make_net_recovery archive size estimate

[hydrocct]

I just need a confirmation on the archive size estimate that make_net_recovery calculates prior to making it. For example, it estimated a 12 Gig archive with 1 gig free sapce on my volume, which made sense, but once it completed without errors, the archive was only 3 gigs, with much more free space (great!). Which means that the estimate is that of the uncompressed file, making the free space estimate useless. When I use tapes, I need two DDS-2 tapes. Can I trust this 3 gig archive?

[Patrick Wallek]

The easiest way to check the archive would be to see if all the files you expect are there.

Try this:

# gzcat archivename | tar -tvf -

This will show you a list of all files in the archive. If all you mountpoints / LVs don't show up approrpriately, then you've got a problem.

[hydrocct]

This could useful (yet tedious), but gzcat gives: Value too large to be stored in data type. Again, can someone confirm that the archive size estimate is that of the uncompressed file? I noticed that gzip runs during the archive creation with make_net_recovery, but I don't recall it being used by make_tape_recovery.

[hydrocct]

I have restored several archives made with make_net_recovery and yes, the final archive file size is the compressed size and the estimated size given by make_net_recovery prior to its creation is the uncompressed size. This is misleading as the archive will not be created if the free space is unsufficient to hold the "uncompressed" archive.