BACKUPS

I’ve modified the nightly backup command file to place a copy of the log file in your directory every night (backup runs at midnight).  You can begin to scan the dailybkp.log file for errors.  The most common error is a “mount” error when no tape has been loaded.  This happens a bit more now than in the past.  I work from home 3 days a week and Jason has the responsibility for loading the tape when I’m gone.  I have a feeling that you may inherit this task in the near future. 

When this happens (no tape is loaded), the  backup command holds in a pending status until a tape is loaded, then it starts the backup.  It will run in the background even though users are logged in and have files open because there is a “ignore=interlock” qualifier in the backup command.  The backup captures the data as it exists when the system “passes” over the files.  If a file is being written to at that moment, the backup may not capture the new data.  Therefore, it is best to run the backup at night while users are offline, but it is not mandatory.

Scenario:  Today when I arrive at the office, I find out that the tape wasn’t loaded for last night’s backup.

  $ type  dailybkp.log  At the bottom of the log file, I can see the mount command error (it’s really just a warning).

I don’t want the backup to run as soon as I load the tape.  Instead, I want to reset it to run at midnight tonight, i.e., skip today’s backup.  Here’s what I would do:

SYSMGR>sho que/full/all bck$batch

Batch queue BCK$BATCH, idle, on ALPHA::

  /BASE_PRIORITY=4 /JOB_LIMIT=1 /OWNER=[ESP] /PROTECTION=(S:M,O:D,G:R,W:S)

 Entry  Jobname         Username             Status
 -----  -------         --------             ------

     64  DAILYBKP        SYSMGR               Holding until  4-FEB-2004 00:00:00

         Submitted  3-FEB-2004 15:21:19.88 /KEEP /NOPRINT /PRIORITY=100

         /RESTART=BCK$BATCH

         File: _ALPHA$DKA0:[BACKUP]DAILYBKP.COM;24

SYSMGR>

SYSMGR>stop/reset bck$batch

SYSMGR>

SYSMGR>set entry/after=tomorrow 64

SYSMGR>

SYSMGR>start bck$batch

SYSMGR>

SYSMGR>sho que/full/all bck$batch

Batch queue BCK$BATCH, idle, on ALPHA::

  /BASE_PRIORITY=4 /JOB_LIMIT=1 /OWNER=[ESP] /PROTECTION=(S:M,O:D,G:R,W:S)

  Entry  Jobname         Username             Status
-----  -------         --------             ------

     64  DAILYBKP        SYSMGR               Holding until  4-FEB-2004 00:00:00

      Submitted  3-FEB-2004 15:21:19.88 /KEEP /NOPRINT /PRIORITY=100

         /RESTART=BCK$BATCH

         File: _ALPHA$DKA0:[BACKUP]DAILYBKP.COM;24