EPM Cloud Updates Tutorial

Configuring EPM Cloud Backup and Recovery

Oracle’s Built-In Daily Backup

EPM Cloud is backed up automatically every day. You don’t need to request this; it happens during your instance’s maintenance window.

What’s Included in the Daily Backup

  • Application Data: All cell values, user-submitted data, forecasts.
  • Metadata: Dimensions, members, member properties, hierarchies.
  • Artifacts: Business rules, calculation scripts, reports, dashboards, data load rules.
  • Security: User assignments, roles, access controls.
  • System Files: EPM Cloud configuration, integration settings.

Essentially, a complete snapshot of your application state.

Backup Retention Period

Oracle retains the daily backup for a configurable period, typically 30 days. This means you can restore from any day in the past month.

If you need to recover from a failure that occurred more than 30 days ago, you’ll need a manual backup (more on that below).

Backup Timing and Your Maintenance Window

The daily backup runs during your instance’s maintenance window (typically a 4-hour window, e.g., 2:00 AM–6:00 AM PST). The maintenance window is configured when you provision your EPM Cloud instance.

Important: Schedule critical batch jobs, integrations, and data loads outside your maintenance window. If a load is running when the backup starts, the backup may fail or the load may be interrupted.

Accessing Daily Backup Information

To view backup status:

  1. Log into the Oracle Cloud Console (OCI).
  2. Navigate to EPM Cloud > Instances.
  3. Click your instance.
  4. View the Backup Status and Last Backup Date.

EPM Automate also provides backup status:

epmautomate getServerProperties | grep -i backup

Manual Backups: exportSnapshot

While the daily backup is automatic and transparent, you may want to manually export a snapshot for specific purposes:

  • Pre-change backup: Before applying a major configuration change, export a snapshot.
  • Long-term archive: Keep weekly/monthly snapshots in cloud storage for multi-year retention.
  • Migration: Export from one instance, import to another.

Exporting a Snapshot via EPM Automate

epmautomate exportSnapshot -Application Planning

This command creates a snapshot file (ZIP archive) containing all Planning data and metadata.

Parameters:

  • -Application: Target application (Planning, FCCS, NR, ARCS).
  • -File: Output filename (default: snapshot_<timestamp>.zip).

Example:

epmautomate exportSnapshot -Application Planning -File snapshot_pre_update_25.06.zip

Snapshot File Format and Contents

The exported snapshot is a ZIP archive. When extracted, it contains:

snapshot/
├── data/
│   ├── actuals.txt
│   └── forecast.txt
├── metadata/
│   ├── dimensions.xml
│   ├── members.xml
│   └── properties.xml
├── artifacts/
│   ├── business_rules/
│   └── reports/
└── security/
    ├── users.xml
    └── roles.xml

Snapshot File Size

Snapshot size varies by application volume:

  • Small Planning app (< 1 GB of data): 100–500 MB snapshot.
  • Large Planning app (> 10 GB of data): Several GB snapshot.

Factor this into your storage and network bandwidth planning.

Downloading Snapshots to On-Premises Storage

By default, exported snapshots are stored on the EPM Cloud instance’s file system. To retain them long-term, download them to your on-premises storage.

Download via Oracle Cloud Console

  1. Log into Oracle Cloud Console.
  2. Navigate to EPM Cloud > Instances > [Your Instance] > File Storage.
  3. Locate your snapshot file.
  4. Click Download.

The snapshot downloads to your local machine.

Download via EPM Automate

EPM Automate doesn’t have a direct download command, but you can scripted retrieve snapshots:

# Export a snapshot
epmautomate exportSnapshot -Application Planning -File snapshot_20260407.zip

# Then use your OS's file copy mechanism
# On Windows:
copy C:\EPMAutomate\snapshots\snapshot_20260407.zip \\nas\backups\epm\

# On Linux:
scp C:\EPMAutomate\snapshots\snapshot_20260407.zip backup-server:/mnt/backups/epm/

Automating Backups with EPM Automate

Daily Automated Snapshot Script

Create a scheduled script that exports snapshots weekly:

Linux Shell Script (/opt/epm-scripts/weekly_backup.sh):

#!/bin/bash

TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
BACKUP_DIR="/mnt/backups/epm/"
LOG_FILE="/var/log/epm_backup_$TIMESTAMP.log"

cd /opt/epmautomate/bin

echo "Starting EPM Cloud backup at $(date)" > $LOG_FILE

# Login
./epmautomate login \
  -URL https://your-instance.us1.oraclecloudapps.com \
  -User admin \
  -PasswordFile encrypted.txt >> $LOG_FILE 2>&1

