Disaster Recovery Preparation

1.1

Can you upgrade or install the latest version and patch of Alteryx Server on your original and target machines?

YES: Upgrade or install the latest version and patch of Alteryx Server on your original and target machines. Configure your original machine as normal.

Go to step 2.1.

NO: Continue to step 1.2.

1.2

Can you upgrade your original and target machines to the latest patch for that version?

YES: Patch your original machine with the newest patch for its major version and install the latest matching version and patch on your target machine. For example, if you’re on 2022.3 Patch 3, install the newest patch that’s available for 2022.3. 

Go to step 2.1.

NO: Continue to step 1.3.

1.3

Is the version of Alteryx Server on your original machine listed in the Compatible Target Machines list in the Prerequisites section?

YES: Install or upgrade the target machine to the exact same major and patch version that exists on the original machine. Use the full install file opposed to the patch install.

If needed, please contact fulfillment@alteryx.com to request the needed install file.

Go to step 2.1.

NO: Continue to step 1.4

1.4

Install the newest patch version of Alteryx Server on target machine.

Install or upgrade the target machine to the newest patch available for the major version the original machine is on (for example, if original machine is on 2022.3 Patch 3, install the newest patch of 2022.3 on the target machine).

Go to step 2.1.

2.1

Find Controller Token length on the original machine.

In Alteryx System Settings > Controller > General, select View. Record the length of the Controller Token.

2.2

Is your Controller Token 40 characters long?

YES: Go to Alteryx System Settings > Controller > General > select Regenerate.

NO: Go to step 2.5.

2.3

Restart AlteryxService.

Browse through the rest of Alteryx System Settings and select Finish. This will restart the AlteryxService.

2.4

Reconnect additional nodes (if applicable).

If you have a multi-node setup, use the newly regenerated Controller Token to reconnect all your nodes to your Controller node.

2.5

Save and copy Controller Token from the original machine.

For Controller Token, go to Alteryx System Settings > Controller > General > Token > View.

Copy and save the Controller Token to a text document. Then copy the text document to a location of your choice on your target machine.

2.6

Copy RuntimeSettings.xml from the original machine.

Copy the RuntimeSettings.xml file from %ProgramData%\Alteryx on your original machine to a location of your choice on your target machine.

3.1

Open Command Prompt to bin folder on the target machine.

Open a Command Prompt as an Administrator and navigate to the Alteryx\bin install folder. The commands in this section all need to be run from this folder.

3.2

Stop AlteryxService.

Enter the command:

net stop alteryxservice

If the AlteryxService was running, on success you should see "The AlteryxService service was stopped successfully."

If the AlteryxService was stopped, you should see “The AlteryxService service is not started.”

Leave this window open.

3.3

Backup existing RuntimeSettings.xml on the target machine.

Rename the target machine %ProgramData%\Alteryx\RuntimeSettings.xml to RuntimeSettings_BACKUP.xml as a backup.  

If RuntimeSettings.xml doesn’t exist, go to step 3.4.

3.4

Restore RuntimeSettings.xml.

Copy/paste the RuntimeSettings.xml file copied from your original machine in step 2.6 to %ProgramData%\Alteryx on your target machine.

3.5

Clear Controller Token.

Edit %ProgramData%\Alteryx\RuntimeSettings.xml on your target machine.

Delete everything between the <ServerSecretEncrypted> tags, leaving just the tags as shown below:

3.6

Save RuntimeSettings.xml.

Save RuntimeSettings.xml on your target machine.

3.7

Restore Controller Token.

Back in the Command Prompt opened in step 3.1, enter the following command using the Controller Token from your original machine gathered in step 2.5:

AlteryxService.exe setserversecret=CONTROLLER_TOKEN_FROM_ORIGINAL_SERVER

Troubleshooting: Version 2021.3+ can error on this step with: "Set server secret failed: Error in CryptImportKey(3): Bad Data. (-2146893819)". To correct this, see steps 3.5 - 3.6 to ensure you removed the value from between the tags.

3.8

Clear Storage Keys.

Edit %ProgramData%\Alteryx\RuntimeSettings.xml located on your target machine again.

Delete everything between the <StorageKeysEncrypted> tags, leaving just the tags as shown below:

3.9

Restore Storage Keys.

Copy the <StorageKeysEncrypted> value from the RuntimeSettings.xml from step 2.6 and paste it between the <StorageKeysEncrypted> tags in RuntimeSettings.xml on your target machine. The length of this value varies by version. See examples below:

3.10

Save RuntimeSettings.xml.

Save RuntimeSettings.xml on your target machine.

3.11

Restore Run As User.

If you had a Run As User on the original Server, enter the following command, otherwise skip this step:

AlteryxService.exe setexecuteuser=NAME,DOMAIN,PASSWORD

3.12

Restore SMTP Password.

If you had filled in Alteryx System Settings > Server UI > SMTP > Password (even if the SMTP checkbox was unchecked), enter the following command, otherwise skip this step:

AlteryxService.exe setsmtppassword=PASSWORD

3.13

Restore Encryption Key.

The steps in Encryption Key Transfer Process will allow you to transfer the encryption key from your original machine to your target machine. Note that the last step in Encryption Key Transfer Process requires you to restart the Service which is not possible in some cases where the target machine is not licensed.