Oh no, Backup - New Information!

Isn't it funny how in an instant, everything is changed. Well, that's not quite the case here, but the method we are using to backup bama has been changed. We are now using a software utility that is directly on bama and uses a tape drive directly connected to bama. This has resulted in greatly reduced backup times (by about a factor of 4!). Along with this comes a change in how users will recover lost files. Nothing related to bama backups is accessible through the old ADSM system any longer.

We keep older backups of existing files for several weeks. Even files that have been deleted will stay in the backup system for a few days. Note that a deleted file does have to have been on the system for at least one day to have gone through the backup routine. Individual users can run the program to restore files they have changed or deleted. You can restore individual files, subdirectory trees, or even search through multiple backup copies of the same file reaching back over several dates. There are two parts to the backup system. The first is a database that lists all backed-up files along with the backup dates. The second is the actual tape library that holds the files. When you ask to restore a file it is first looked up in the database. When the software receives a go-ahead to restore the file, a command is issued to the tape device to mount the tape and the restore continues.

Command-line restore

From the Unix command prompt type "recover". The program will start and wait for you to issue more commands. It does take about 30 seconds for it to start up. The recover prompt is "recover>". At this point you issue Unix-like commands to review the list of files you have available. You can change the effective date of the files in order to find older backups. When you find the file or directory you want to recover you add it to the list of items to read off the tape. When you are ready, you issue a final "recover" command and your files will be restored. Here are several examples of commands you might give. The "recover>" in each example is there just to remind you that you are typing this at the recover prompt.

recover>ls

will list the files in the current directory. You can also use the variants of "ls" that you get in regular Unix. For instance "ls -l" will give you a long listing showing dates.

When you first start "recover," the current directory will be your home directory. You can change to any other directory with the Unix "cd" command. For instance

recover>cd newdir

where newdir is the directory you want to inspect. Issue another ls command to see the files. As with Unix, you can type "cd .." to move up one level in the directory structure. If you know the name of the file you want to recover you can use the versions command to see when your file was backed up. Type:

recover>versions myfile

where myfile is the file you wish to recover. This next command will add the name of the file "myfile" to the recover list.

recover>add myfile

If you want to restore a file that is dated earlier than the one you see with the "ls" command, then you issue the "changetime" command, giving a new date. This will cause "ls" to show the file system as it existed on that date. The format of the date you give is very flexible, so that almost any recognizable string will work. For instance

recover>changetime January 15, 2000

is acceptable. So is "last Tuesday", "yesterday", "2 days ago", or "2/2/2000".

When you have added the appropriate files to your recover list, then issue the "recover" command.

recover>recover

Note that you can add an entire directory structure to the recover list with the add command. If you feel that all the files in a directory have been so entirely changed that you want to go back to a previous version, then you can type "add mydir", where "mydir" is the name of the directory.

At any time you can see the names of the files in your recover list, along with the date they were backed up, by typing "list". You can remove a file from the list with "delete" and the filename. Any files in the recover list will be marked with a "+" when you type the "ls" command.

Recover will not over-write an existing file unless you tell it to do so. If a conflict does appear it will ask you what you want to do. If you respond with "r" it will restore the file with an automatically generated alternative name. To exit the program type "exit" or "quit". No recovery of files in the recover list will take place when you exit the program if you haven't issued the final "recover" command.

Xwindows restore

If you are running Xwindows software on your PC (or Mac) when you connect to bama, then you can run the Xwindows recover program. Use your usual method to enable the display of Xwindows programs, then type "nwrecover". The Xwindows version will start. The Xwindows program has its own help screens to guide you through its use. You "mark" the files or directories you want to restore by clicking in the box next to the name. When you are ready to restore, select "Start Recover" from the file menu. If a file name conflict occurs because the file to be restored already exists, then a dialog box will appear asking you want to do. You can also change the effective date and time as with the command-line "recover" using the "Browser Time" option under the change menu.

Man pages are available for both these commands. In addition, the Xwindows version has its own help.

© 2000, The University of Alabama. The information included here is for the University of Alabama central computing facility as it was configured on the document date. It may or may not apply to other Unix systems.

