If you lose an on premises SPAS server, here is what you will need in order to recover
To recover a SPAS system (MFA server only/no FIDO)Required for full recovery:
- Backup copy of the SQL DB
- Backup copy of the web.config and site.lic (or the whole SurePassID folder that includes the code and the web.config/site.lic)
- Replacement server system with the needed pre-reqs/components
- 2019 or later server
- SQL Express or better
- If using managed service account for the SQL access, then the server needs to be given access to the account and/or put in the group if it is a managed service account
- .NET 4.8
- IIS web services enabled with ASP/ASP NET features enabled in the "application development" section of the IIS setup
- DNS udpated to point to the new server's IP
- Valid IIS trusted certificate with the needed host names, i.e. mfa.domain.com)
- Install the SPAS software using the same version as the original SPAS on the server
- In the IIS Manager:
- Adjust the app pool identities in IIS if using a managed service account
- Bind the IIS site to the correct host name and use the correct certificate for SSL
- In SQL Management Studio:
- Rename the newly installed DB to DB-Delete or similar as you will be deleting it once all is complete
- Restore the backed-up DB making sure it has the same name as was the original DB
- Add the original SQL login account and assign it the needed DBOwner Rol for the restored DB; SQL account or managed service account
- If the entire folder was backed up, then stop the IIS service/site and replace the newly installed copy of the SPAS/MFA server's folder with the contents from the backup, replacing the existing files and restart the IIS service/site
- If the above is not the case, then make a backup of the newly installed web.config, just in case, then replace the web.config in the MFA server's newly installed main folder with the backed-up copy of the web.config.
- Copy the site.lic file from the backup to the MFA server's BIN folder
- Confirm the site is accessible via the DNS name using the browser and sign in
- Remove the to be deleted DB and the extraneous login if present
The critical pieces are the web.config, the DB, and the site.lic (we can reissue a site.lic if needed).
The above is specifically for restoring just the SPAS(MFA) server, not API/FIDO, or SAML2.