# Presentation: 201918

## Gridded Service Backup

- Technical Information for IFPS and Service Backup Focal Points, ITOs, and Other Interested People

## Before Backup Can HappenThings for Focal Point or ITO to Do

- Ensure all smart tools, edit areas, GFE text formatters, and local scripts used in the creation of your products are stored in a SITE directory
- Best way to check is to use the _[ifpServerStats](http://www-md.fsl.noaa.gov/eft/ifps12doc/onlinehelp/ifpServerStats.html)_ program. The information to look for is the last section of the output titled BASE/SITE/User Configuration. It will tell you whether any of your SITE files are being overridden.
- Another method is to log in as SITE and test all edit areas, configurations, smart tools and formatters to ensure they are the ones needed for the backup site to use for grid/product creation.

## Examples of Local Scripts

- Anything called (sed scripts, db calls, etc.) within a product script needs to be in a bundled directory
- Web graphic creation scripts may need to be sent (regionally dependent)
- Scripts to update forecast information on backup site’s webpage (regionally dependent)
**Check the **_[service backup FAQ page](http://www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/icwf/user_guide_ifps14/faq/svc_backup_faq.htm)_** **
**(**_[www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/icwf/user_guide_ifps14/faq/svc_backup_faq.htm](http://www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/icwf/user_guide_ifps14/faq/svc_backup_faq.htm)_**)  **
**for known problems with local scripts and **
**service backup**

## Before Backup Can HappenThings for Focal Point or ITO to Do

**Send your site’s configuration data to the central server**
- If IFPS cannot find configuration data on the central server, then it has no information with which to start a new instance of IFPS
- You can check your configuration file (date sent, size) on the NCF server. See _[http://www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/icwf/user_guide_ifps14/trouble/svc_backup_trouble.htm](http://www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/icwf/user_guide_ifps14/trouble/svc_backup_trouble.htm)_
- See _[http://www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/icwf/user_guide_ifps14/tech/svc_backup_tech.htm#ConfigDataExp](http://www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/icwf/user_guide_ifps14/tech/svc_backup_tech.htm)__ on how to export your configuration data_

## How to Send Your Configuration Data

- The program bundles up:
- In awips/adapt/ifps
-    - localbin
-    - data
-    - Xdefaults
- And all static database tables
- (like control constants)
- In /awips/GFESuite
-    - etc/SITE
-    - data/databases/SITE
- To run the program, click on the Configuration Export button on the Config_IFPS menu
- see
**www.nws.noaa.gov/mdl/icwf/user_guide_ifps14/custom/launch_custom.htm#Steps**

## Checking Files

**Date/time last file received**

**File name (xxx.cfg for configuration data and xxxGrd.cfg for the gridded database)**

**Make sure your file sizes are reasonable (3-5 Mb for config files and 1-2 Mb for gridded data) and that the date reflects the last time you sent in a change or new configuration **
**If you have an export fail, you will need to remove    the .exprtMode from /awips/adapt/ifps/bin to do anything else with service backup**

## Keep in Mind

**You need to resend your configuration data to the central server after any changes are made or after an upgrade**
- The configuration structure changes after a major upgrade, so the latest data needs to be sent to the central server so that your backup site’s IFPS knows what version of IFPS you run
- Sending in your latest changes, to smart tools, local text formatters, etc., allows your backup site to benefit from this information and keeps the products going to the public more consistent

## Before Backup Can Happen

- Backup pairs, primary especially, need to get together to learn the operations at each other’s offices
- What elements do they create?
- What smart tools/formatters do they use?
- What local programs/scripts do they use?
- What are their 12Planet passwords?
- Creating a manual for your backup office to use outlining your operations can be very useful, especially via intranet access
- Exchanging local smart tools and scripts ahead of time can make the backup IFPS appear more familiar to the forecasters

**Notes:**
12Planet password problem will be going away as passwords will be eliminated. In the manual, a flow chart showing how all of the products are created and what workfiles they are stored in will be extremely helpful. 

## Before Backup Can Happen

- If GFE formatters are used for zone based products (AFM, ZFP) at the backup office, zone grouping software (i.e. XNOW) needs to be configured for the backup site
- The primary backups of all of your surrounding offices need to be in your ISC_Sites list
- Your site does **NOT** need to be in the list
- While in normal mode, the extra sites’ ISC data will not be processed unless a portion of their area overlaps with your GFE domain

**Notes:**
If you do use xnow in product generation, you will need to swap xnow CCC.GFE_Config and GFE_editareas.CCCNNNXXX files with your backup site. 

## ILN

**In the example shown, ILN will only have to add BUF and PAH to their ISC_Sites list to accommodate service backup since PBZ – RLX and IND – IWX are primary backups for each other and are already received by ILN**

**ILN**

**CLE**

**BUF**

**PIT**

**RLX**

**JKL**

**LMK**

**PAH**

**IND**

**IWX**

**Denotes Primary backup pairs**

## Exporting Your Grids

-  Your office’s Official database needs   to be sent to the central server, which can happen one of three ways
- On an hourly cron (EXPORT_GRID = 1)
- Triggered by the GRIB send script (EXPORT_GRID = 2)
- Forced by a forecaster via the Export Digital Forecast on the Master Menu (best option for scheduled backup)
- Note: the variable EXPORT_GRID will be set to 0 (no backup grids going to central server) when IFPS 14 is delivered

- One of these two needs to be configured

## Disk Space

- Check the available space in your lx2 /awips/GFESuite partition
- If you are over 50% capacity, you will need to reduce space in order for the import of grids to run smoothly
- Also, if you are running over 50%, you can use 'du /awips/GFESuite' to find out what subdirectories are taking large chunks of space and remove them if they are not needed

## Public-Fire Discrepancies

**For offices whose fire weather area is **_**larger **_**than their public weather area, the ISC_Send_Area will need to be modified**

**Create an edit area (as user SITE) that is slightly larger than your fire weather area (FireWxZones_XXX can be used as a guide)    **
**Save the edit area by clicking ****?**** ****then Save/Delete and choosing ISC_Send_Area and Save Active Area **

## Copy_ISC_to_Fcst

**As a potential workaround for the clipped grid problem, the smart tool Copy_ISC_to_Fcst can be used to populate the missing portion of the grids with ISC data**

**Note the highlighted issue – parsing and/or averaging of grids can occur**

**Notes:**
This issue with averaging is a big one when the element is rate-dependent like QPF or SnowAmt 

## How to Install Tool

**An edit area will need to be created named Surrounding_Offices which is the area outside of the ISC_Send_Area**
**Smart tools named getISC(ElementName) need to be set up for each element on which this tool should operate**
**The list of possible elements needs to be included in the ****Copy_ISC_to_Fcst**** tool ScreenList section**

**MaxT example**

**Notes:**
So if you use the Collaborative elements, make sure they are listed instead of the floating elements

## Other Uses for Tool

- The tool can be configured to operate on the Restore database for when clipped grids are returned to the failed office
- Replace ISC database operations with Restore
- Edit area will be ISC_Send_Area instead of Surrounding_Offices