Can I automate an import of xml backup?

Question

I would like to create a backup crowd server which simply downloads last night's XML backup from the "master" crowd server & imports so as to make the 2 in sync.

I can happily do this manually but was wondering if there is a way (rest or otherwise) of automating an XML import.

Adam Flinton · Answer

I can do the download from where the xml files are stored etc.

We are using ansible which is similar to puppet

It is the automation of the "restore" part from xml I am looking for.
ATM I can only appear to do this via using the web app etc & then clicking submit etc.
looking @ the html it is calling:
<form id="import" class="aui" action="/crowd/console/secure/admin/restore!import.action" method="post">
& I am wondering if there is anyway to post the information from outside of crowd (e.g. curl) (or to call the java directly from within)

I.e. I would like to be able to "restore" my backup of crowd via an xml file every night @ 1.00AM.

i.e. to have a script call "import.action" in some manner (directly in java if need be or via an http post/rest call).

Clearly I can recreate the html form, find how to generate/acquire the relevant login perms etc. but I was wondering if there is a less screenscraper way of doing it.

Adam

rrudnicki · Answer

Hi Adam,

You can do this from different ways, there isn't right or wrong but which way best fits your needs and environment.

Basically, this will depends of what OS you are running Crowd. If you are running on Linux, you can do this by a Shell script and schedule this on crontab. Or also add a rsync command on crontab to get the xml backups. On windows, you can use the robocopy which is a kind of rsync (I'm not too familiar with Microsoft OS).

Another possibility would be you instead of use the xml backup, do a database replication (active-passive).

However, if you want go beyond, did you already heard about Puppet?

https://puppetlabs.com/puppet/what-is-puppet

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Renato Rudnicki