vxrestore(1M) vxrestore(1M)
NAME
vxrestore, rvxrestore - restore file system incrementally, local or across network
SYNOPSIS
blocksize] opt] file] number] [filename ...]
blocksize] opt] file] number] [filename ...]
key [filename ...]
key [filename ...]
DESCRIPTION
and read tapes previously dumped by the or command (see vxdump(1M)). restores from tape on the local system; restores from tape on a
remote system. runs on the remote machine to access the tape device.
and support both getopt(3C) and traditional command line invocations as shown above. The original command line style is supported for com-
patibility with previous versions of and for synonymy with the existing program used for hfs file systems.
For the original command line style, actions taken are controlled by the key argument where key is a string of characters containing
exactly one function letter from the group and zero or more function modifiers from the group One or more filename arguments, if present,
are file or directory names specifying the files to restore. Unless the modifier is specified (see below), the appearance of a directory
name refers to the files and (recursively) subdirectories of that directory.
is the default legacy DSF tape device, and is the default persistent DSF tape device.
Options
recognizes the following options:
Allow interactive restoration of files from a dump tape.
After reading the directory information from the tape, provides a shell-like interface that lets you move around the directory
tree selecting files to extract. The available commands are listed below. For commands that require an argument, the default
is the current directory.
Add the current directory or specified argument
to the list of files to extract. If a directory is specified, the directory and all its descendents are added
to the extraction list (unless the key is specified on the command line). File names on the extraction list
are displayed with a leading when listed by
Change the current working directory to the specified argument.
Delete the current directory or specified argument
from the list of files to extract. If a directory is specified, the directory and all its descendents are
deleted from the extraction list (unless is specified on the command line). The best way to extract most files
from a directory is to add the directory to the extraction list, then delete unnecessary files.
Extract all files named on the extraction list
from the dump tape. prompts for the volume to mount. The fastest way to extract a few files is to start with
the last volume, then work toward the first volume.
List a summary of the available commands.
List the current or specified directory.
Entries that are directories are displayed with a trailing Entries marked for extraction are displayed with a
leading If the verbose key is specified, the inode number of each entry is also listed.
Print the full pathname of the current working directory.
immediately exits, even if the extraction list is not empty.
(control-D) is a synonym for
Set the owner, modes, and times of all directories
that are added to the extraction list. Nothing is extracted from the tape. This setting is useful for clean-
ing up after a restore aborts prematurely.
The sense of the
modifier is toggled. When set to verbose, the command lists the inode numbers of all entries. and prints
information about each file as it is extracted.
Read the tape and load into the current directory.
Be careful when using the option. Restore only a complete dump tape onto a clear file system, or restore an incremental dump
tape after a full level zero restore. The following is a typical sequence to restore a complete dump:
The following is a typical sequence to restore a complete dump if you are using the VERITAS Volume Manager:
You can then execute another to restore an incremental dump on top of this. Note that leaves a file, in the root directory of
the file system to pass information between incremental passes. Remove this file when the last incremental tape is restored.
Resume a full restore.
restarts from a checkpoint it created during a full restore (see above). It requests a particular tape of a multi-volume set
on which to restart a full restore. This provides a means for interrupting and restarting a multi-volume
number
is the dump file number to recover. This is useful if there is more than one dump file on a tape.
Names of
filenames, as specified on the command line, are listed if they occur on the tape. If no filename is given, the root direc-
tory is listed, which results in the entire content of the tape being listed, unless is specified.
Extract named files from the tape.
If the named file matches a directory whose contents are written onto the tape, and the option is not specified, the directory
is recursively extracted. The owner, modification time, and mode are restored (if possible). If no filename argument is
given, the root directory is extracted, which results in the entire contents of the tape being extracted, unless is specified.
The following options can be used in addition to the letter that selects the primary function:
Specify the block size of the tape in kilobytes.
If the option is not specified, determines the tape block size dynamically. (This option exists to preserve backwards compat-
ibility with previous versions of
By default,
writes data directly to disk and does not use the system buffer cache to restore data. This ensures that the buffer cache
does not change on an operational system, which generally improves system performance. Writing data synchronously to disk
may, however, slightly slow the restore process. If you specify the option, will cache data before writing to disk. This
preserves compatibility with previous versions of
Specify how to handle a
vxfs file that has extent attribute information. Extent attributes include reserved space, a fixed extent size, and extent
alignment. It may not be possible to preserve the information if the destination file system does not support extent
attributes, has a different block size than the source file system, or lacks free extents appropriate to satisfy the extent
attribute requirements. Valid values for opt are:
Fail to restore the file if extent attribute information cannot be kept.
Ignore extent attribute information entirely.
Issue a warning message if extent attribute information cannot be kept
(the default).
Specify the name of the archive instead
of or If the name of the file is reads from standard input. So you can use and in a pipeline to vxdump and vxrestore a file
system with the command
You can use an archive name of the form to specify a tape device on a remote machine.
Extract the actual directory,
rather than the files to which it refers. This prevents hierarchical restoration of complete subtrees.
Extract by inode numbers rather than by file name.
This is useful if only a few files are being extracted and you want to avoid regenerating the complete pathname to the file.
Specify verbose output;
list the name of each file restored, preceded by its file type.
Do not ask whether to abort the operation if
encounters a tape error, but continue. Normally asks whether to continue after encountering a read error. With this option,
continues without asking, skipping over the bad tape block(s) and continuing as best it can.
