Interrogating files on /dev/rmt/0m

[magdalene]

Hi All

Please excuse my ignorance on this question.

We have the following HP products:-

HP-UX 11 Operating System MNR Enhancements
GO-Global UX Applications
Ingress II - LicenseIT for Ingress II
Ingress II - Enterprise Access
Ingress II - Enterprise Edition CD 1
Ingress II - Enterprise Edition CD 2
Ingress II - Enterprise Edition CD 3
Ingress II - Enterprise Edition CD 4
Ingress II - Enterprise Edition CD 5
HP-UX 11i Operating Environment License
HP9000 Server OSI Transp Server License

I cant even tell you the spec/harware of the HP machine that this is loaded on ?

Anyway we have Third party SW loaded onto this machine (Marconi) and we used one their backup utilitys to backup to our data tap drive (DDS4)

It seemed to backup ok but when we tried to list the files using the command:-

tar tv

It came back with something reading 0 blocks...In fact I cant quite remember the exact error.

I havent given you much to go on but is:-

tar tv

the correct command to list all files on a dat drive on HP UX 11 ?

Also can someone tell me what the commnad would be to copy files eg etc/hosts to that data drive ?


Many thanks, A strange question but I am doubting the words of the Marconi Support people.

Cheers

JImmy

[Pete Randall]

Jimmy,

I suspect that their backup utility does not write in tar format and that you would have to use their utility to list the contents as well.


Pete

[magdalene]

Pete

Yeah it doesnt zip it up.

When I backup this "database" I give it a label say "jimmys_10_feb_2004"

It then writes it to the tape and eventually comes back sucesfull.

If I try and restore and select the tape as the location of the backup , it displays the label "jimmys_10_feb_2004" which they (Marconi) have told me, thats what I is supposed to happen.

But surely if there is data on a tape I should be at least able to list it ?

They have since hinted that tar tv might be the wrong commands for HP UX 11, so I though I would ask you guys whilst they try and give me a sensible story.

Cheers

Jimmy

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Hi Jimmy,

'tar' is one of many tools that can be used to backup the files. Unless you know the format of the backup, it's not possible to list the contents without trail-and-error method. fbackup, cpio, dump etc., are other methods.

HP systems have their own backup tool called fbackup. It's a widely used default tool and have many advantages over tar. Look at 'man fbackup' for more information.

You will need to consult your third party team and find out what tool they used to backup.

-Sri

[A. Clay Stephenson]

Tar will only list the files if tar was used to create the backup. Similarly cpio must be used if cpio was used to make the backup. The 'pax' utility will read either format. HP also has its own "homegrown" utility called fbackup which is read with frecover. If your vendor uses his own non-standard utility then you are probably only going to be able to read the contents with their utility.

I would ask them what format the data is in.

You could also do this:
dd if=/dev/rmt/0m bs=1k count=1 of=/var/tmp/dump

then od -v -A d -t c /var/tmp/dump and post those results. It might then be possible to determine the backup format.

[magdalene]

Hi A clay


Yes I have backed upo to the disk before and seen the CPIO extension on my backup file.

So this is what is being used.

So does this sound logical

I create a backup on tape and give it a label of Monday

I verify using their utility that it there buy completing a restore (dont actually do it though)


I then create another backup called Tuesday which is sucesfull, I then try to complete a restore but can only see the label Tuesday ?

They say this is normal, I think its bulls**t

This is a DDS4 tape and our database is only about 2Mg tops !

As for copying other files to the tape I take it I would need to issue a command like so:-

tar cv /etc/hosts


Then if I listed using tar tv I would see them ?

Does that make sense ?

I was reading this document here on this :-

http://www.dur.ac.uk/its/info/infosheets/154DATtapes.pdf


Thanks for all this advice guys.

Jimmy

[A. Clay Stephenson]

Jimmy,

This is Looney Tunes. You shouldn't be using the Forums to have a bunch of people you don't know guess backup methodologies. If your vendor is unable or unwilling to document or explain how his backup works then as far as I am concerned you HAVE NO BACKUP. This is one of those issues which should have been addressed on the front end.
If you are unsatisfied with the vendor's responses then your next task to to get them to document what steps are necessary to bring down the application, backup all needed data, and restart the application.

[magdalene]

A Clay


I totally agree.

Unfortunately I am the poor sod of an engineer who is expected to work miracles with not a lot to go on.

We are looking into the support being sub-standard but that is being dealt with our commercial people.

All I was trying to do was to get some idea that what this guy is saying is a lot of crap.

Iâ m sorry to ask these questions here, but at the end of the day I want the customer to be happy and I will do what ever that takes, even if that means coming on this forum and asking basic questions that sound stupid to some people.

We are on a learning curve with this system, if we sell more which looks likely we will buy one for our own competence development which will stop me visiting here, although Iâ m sure I will visit here even more when we do get one as I will have many questions to ask.

Soz If I peed any of you of.

Cheers

Ji

[Mark Grant]

I fully agree with A.Clay here.

You are at risk of losing your data. You need to get a fully comprehensive backup solution or, at least documention from your supplier.

To answer your last question though. Tar can be used to copy files to a tape the general format is "tar cv " e.g "tar cv /etc/passwd /usr /home/user" which would copy the whole of the /home/user directory, the entire contents of /usr and thefile /etc/passwd. "tar tv" would show you those files.

However, it can't be stressed enough that you really need to develop a strategy and your vendor needs to help you.

Have a look at this link. It might give you a starting point.

http://www.palslib.com/Ingres_II/Administration.html

[Angus Crome]

Jimmy,

You might try using /dev/rmt/0mn (this is the no-rewind device). It may be that using the default lists the header and then rewinds. The data may be in a second record on the tape. You can test this by doing the following;

mt -f /dev/rmt/0mn fsf 1
"this forwards the tape to the next record"

tar -tv (or tar -tvf /dev/rmt/0mn)
"If you don't get anything back (try the same with pax and/or cpio". Read the man pages for how they work.
You might also check the tape is using the correct device by running mt -f /dev/rmt/0m stat "Note: the 0m device will cause a rewind".