vdump incorrectly saying last level 0 dump: the start of the epoch

[Nick Bishop (Kiwi)]

Why is it that when I use vdump, it always says this:

vdump: Date of last level 0 dump: the start of the epoch

What I would have expected is the date I did the last backup on the same device.

Details:
The hardware is an ES40, with an LTO-2 tape drive (a HP StorageWorks Ultrium 448).

The OS is Tru64 5.1B-4 (further detail below)

We've also seen the same issue on an 4100 running Tru64 5.1, which has one foot in the grave.

My (ES40) vdump command, and its output is

/sbin/vdump -C -f /dev/ntape/tape0 -N -u -U -x 16 -0 /usr ...
path : /usr
dev/fset : usr_domain#usr
type : advfs
advfs id : 0x4948c7c8.000deb20.1
vdump: Date of last level 0 dump: the start of the epoch
vdump: Dumping directories
vdump: Dumping 1233232675 bytes, 2211 directories, 41649 files
vdump: Dumping regular files

vdump: Status at Tue Apr 28 11:39:25 2009
vdump: Dumped 1233232675 of 1233232675 bytes; 100.0% completed
vdump: Dumped 2211 of 2211 directories; 100.0% completed
vdump: Dumped 41649 of 41649 files; 100.0% completed
vdump: Dump completed at Tue Apr 28 11:39:25 2009

My /etc/vdumpdates file (before I started above backup) is

users_domain#users 0 Mon Apr 27 18:08:35 2009
ora1_domain#u01 0 Mon Apr 27 18:25:54 2009
ora1_domain#u03 0 Mon Apr 27 18:39:02 2009
ora2_domain#u02 0 Mon Apr 27 18:47:02 2009
ora2_domain#u04 0 Mon Apr 27 18:55:01 2009
root_domain#root 0 Mon Apr 27 19:02:55 2009
usr_domain#usr 0 Mon Apr 27 19:03:39 2009
app_domain#app 0 Mon Apr 27 19:07:29 2009
usr_domain#var 0 Mon Apr 27 19:16:39 2009
usr_domain#tmp 0 Mon Apr 27 19:17:08 2009

Mind-numbing detail ...

$ sizer -c
cpu "DEC6600"
$ sizer -implver
EV6
$ sizer -v
HP Tru64 UNIX V5.1B (Rev. 2650); Tue Jan 27 20:53:59 EST 2009
$ dupatch -track -type patch_level

Gathering details of relevant patch kits...

You are currently running OS version:
HP Tru64 UNIX V5.1B (Rev. 2650); Tue Jan 27 20:53:59 EST 2009
Patches installed on the system came from following software kits:
------------------------------------------------------------------
Patch Kit 6: T64V51BB27AS0006-20061208 OSF540

# hwmgr -v d
HWID: Device Name Mfg Model Location
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
......
90: /dev/ntape/tape0 HP Ultrium 2-SCSI bus-4-targ-5-lun-0

# hwmgr -show scsi -type tape -full

SCSI DEVICE DEVICE DRIVER NUM DEVICE FIRST
HWID: DEVICEID HOSTNAME TYPE SUBTYPE OWNER PATH FILE VALID PATH
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
90: 3 revan tape none 0 1 tape0 [4/5/0]

WWID:02000008:5006-0b00-00cf-e6da


BUS TARGET LUN PATH STATE
---------------------------------
4 5 0 valid


Now, has anyone any clues?

[Steven Schweda]

Are you complaining only about the
apparently erroneous "vdump: Date of last
level 0 dump: the start of the epoch"
message? I think that it may say that
whenever you use "-0", because for a full
("-0") dump. it simply pretends that it's
doing an incremental dump of everybody who's
changed since time began. (It's a UNIX
thing.)

[Nick Bishop (Kiwi)]

Steven, yes it's the message I'm complaining/wondering about.

If it doesn't mean anything sinister, I can let it be (but I'll document that fact in our internal memos).

I'm going to be doing differential backups with a -1 (dash-one) option in a few weeks, I'll see if that gives me a better message.

[Pieter 't Hart]

>>> -u Updates the /etc/vdumpdates file with a timestamp entry from the begin-
ning of the backup. <<<
do a "cat /etc/vdumpdates" to see if the backup date is recorded.
if not check protection of this file to see it can be modified.

syntax is
"/sbin/vdump [-0..9] [-CDNPUquv] [-F num_buffers] [-T tape_num] [-b size]
[-f device] [-x num_blocks] fileset"
most parameters are non-positional but as things don't work as expected you could try changing order of the parameters.

"/sbin/vdump -0 -CNUu -f /dev/ntape/tape0 -x 16 /usr ..."

Regard,
Pieter

[Nick Bishop (Kiwi)]

Hi Pieter,

The /etc/vdumpdates file is certainly being updated, as indicated in the original posting.
Do a browser search for "/etc/vdumpdates" (Ctrl-F, not google).

I'll get back to you guys once I start level 1 (differential) dumps.

Nick.

[Nick Bishop (Kiwi)]

I have now started up my differential (level 1) dumps. They say the expected thing, except for the level.

> vdump: Date of last level 1 dump: Fri May 22 09:59:13 2009

The date is correct, but the dump at that time was a level 0 dump.

Thinking about the logic of the backup, vdump works out the date of the latest backup of all levels lower than the backup level being attempted. It then backs up files newer or changed since then.

As a suggestion to HP, it should have said:

> vdump: Backing up all changes since the Level 0 backup on Fri May 22 09:59:13 2009

Nick.
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