Configure and validate backups for SAP IQ (Sybase IQ)

Set up and validate backups for SAP IQ.

Onboard SAP IQ

Onboard an SAP IQ database instance to begin protecting your SAP IQ data. During onboarding, you connect to SAP IQ, choose the content to protect, assign a backup plan, and create the backup configuration.

Start the configuration

1. From the Command Center navigation pane, go to Protect > AI & Analytics.

2. Click Add AI application.

3. Select SAP IQ (Sybase IQ), and then click Next.

Specify credentials

Database Connection Details

• In the Name field, provide a display name for this SAP IQ backup configuration.

Configure Credential

• ODBC connection string: DSN name or connection string prefix (for example, DSN=iqdemo). If the DSN does not exist in /etc/odbc.ini, Commvault creates it automatically from the host, port, and database properties.

• Database username: SAP IQ database user with BACKUP privilege (for example, DBA).

• Database password: Password for the database user.

Custom Properties (provided in workloadCustomPropertiesJson)

• iqDir: Path to the SAP IQ installation directory (for example, /opt/sapIQ/IQ-16_1).

• engineName: SAP IQ server engine name (for example, iqdemo).

• host: SAP IQ server hostname or IP address (for example, 172.16.196.211).

• port: SAP IQ server port number (for example, 2638).

• database: SAP IQ database name to protect (for example, iqdemo).

• utilSuPassword: Password for the SAP IQ utility server's super user, required for restore operations.

Choose the backup content

• Click the pencil (edit) icon next to Content.

• The entire database is selected by default. SAP IQ backups are scoped at the database level — each backup job protects one complete database instance.

Select a backup plan

• Select an existing backup plan, or click + to create a new one.

• After you create a backup plan, you can select it when you onboard additional SAP IQ instances.

Review summary

• Review the instance name, plan name, schedule, and backup content.

• Click Submit.

Run a backup

1. From the Command Center navigation pane, go to Protect > AI & Analytics.

2. For the application that you want to back up, click the action button, and then click Back up now to run a full backup.

3. Monitor job progress in the Jobs view.

Validate the backup

Verify the configuration

After you assign the backup plan, confirm that:

• The SAP IQ instance appears in the AI applications list with the display name you provided.

• The database name (for example, iqdemo or sales) appears in the configuration details.

• Browsing the subclient shows the database object.

Confirm that the backup completed successfully

1. From the Command Center navigation pane, go to Monitor > Jobs.

2. Locate the completed backup job.

3. Verify that the job status is Completed.

4. Check the job details to confirm:

5. Objects backed up: 1 (the database instance)

6. Backup level: Full (for the first backup) or Incremental (for subsequent backups after a full)

7. Storage used: Size varies based on database size (test environments show ~26 MB for the iqdemo demo database; production databases will be larger)

Test a restore

1. From the Jobs view, select the completed backup job.

2. Click Restore.

3. Confirm the database to restore (the entire database instance is selected).

4. Verify the restore destination (in-place restore to the original SAP IQ server and file paths).

5. Click Submit.

6. Verify that the restore completes with status Completed and that the database is accessible after the SAP IQ server restarts.

For complete restore procedures, see Restore SAP IQ (Sybase IQ) data.

Common causes of failures and what to check first

Configuration and permission issues

• "Access denied" or "BACKUP privilege required": The database user does not have the BACKUP privilege. Grant the privilege using GRANT BACKUP TO <username>;

• "Cannot connect to database": The ODBC connection string, host, port, or database name is incorrect. Verify the connection details in the SAP IQ configuration and ensure the SAP IQ server is running.

• "SAP IQ server process not found": The SAP IQ server (iqsrv16) is not running on the specified host. The workload checks for the running process before attempting backup. Start the SAP IQ server and retry.

• "DSN not found" or "ODBC connection failed": The ODBC DSN does not exist and automatic creation failed. Verify that unixODBC and FreeTDS are installed on the SAP IQ server host, and that the host, port, and database properties are correct.

Backup job failures

• "S3 storage not reachable": The MediaAgent cannot reach the S3-compatible storage endpoint. Verify network connectivity and firewall rules between the MediaAgent and the storage bucket (typically port 443 for HTTPS).

• "CvSybase Archive API library not found": The libCvSybasebr.so and libCvS3Stream.so libraries are not deployed to $IQDIR16/lib64/ on the SAP IQ server. Deploy the libraries and retry the backup.

• "Backup size estimation failed": The sp_iqbackupsizeEstimate() system procedure failed. Verify that the database user has read access to system views and that the database is online and accessible.

• "Backup command failed": The SAP IQ BACKUP DATABASE command failed. Check the IQ server error log (typically in $IQDIR16/logfiles/) for details. Common causes include insufficient disk space, invalid S3 credentials in the CvSybase plugin configuration, or database locks.

Restore failures

• "Cannot start utility server": The SAP IQ utility server could not be started on port 19638. Verify that the port is not in use, that the utilSuPassword is correct, and that the OS user has permission to execute start_iq from $IQDIR16/bin64.

• "Database files not found": The restore operation could not locate the original database file paths. Verify that the allDbFiles metadata from the backup matches the file paths on the target server. For cross-host restore, adjust the file paths manually.

• "Server did not stop cleanly": The dbstop command failed to stop the SAP IQ server before restore. Verify that all database connections are closed and that the OS user has permission to execute dbstop from $IQDIR16/bin64.

• "Incremental restore requires full backup": You attempted to restore an incremental backup without restoring the corresponding full backup first. Restore the full backup before applying incremental backups.

• "Restore command failed": The SAP IQ RESTORE DATABASE command failed. Check the utility server log for details. Common causes include corrupted backup data, S3 storage connectivity issues, or insufficient disk space for the restored database files.