topic Re: retrieving file in Operating System - HP-UX

retrieving file

christian_derek — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:01:09 GMT

Hi,

I did a really big misktake, I erased a directory by mistake (I think) and guess what, this is the database directory. No valid backup since Nov 06. The database is still open and I have the process number and inode number, is there a way I can recover the file with the inode?

Thanks,

thanks,

Re: retrieving file

Basheer_2 — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:15:25 GMT

Call the database vendor and call HP support

Re: retrieving file

R.K. # — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:07:04 GMT

Hi Chris,

I am not sure if it can be retrieved from OS side. Database team may have a some idea.

Re: retrieving file

Michael Steele_2 — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:14:13 GMT

Hi

I guess you think the entire database has been read and stored in memory. Not so. Only open files will still be in the system and each will have to be rewritten to save them. All the other unopened files are lost.

And I guess you'll have to go back to Nov 06 to get a backup tape to restore from, for everything in between is lost.

Hope you keep your job. This is basic.

Re: retrieving file

Hein van den Heuvel — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:15:19 GMT

Your company 'saved' a lot of money all these years not doing backups or not investing in restore practices.
The time has come to pay up!
Don't go cheap. Hire the best service you can, at any prices, to help you with this.
And, uh,... freeze all activity, do not reboot. But you realized that surely.
Good luck!
Hein.

Re: retrieving file

Bill Hassell — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:07:44 GMT

If the file is still open (one or more processes are still using the file) then your only hope is for the DBA to dump the file using database tools. Once all processes close the file, the inode becomes reusable. There are a few consultants that know enough about fsdb and the VxFS filesystem to be able to track down the beginning addresses that the inode(s) pointed to. But this has to be done immediately (and will be very costly to fly in the consultant for the hours or perhaps days) so that the data area is not reused. It may be too late already.

"There are only two types of system administrators: those that have lost data and those that are going to"

Whether you are running a PC with 10GB of files or a server with 500TB of data, the problem is the same.