live external providers
For example:
- Do you want emails generated from running processes on TEST to go to the same user email addresses as LIVE
- Would any supplier payments generated from TEST server get sent to your bank for processing
- Have you got any things such as WebServices which retrieve data from external providers. If so, would the TEST server consume LIVE data (such that it cannot then be retrieved by the LIVE server)
3. Other general safeguards
- If you are printing from TEST, particularly things such as Invoices or Purchase Orders, can they easily be identified as coming from TEST (so they won't get send out)
- How easy is it for a user to identify whether they have connected to the TEST instance rather than LIVE (You can review my blog “Why looks do matter!”
I hope the above suggestions will assist you when deciding on the best action for your own circumstances. If you need more specific assistance to achieve your business requirements, you may wish to consider engaging our Centre of Excellence to assist further.