backup error

[khilari]

Hi people, okay well i am getting this backup error. When i check the servers mail it says check /var/sam/log/br_log

When i check it i get this. Now, what is exit code =2 or for that matter =4. Thanks
tail -f /var/sam/log/br_log

Full backup started on node1 : Sat Apr 15 23:55:12 EDT 2006 (Scheduled Backup)
{ fbackup -0 -u -g /usr/local/bin/can0 -I /var/sam/log/br_index.full -c /et
c/sam/br/fbackup_config -d /var/adm/fbackupfiles/dates -f /dev/rmt/0m } 2>&1
Full backup failed on node1 : Sat Apr 15 23:55:45 EDT 2006 .
Exit code = 2

Full backup started on das1 : Sun Apr 16 23:55:09 EDT 2006 (Scheduled Backup)
{ fbackup -0 -u -g /usr/local/bin/can0 -I /var/sam/log/br_index.full -c /et
c/sam/br/fbackup_config -d /var/adm/fbackupfiles/dates -f /dev/rmt/0m } 2>&1
Full backup failed on node1 : Sun Apr 16 23:55:23 EDT 2006 .
Exit code = 2

[Mel Burslan · Accepted solution]

fbackup is not very talkative about its error codes and reasons why it failed. Here are the exit codes from fbackup:

0 normal completion.
1 if it is interrupted but allowed to save its state for possible restart.
2 error conditions detected operation incomplete.
4 warning conditions detected operation may or may not have been completed.

Looking at the start and end times of your backup windows on the log snippet, it sounds like it is aborting the backup pretty quickly. This sounds like, either there is no tape in the tape drive or it is write protected or something very trivial like that. If it had errors in processing the data stream or something, it should take much longer than few seconds.

You can run the same command that is in the logs, from the command line, while watching the tape drive located at /dev/rmt/0m path and see if there is any attempt to write to it etc. Also, reseating the scsi cable connections may help.

If all is fine and backup is still failing, I am out of ideas, but the tape drive may have gone bad or needs a head cleaning.

Good luck and hope it helps

[Michael D. Zorn]

You could also try checking the drive with

mt -t /dev/rmt/0m rew

(you might have to spell out "rewind")

If it comes back with no output, the tape and the drive are probably OK.

I don't know if 11i has the "status" option (Linux does):

mt -t /dev/rmt/0m status

If those work, try something like

mt -t /dev/rmt/0m fsf 5
mt -t /dev/rmt/0m rew

(skip 5 files forward, then rewind - there's usually something on the tape, unless it's unused)

If you really want to eliminate the possibility of a tape error, pick a medium-sized file and dd it to the tape.

But it does look like it's failing right away. I think fbackup has to think a bit before it actually starts the writes.