# Export snapshots for all applications
for app in Planning FCCS Narrative; do
    echo "Exporting $app..." >> $LOG_FILE
    ./epmautomate exportSnapshot \
      -Application $app \
      -File snapshot_${app}_$TIMESTAMP.zip >> $LOG_FILE 2>&1
done

# Download snapshots to NAS
cp *.zip $BACKUP_DIR >> $LOG_FILE 2>&1

# Verify backup size
BACKUP_SIZE=$(du -sh $BACKUP_DIR | awk '{print $1}')
echo "Total backup size: $BACKUP_SIZE" >> $LOG_FILE

# Cleanup old backups (keep last 12 weeks)
find $BACKUP_DIR -name "snapshot_*" -mtime +84 -exec rm {} \; >> $LOG_FILE 2>&1

./epmautomate logout >> $LOG_FILE 2>&1

echo "Backup completed at $(date)" >> $LOG_FILE

Windows Batch Script (C:\EPMAutomate\scripts\weekly_backup.bat):

@echo off
REM Weekly EPM Cloud backup script
REM Run via Windows Task Scheduler every Sunday at 2:00 AM

set TIMESTAMP=%date:~10,4%%date:~4,2%%date:~7,2%_%time:~0,2%%time:~3,2%
set BACKUP_DIR=\\nas\backups\epm
set LOG_FILE=C:\Logs\epm_backup_%TIMESTAMP%.log

cd C:\EPMAutomate\bin

echo Starting EPM Cloud backup at %date% %time% > %LOG_FILE%

epmautomate login -URL https://your-instance.us1.oraclecloudapps.com -User admin -PasswordFile encrypted.txt >> %LOG_FILE% 2>&1

REM Export snapshots
epmautomate exportSnapshot -Application Planning -File snapshot_Planning_%TIMESTAMP%.zip >> %LOG_FILE% 2>&1
epmautomate exportSnapshot -Application FCCS -File snapshot_FCCS_%TIMESTAMP%.zip >> %LOG_FILE% 2>&1

REM Copy to NAS
copy snapshot_*.zip %BACKUP_DIR% >> %LOG_FILE% 2>&1

epmautomate logout >> %LOG_FILE% 2>&1

echo Backup completed at %date% %time% >> %LOG_FILE%

Scheduling the Script

Linux (Crontab):

crontab -e
# Run weekly backup every Sunday at 2:00 AM
0 2 * * 0 /opt/epm-scripts/weekly_backup.sh

Windows (Task Scheduler):

  1. Open Task Scheduler.
  2. Create a new task.
  3. Trigger: Weekly, Sunday, 2:00 AM.
  4. Action: Start program C:\EPMAutomate\scripts\weekly_backup.bat.
  5. Settings: Run with highest privileges, run whether user is logged on or not.

Disaster Recovery: Restoring from Backup

Scenario 1: Restore from Daily Backup (< 30 Days Ago)

If data loss occurred within the last 30 days:

  1. Contact Oracle Support.
  2. Provide:
    • Instance name.
    • Target recovery date (e.g., “restore to March 25, 2026, 5:00 AM”).
  3. Oracle initiates a restore from the daily backup.
  4. The restore runs during the maintenance window (typically takes 1–4 hours depending on data volume).

Your instance is temporarily unavailable during restore.

Scenario 2: Restore from Exported Snapshot

If you have an exported snapshot (from days/weeks/months ago):

  1. Use EPM Automate to import the snapshot:
epmautomate importSnapshot -Application Planning -File snapshot_pre_incident.zip
  1. The snapshot is imported into the current application, merging with existing data or overwriting (depending on your merge strategy).

Caution: Importing a snapshot overwrites current state. Backup your current state first if you might need it.

Scenario 3: Full Environment Recreation

If your environment is corrupted and unrecoverable:

  1. Oracle provisions a new EPM Cloud instance with the same configuration.
  2. You import your latest snapshot:
epmautomate importSnapshot -Application Planning -File latest_snapshot.zip
  1. Validate that the import succeeded: check cube balances, verify member counts, test business rules.

Testing Recovery Procedures

Never assume backups work until you’ve tested them.

Recovery Test Procedure

  1. Export a snapshot from your production instance.
  2. Import into your test environment (or a temporary sandbox instance).
  3. Validate the import:
    • Check cube balances: Do totals match what you expect?
    • Run a test query: Can you retrieve data correctly?
    • Validate member counts: Are all dimensions and members present?
    • Test a business rule: Does it execute correctly on restored data?
  4. Document results: How long did import take? Were there any warnings?

