fbackup timeout for 2nd tape prompt

[Forrest Baker]

Hi,
Can someone tell me how long fbackup will wait at a 2nd tape prompt before timing out?
Or if I can set the amount of time?

I'm getting the following report and want to make sure job hasn't discontinued by the time our Saturday morning tech comes in.

fbackup(3024): writing volume 1 to the output file /dev/rmt/0m
fbackup(3003): normal EOT
fbackup(3316): enter '^[yY]' when volume 2 is ready on /dev/rmt/0m, or '^[nN]' to discontinue:
fbackup(3004): writer aborting
fbackup(1002): Backup did not complete : Reader or Writer process exit

Thank you,
Forrest

[Bruno Ganino]

If you have Two devices can makes backup
fbackup -f /dev/rmt/0m -f /dev/rmt/1m -i / -I /tmp/index
where /dev/rmt/0m and /dev/rmt/1m they are devices used.
(index file will be created /tmp/index)

Regards
Bruno

[Bruno Ganino]

Forgot...
For backup multi-tapes see "cpio" command.
Bruno

[Dani Seely]

Hey Forrest,
I don't believe there is a timeout for fbackup. I've used fbackup extensively, and though I'm no pro with it, I have had the experience of requiring multiple tapes and remember coming in on a Monday where I was still being prompted for a 2nd tape from a Friday evening backup attempt.

Anyway, have you had any experience with Ignite? Ignite is AWESOME! If you don't need to restore all of the files, you can skip the header file on the tape and then perform a tar to extract the files, individually or an entire directory. It's sweet!

Good luck!

[Bill Hassell · Accepted solution]

There is no timeout. However, it is recommended that you write a change-volume script. When specified in the config file (never run fbackup without a config file unless you are using reel-to-reel 1/2" magtapes). The config file specifies appropriate block sizes for your backup device. Here is an example of one that works well for DDS and DLT/Ultrium tapes:

blocksperrecord 512
records 64
checkpointfreq 1024
readerprocesses 6
maxretries 5
retrylimit 5000000
maxvoluses 200
filesperfsm 2000
chgvol /var/adm/fbackupfiles/chgvol

Save this in a file, perhaps in /var/adm/fbackupfiles/config and use it on the command line for fbackup with the -c option. In this example, the chgvol script will be started when the end of tape is reached. The script can do anything--send an email message, wait on the console, or more commonly, change the tape in a tape library.

When the script completes, fbackup will continue writing on the tape drive. It will check for write protection and also that the tape was actually changed and is not a previous tape from this backup session (prevents bad mistakes).

[Dani Seely]

Hello Forrest,
I assume this is your first experience on the ITRC forum as you did not award points to the forumers for the answers you were provided. May I suggest that you take a look at the following link to learn about the points system in use here. Thanks.

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/helptips.do?#28

Please read the article, assess the assistance you were provided by the forumers, then reward them. Thanks!

[Forrest Baker]

Thank you for all of your feedback and helpful information - I'm working with the change-volume script to address my question.
-Forrest

[Jeff Schussele]

OK Patrick,

Put your mouth where your money obviously is.
Tell us just *why* UNiBACK is worth it.
Just *what* set's it apart from NetBackup, Legato, OmniBack (or whatever they call it now), etc.. What does/can it do better than the others. Was this developed as a UNIX product or ported from Wintel or mainframe envs? What's it's good points / bad points (and yes ALL SW has these)? What other than $ does it have to offer? How many clients can it support simultaneously. What / How many libraries can it handle? What robots does it support? What's it's ability to handle HW failures? Does it / Has it *ever* locked up under extremely adverse HW/network failure?

Bottom line is price ain't everything sparky.
In a multi-billion $ environment like I live in - performance dictates purchasing decisions - not price. When data's on the line, smart mgmnt doesn't cut corners.
So quit beating around the bush & give us the skinny, huh?

You're walking a fine line in the forum with your posts. SO here's your one shot - put up or shut up.

Dan - give him this *one* shot. Could be people could use this. But if he doesn't come thru, then I'd say moderate his butt.
Helping people is our goal - but outright advertising isn't.

Jeff