fbackup -s option

[Ralf Bosz_2]

Hello,

I've got a question about the usefullness of the -s option when using fbackup. It is usefull when you want to restore the link and not the file which it's linked too. But when using the -s option I get many open-files (after 1 retry it succeeds none the less) and when not using it, everything goes succesfull.

What is the opion in this forum about using the -s option?

[Paul Hite · Accepted solution]

I would never presume to speak for the forum, but my opinion is that -s is harmful and should never be used.

The purpose of a backup solution is to be able to restore things to the state that they were at backup time. A filesystem might easily have room for a symbolic link, but not the item that a link is pointing to. Some symbolic links are dangling....that is the file they point to does not exist. These are the issues that spring to my mind when I consider -s.

And I do complete backups. So If that link points to a file that exists, I will catch it in it's proper location. That is good enough. If I have 20 symlinks to it as well, I don't need or want 20 more copies of the file on tape.