Operands
recognizes the following operands:
filename
The name one or more files that contain file or directory names specifying the files to restore.
key A string of characters controlling what actions are taken by This string contains exactly one function letter from the group
and zero or more function modifiers from the group
Compatibility
A file with a large uid (user ID of the file owner) or large gid (group ID of the file owner) cannot be restored correctly on a file system
that does not support large IDs. Instead, the owner and/or group of the file will be that of the user invoking (A large ID is a value
greater than 65535. The VxFS Version 2 disk layout does not support large IDs).
Notes
If the dump tape contains files larger than 2 gigabytes, and if the file system being restored to does not support files larger than 2
gigabytes, the file is not restored correctly. Instead it is truncated to 2 gigabytes.
The current version of can read dumps produced by older versions of Dumps produced by on other platforms can also be read by provided they
are not from a version of more recent the version of in use.
can restore files to a file system of a type other than VxFS. If the file system type does not support extent attributes, than the extent
attributes are not restored (see the option).
A version of resides in for use when the system is in single user state.
DIAGNOSTICS
complains if a read error is encountered. If the option has been specified, or you respond tries to continue the restore.
If the dump extends over more than one tape, asks the user to change tapes. If the or option has been specified, also asks which volume to
mount. The fastest way to extract a few files is to start with the last volume and work towards the first volume.
There are numerous consistency checks that vxrestore can list. Besides media errors, other problems that can interrupt a restore include
permission inconsistencies, resource unavailability, or inconsistencies encountered on the media that are the result of incorrect dump pro-
cedures.
Error Processing
vxrestore typically terminates if it encounters an error condition severe enough that it cannot continue reliably. Termination generally
indicates that there is a serious problems either in the backup media or in the administrative procedures used during the dump/restore.
You can override a termination in interactive mode or by specifying the option when you invoke If a termination is overridden, tries to
skip over bad data and continue restoring. It is not a good practice to do this except under extraordinary circumstances. As part of nor-
mal dump/restore processing, it is best to identify the underlying cause of the problem and repair it.
Error Conditions
Error conditions that can terminate a restore can be grouped into the following general categories:
o media problems
o resource or permission problems
o consistency check failures
A media error can occur while accessing the dump/restore media, or may be caused by selecting an incorrect volume for restore processing.
Also check for physical problems such as damage to the tape, and be sure that the tape drive is cleaned. Some typical media problem error
messages are:
A resource allocation or permission problem can occur while trying to allocate or access files or memory space required by for its internal
processing. To avoid some common problems, be sure you are running with the correct UID, that target files have write permission, and that
there is sufficient memory. Some typical resource allocation or permission error messages are:
A consistency check failure generally occurs while examining the data on the dump/restore media. This kind of problem may be caused by a
media failure, by dumping a mounted and active file system, or because of an error in media or parameter selection. Some typical consis-
tency check failure error messages are:
There are numerous consistency checks that can list. Most checks are self-explanatory or rarely occur. Here are some common errors:
The specified file name was listed in the tape directory
but not found on the tape. This is caused by tape read errors while looking for the file, and from using a dump tape created
on an active file system.
A file not listed in the directory appeared.
This can occur when using a dump tape created on an active file system. Dumps should be performed with the file system
unmounted or the system in single-user mode (see init(1M)) to insure a consistent dump. If the HP OnLineJFS product is
installed, the dump can be performed in the multi-user environment using a snapshot file system with the online backup facil-
ity (see the option of mount_vxfs(1M)).
When doing an incremental restore,
a tape that was written before the previous incremental tape, or that has too low an incremental level was loaded.
Note: if this error occurs, you are either restoring tapes out of order or restoring from a dump file that was created using
the option to At this point, displays a warning message and asks if you want to continue doing the restore. Respond with
only if you are sure that you are restoring from a dump file created using the option. Enter to abort the restore.
When doing an incremental restore,
a tape that does not begin its coverage where the previous incremental tape left off, or that has too high an incremental
level was loaded.
Note:
If this error occurs, you are either restoring tapes out of order or restoring from a dump file that was created using the
option to At this point displays a warning message and asks if you want to continue doing the restore. Respond with only if
you are sure that you are restoring from a dump file created using the option. Enter to abort the restore.
A tape-read error occurred.
If a file name is specified, the contents of the restored files may be incorrect. If is skipping an inode or is trying to
resynchronize the tape, no extracted files are corrupted, although files may not be found on the tape.
After a tape-read error,
may have to resynchronize itself. This message indicates the number of blocks skipped over. This message will also be gen-
erated by older versions of while skipping over files larger than 2 gigabytes dumped by a more recent version of
WARNINGS
can get confused when doing incremental restores from dump tapes that were made on active file systems.
A level 0 dump (see the vxdump(1M) manual page) must be done after a full restore. Because runs in user code, it has no control over inode
allocation; thus a full dump must be done to get a new set of directories reflecting the new inode numbering, even though the contents of
the files are unchanged.
does not restore access control lists (ACLs).
AUTHOR
and are based on the program distributed in the 4.4 Berkeley Software Distribution, developed by the the University of California, Berke-
ley, and its contributors.
FILES
default legacy DSF tape drive
default persistent DSF tape drive
file containing directories on the tape
owner, mode, and time stamps for directories
information passed between incremental restores
SEE ALSO
ls(1), extendfs_vxfs(1M), fsadm_vxfs(1M), init(1M), mkfs(1M), mkfs_vxfs(1M), mount(1M), mount_vxfs(1M), newfs_vxfs(1M), restore(1M),
rmt(1M), vxdump(1M), getopt(3C).
vxrestore(1M)