FAQs: Performing Basic Hyperion Maintenance Tasks

Having a current backup is an essential part of managing your SirsiDynix Symphony system. Whatever backup strategy you use, you should follow these guidelines.

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Verify each backup you create.

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Follow your tape drive manufacturer’s recommendations for cleaning your tape drive regularly.

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Clearly label the tapes you use for backup.

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Use multiple tapes in rotation, perhaps one tape for each day of the week.

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Store your backup tapes in a safe place, away from magnetic fields.

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Consider keeping a recent back tape off-site for disaster recovery.

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Know how to restore from the backup you make.

Restoring from backup is your responsibility.

How do I halt all SirsiDynix Symphony Workstation and Hyperion Servers in a UNIX environment?

Certain system diagnostic messages are not displayed until the workstation server is halted. The workstation server must also be halted to perform a full system backup. Before performing a full system backup, go to the Unicornadmin Utility and ensure that all the servers first have been halted.

Halt all SirsiDynix Symphony, workstation, and Hyperion servers and complete a full system backup. A full system backup writes a copy of the data, indexes, policy and configuration of files, logs and the Hyperion DMA software to media.

Verify the backup by having it create a finished report.

Initialize and run all servers:

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Unicornadmin/Stilasadmin (UNIX)

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Archiveadmin (UNIX)

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Services programs on Windows server

Check the status of the workstation server from Unicornadmin; report errors to SirsiDynix Customer Support.

How do I shut down and restart a Windows server?

At the server workstation, halt the servers by stopping the following SirsiDynix Symphony services. Services that are configured as Automatic are stopped automatically at shutdown and started automatically at reboot.

Ensure that the server is not shut down while the following SirsiDynix Symphony services are running.

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Hyperion Arfserver

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SirsiDynix Symphony IPCM (InterProcess CoMmunication)

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SirsiDynix Symphony Reportcron

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SirsiDynix Symphony Sockserver

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SirsiDynix Symphony Starter

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SirsiDynix Symphony Webstarter

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WWW Publishing Service

Perform a full backup of all drives. If you choose to use NT backup, select the option to backup the registry.

At the server workstation, run the servers by starting the SirsiDynix Symphony services.

What reports need to be run daily to maintain Hyperion?

The following reports should be run every day; verify that they ran without error.

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Backup Daily Files Report

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Consolidate Daily Logs Report

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Add, Update Full Text Content Database Report

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Statistics Log Report

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Add, Delete, Update Metadata Report

The Backup Daily Files report is run only in Unix, and only if using Sirsi’s backup.

The Consolidate Daily Logs report is run in UNIX, only if not using Sirsi’s backup. It is always run on Windows servers to maintain logs.

Verify the finished reports ran properly. These will be marked OK beside the report name in the finished report list. It is especially important to confirm that the Add, Delete, Update Databases and Statistics Log reports finished without problems.

View the finished reports for valid results. It is not enough to look at the finished report list with OK messages beside each report name. View each finished report to see that the result (notices to users, overdue notices, statistics, etc.) is really the report results desired from the Hyperion DMA database.

Print and/or remove finished reports. Any report may be removed without printing it. Certain activity reports, the Load Bibliographic Records and Receive Marcive Reports for example, as well as lists and counts may also be printed. After the report is printed, it should be removed. Finished reports take up disk space, and removing finished reports prevents many problems which may occur when there is insufficient disk space available for the Hyperion DMA to function properly.

If one of these reports finishes with the status of ERROR, do not remove it. Contact SirsiDynix Customer Support. If the report finishes with the status of OK, view it, and then remove it.

What reports need to be run weekly to maintain Hyperion?

Run the following reports weekly.

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Reorganize Text Dictionary Report

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Rebuild Content Database Report

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Rebuild Metadata Database Report

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Remove Old Image Files Report

Rebuild Content Database Report is run only if Content Searching is enabled.

If any report finishes with the status of OK, view it and then remove it.

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If one of these reports finishes with the status of ERROR, do not remove it. Contact SirsiDynix Customer Support.

What other administration tasks are required in a UNIX environment?

These additional tasks should be performed frequently on a UNIX system.

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Monitor Disk Space.

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Check FILE SYSTEM. Mark the numbers on your calendar to assist you in tracking any trends.

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Check the BRS indexes.

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The Consolidate Daily Logs report should be run at least monthly for UNIX systems that use SirsiDynix’s backup. This report consolidates multiple daily log files into single monthly log files and compresses them. Removing unneeded log files may prevent many problems which occur when there is insufficient disk space available for the Hyperion DMA to function properly.

How do I remove unnecessary import files?

On a monthly basis, use the Remove operation to remove files after they are loaded into the Hyperion DMA database.

What is a typical retention policy for statistics and history logs or finished reports?

Backup and remove older history and statistics logs. SirsiDynix recommends that a library keep no more than three months of logs on disk; each month dump the oldest of the fourth month’s logs to media. Saving the .HIST and .STAT files to media and removing the log files may prevent many problems which occur when there is insufficient disk space available for the Hyperion DMA to function properly.

Review all listed finished reports and print, download, email, and/or remove. Removing finished reports prevents many problems which may occur when there is insufficient disk space available for the Hyperion DMA to function properly.

How do I restart the Hyperion server?

In order to erase certain temporary files built as a result of the Hyperion DMA’s daily activities, SirsiDynix recommends that the server be shut down once a month, for about five minutes, and restarted.

Perform a full system shutdown. Shut down and restart the server.

Halt all SirsiDynix Symphony and Hyperion servers/services.

Shut down and restart the server workstation.

Run httpd daemon.

Initialize and run all SirsiDynix Symphony servers/services.

Run all the Hyperion servers/services.

Check the status of all servers/services.

Check available disk space on the server.

What reports do I run quarterly to purge unnecessary records?

For example, you would run the Remove Bills report to delete paid bills. If the information about the paid bills needs to be saved, the paid bill records can be printed with the Billlist report, but bill records take up disk space. Also, paid bill records must be deleted if the users are reloaded periodically from tape.

Run the Remove Select Request Records report to remove viewed requests.

How do I review library policies, days and hours of operation, and check privilege expirations?

The SirsiDynix Symphony administrator should print a current copy of the library’s policies with the List Policies report and check theses policies for changes and errors. Make sure that the Library policies list all the necessary Closed Dates for the upcoming months. Make sure that any specific dates in the Privilege Limit in the User Profile policy entries are correct. This is especially important if user records are set to expire and then reloaded from media each quarter or semester.