Perform this test quarterly. If recovery takes 4 hours and you haven’t tested it, you might discover in a real incident that it takes 6 hours—unacceptable if your SLA is 4 hours.

Comprehensive Backup Strategy: Three-Tier Approach

A robust backup strategy combines daily, weekly, and pre-change snapshots:

Tier 1: Daily Automatic Backups (Oracle)

  • Frequency: Daily (runs during maintenance window).
  • Retention: 30 days.
  • RPO (Recovery Point Objective): 1 day (worst case, you lose 1 day of data).
  • RTO (Recovery Time Objective): 4 hours (time for Oracle to restore).
  • Cost: Included in EPM Cloud subscription.
  • Your Responsibility: None (completely automatic).

Tier 2: Weekly Manual Snapshots

  • Frequency: Weekly (e.g., Sunday nights via automated script).
  • Retention: 12 weeks (3 months).
  • Storage Location: On-premises NAS or cloud storage (S3, Azure Blob).
  • RPO: 7 days.
  • RTO: 2–4 hours (you initiate the import).
  • Cost: Storage only.
  • Your Responsibility: Automate script, monitor execution, test quarterly.

Tier 3: Pre-Change Snapshots

  • Frequency: Before major changes (configuration updates, customization rollouts, version upgrades).
  • Retention: Until change is validated (usually 1–2 weeks), then delete.
  • Storage Location: EPM Cloud file system + downloaded to NAS.
  • RPO: Zero (snapshot taken immediately before change).
  • RTO: 1–2 hours (quick rollback if needed).
  • Cost: Minimal (temporary storage).
  • Your Responsibility: Remember to take the snapshot before major changes.

Example Backup Timeline

Monday:   Automatic daily backup (Oracle, 30-day window)
         Weekly manual snapshot (exported, stored on NAS)

Tuesday:  Automatic daily backup

Thursday: Major configuration change planned
         Pre-change snapshot exported and verified
         Configuration change applied

Friday:   Change validation tests pass
         Pre-change snapshot deleted (no longer needed)

Monday:   Automatic daily backup
         Weekly manual snapshot (includes last week's data)

Monitoring and Validation

Backup Health Checks

Regularly verify backups are working:

# Check last backup timestamp
epmautomate getServerProperties | grep -i "last backup"

# Expected output: Last backup date = 2026-04-06 02:15:00

# If backup is more than 1 day old, investigate
if [ $(date -d "2026-04-06" +%s) -lt $(date -d "1 day ago" +%s) ]; then
    echo "WARNING: Last backup is older than 1 day"
    # Send alert email
fi

Snapshot Integrity Checks

After exporting a snapshot, verify its integrity:

# Check file size (should be non-zero)
ls -lh snapshot_*.zip

# Extract and verify contents
unzip -t snapshot_*.zip
# Output: testing: data/actuals.txt OK...

Set Alerts

If you have monitoring tools (Splunk, DataDog, Prometheus), set alerts:

  • Alert if last backup is > 1 day old.
  • Alert if backup file size is unusually small (potential data loss indicator).
  • Alert if backup process fails (exit code non-zero).

Folder Naming Fix (25.09+)

Important Bug Fix: As of 25.09, Oracle fixed an issue where folder names containing ”/” characters caused backup failures.

If you’re on 25.08 or earlier and your instance has ”/” in folder names:

  1. Rename affected folders before upgrading to 25.09.
  2. Use valid folder names (alphanumeric, hyphens, underscores).

Example:

Bad: My-Planning/Q1-Budget
Good: My-Planning_Q1-Budget

After upgrading to 25.09, the ”/” character is allowed in folder names without causing issues.

Key Takeaways

  1. Oracle’s Daily Backup is Automatic: Don’t rely on it alone; it’s only retained 30 days.

  2. Export Weekly Snapshots: Provide a second layer of backup beyond the 30-day window.

  3. Test Recovery Quarterly: A backup is only useful if you know how to restore it. Test in your test environment.

  4. Pre-Change Snapshots are Insurance: Before major updates or customizations, export a snapshot so you can quickly rollback if needed.

  5. Automate Everything: Use scripts to export and download snapshots consistently. Manual backups are forgotten backups.

  6. Document Your Strategy: Your runbook should clearly state:

    • Daily backups (automatic, 30-day retention).
    • Weekly snapshots (automated export, 12-week retention).
    • Pre-change snapshots (manual, variable retention).
    • Recovery procedures (who calls Oracle, how long it takes).

  7. Monitor Backup Health: Set up alerts so you’re notified if backups fail.

With a well-implemented three-tier backup strategy, you’ll sleep soundly knowing your EPM Cloud data is protected against accidental deletion, corruption, or infrastructure failures.