Overview

Environment cloning is the service of replacing data in one of the customer’s environments from the data of another environment of the customer. The service may be referred to as environment/database refresh, environment/database copy, environment/database clone as well. Following are the parameters involved in cloning an existing environment.

Data – This refers to the data stored in the database, which includes but is not limited to business data, metadata, and system parameters. In all scenarios, the target environment will get the source environment's data except for environment-specific basic data, integrations, connect configurations, system parameters, etc which is retained in the target environment. This is achieved by exporting those data from the target environment before the clone and importing them back into the environment after the clone. See Why are some items not copied after IFS Cloud Cloning activity? | IFS Community for additional details.

Source Environment – This is the environment from where backups are taken to refresh the target environment. There won’t be any interruption in this environment during the clone.

Target Environment – This is the environment that will be refreshed from the copy of the source environment. This environment will be inaccessible during the cloning activity.

Delivery Level – Source & Target environment delivery levels need to be at the same level to perform the clone. If not, the customer will need to raise a generic support ticket for installing missing deliveries before the cloning activity.

Backup Time – Time at which the data should be extracted from the source environment for cloning purposes. Please note that clones CANNOT be taken done using old backups, it should either be at a specific, scheduled time in the future, or it should be the most recent backup available at the time when the clone is executed.

Note: customer should go through the generic request channel in order to request a cloning activity and must provide at least 3 working days' notice. Additionally, cloning activities can take up to 3 working days to complete.

To create a generic request/support ticket, observe the following steps:

1. Log on to https://support.ifs.com - Requires IFS Service Center access; see How do I access the IFS Service Center? | IFS Community to request a Service Center login.
    
2. Click ‘Report an Issue’
3. Select ‘Report Something Else’, under the ‘What is the nature of your issue’ field.
4. Enter a Subject.  Example: “Clone CFG to UAT environment”
5. Enter a Description. Example: “Please clone CFG to UAT environment using the latest backup. CFG = source, UAT = target.”  - Add as much detail as you think is necessary. IFS Support Operations will need to know the source and target environments. It’s also helpful to clarify the backup type (latest, specific point, or future) of the clone.
    
6. Enter ‘Business Impact’
7. Select’ Affected IFS Product’ : Ecustomername]-IFS Cloud
8. Click ‘Submit’.

The IFS Unified Operations team will communicate via the case notes as it progresses.