February 29, 2000 Vol. 4 Index Back to Vol. 4, No. 3		Search:

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	Oh no, Backup - New Information! Isn't it funny how in an instant, everything is changed. Well, that's not quite the case here, but the method we are using to backup bama has been changed. We are now using a software utility that is directly on bama and uses a tape drive directly connected to bama. This has resulted in greatly reduced backup times (by about a factor of 4!). Along with this comes a change in how users will recover lost files. Nothing related to bama backups is accessible through the old ADSM system any longer. We keep older backups of existing files for several weeks. Even files that have been deleted will stay in the backup system for a few days. Note that a deleted file does have to have been on the system for at least one day to have gone through the backup routine. Individual users can run the program to restore files they have changed or deleted. You can restore individual files, subdirectory trees, or even search through multiple backup copies of the same file reaching back over several dates. There are two parts to the backup system. The first is a database that lists all backed-up files along with the backup dates. The second is the actual tape library that holds the files. When you ask to restore a file it is first looked up in the database. When the software receives a go-ahead to restore the file, a command is issued to the tape device to mount the tape and the restore continues. Command-line restore From the Unix command prompt type "recover". The program will start and wait for you to issue more commands. It does take about 30 seconds for it to start up. The recover prompt is "recover>". At this point you issue Unix-like commands to review the list of files you have available. You can change the effective date of the files in order to find older backups. When you find the file or directory you want to recover you add it to the list of items to read off the tape. When you are ready, you issue a final "recover" command and your files will be restored. Here are several examples of commands you might give. The "recover>" in each example is there just to remind you that you are typing this at the recover prompt. `recover>ls` will list the files in the current directory. You can also use the variants of "ls" that you get in regular Unix. For instance "ls -l" will give you a long listing showing dates. When you first start "recover," the current directory will be your home directory. You can change to any other directory with the Unix "cd" command. For instance `recover>cd newdir` where `newdir` is the directory you want to inspect. Issue another ls command to see the files. As with Unix, you can type "cd .." to move up one level in the directory structure. If you know the name of the file you want to recover you can use the versions command to see when your file was backed up. Type: `recover>versions myfile` where `myfile` is the file you wish to recover. This next command will add the name of the file "myfile" to the recover list. `recover>add myfile` If you want to restore a file that is dated earlier than the one you see with the "ls" command, then you issue the "changetime" command, giving a new date. This will cause "ls" to show the file system as it existed on that date. The format of the date you give is very flexible, so that almost any recognizable string will work. For instance `recover>changetime January 15, 2000` is acceptable. So is "last Tuesday", "yesterday", "2 days ago", or "2/2/2000". When you have added the appropriate files to your recover list, then issue the "recover" command. `recover>recover` Note that you can add an entire directory structure to the recover list with the add command. If you feel that all the files in a directory have been so entirely changed that you want to go back to a previous version, then you can type "add mydir", where "mydir" is the name of the directory. At any time you can see the names of the files in your recover list, along with the date they were backed up, by typing "list". You can remove a file from the list with "delete" and the filename. Any files in the recover list will be marked with a "+" when you type the "ls" command. Recover will not over-write an existing file unless you tell it to do so. If a conflict does appear it will ask you what you want to do. If you respond with "r" it will restore the file with an automatically generated alternative name. To exit the program type "exit" or "quit". No recovery of files in the recover list will take place when you exit the program if you haven't issued the final "recover" command. Xwindows restore If you are running Xwindows software on your PC (or Mac) when you connect to bama, then you can run the Xwindows recover program. Use your usual method to enable the display of Xwindows programs, then type "nwrecover". The Xwindows version will start. The Xwindows program has its own help screens to guide you through its use. You "mark" the files or directories you want to restore by clicking in the box next to the name. When you are ready to restore, select "Start Recover" from the file menu. If a file name conflict occurs because the file to be restored already exists, then a dialog box will appear asking you want to do. You can also change the effective date and time as with the command-line "recover" using the "Browser Time" option under the change menu. Man pages are available for both these commands. In addition, the Xwindows version has its own help. © 2000, The University of Alabama. The information included here is for the University of Alabama central computing facility as it was configured on the document date. It may or may not apply to other Unix systems.
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