Re: Problem with ontape
On Feb 4, 10:36 am, TBP <th...@Usenet-News.Net> wrote:
> Heinz Weitkamp wrote:
> > Hello,
>
> > Subject: Problem to make a full level 0 backup of my Database with
> > ontape -s.>
> > I use Informix Dynamic Server Version 7.31 on a Linux Suse 10
> > distribution.
> > I want to make a level 0 backup on a tape on Server test4.
>
> > Here`s an extract of my onconfig file:
> > TAPEDEV /dev/st0 #Tape device path
> > TAPEBLK 128 #Tape block size (Kbytes)
> > TAPESIZE 20000000 #Maximum amount of data to put on tape (Kbytes)>
> > The Read/Write Permissions for ontape:
> > -rwsr-sr-x 1 root informix 1330659 Nov 7 16:08 ontape*
>
> > When i was trying to run ontape -s -L 0 i receive the following
> > message after pressing return to continue:
> > Could not write archive tape.
>
> > And then after a few seconds there is an abnormal system hang-up and i
> > must restart the system.
> > I tried this on several Linux Suse 10 Servern, with different tapes and
> > with different tape units.
> > It`s every time the same problem: I receive the message "could not
> > write archive tape" and a few moments later the system hang-up.
>
> > After this i try to do a remote backup from test1 (another Linux Server
> > with tihe same IDS and SUSE Version as test4)
> > to test4 and i adjust the onconfig file like this:
>
> > TAPEDEV test4:/dev/st0 #Tape device path>
> > With this configuration it works, but the tape unit is still at the
> > Linux Suse System (which is here test4).
> > Why works it when i approach the system remote from remote and why i
> > receive an system hang-up end when i try the same thing directly on the
> > Linux Suse Distribution ?
>
> > (With tar i can write to tape without any trouble.)
>
> > Any suggestion is welcomed.
>
> > Heinz
>
> -rwsr-sr-x 1 root informix 1330659 Nov 7 16:08 ontape*
>
> Why have this sort of permissions?? Apart from the security aspect, it is not like a plain tape device which is what TAPEDEV really
> expects.
>
> Try changing the permissions to something that a tape device has :
>
> ls -l /dev/rmt
> total 0
> crw-rw-rw- 2 bin bin 205 0x013000 Jan 30 2006 0m
> crw-rw-rw- 2 bin bin 205 0x013080 May 4 2005 0mb
> crw-rw-rw- 2 bin bin 205 0x013040 Mar 25 2008 0mn
> crw-rw-rw- 2 bin bin 205 0x0130c0 May 4 2005 0mnb
> crw-rw-rw- 2 bin bin 205 0x013000 Jan 30 2006 c1t3d0BEST
> crw-rw-rw- 2 bin bin 205 0x013080 May 4 2005 c1t3d0BESTb
> crw-rw-rw- 2 bin bin 205 0x013040 Mar 25 2008 c1t3d0BESTn
> crw-rw-rw- 2 bin bin 205 0x0130c0 May 4 2005 c1t3d0BESTnb
> crw-rw-rw- 1 bin bin 205 0x013001 May 4 2005 c1t3d0DDS
> crw-rw-rw- 1 bin bin 205 0x013081 May 4 2005 c1t3d0DDSb
> crw-rw-rw- 1 bin bin 205 0x013041 May 4 2005 c1t3d0DDSn
> crw-rw-rw- 1 bin bin 205 0x0130c1 May 4 2005 c1t3d0DDSnb
>
> Not sure when you say "System hangs" you mean IDS or Suse.
>
> If it is Suse then ... problem is with Suse.
But all of this begs the question... why not upgrade to 11?
Hello Heinz,
Everyone here is correct. I especially agree with upgrading to
Informix 11.5. But I'm guessing that you cannot do that right now. I
am also guessing that you are on a 32-bit system. If that is true,
watch out for the 2 Gb limit. If I remember correctly you can backup
to a tape more than 2 Gb but that will give you false hope because you
cannot restore it. So your TAPESIZE should be 2000000 (kb). It
actually might be a few bytes more or less so test your restores!
Also as a general security measure I recommend "-rw-rw----" permission
on all informix chunks and ontape files. Besides, later versions of
Informix will require it. As to your tape device you should set its
block size to something like 1024 and then make TAPEBLK the same. The
tape device hardware settings are showed with commands like "lscfg",
"lsattr" and "lsdev" (but Linux may be different). Some system
administrators will argue that setting the hardware block size to 0 is
better because the machine will figure out what is best. I have found
that this can cause Informix backups to fail. I would also make the
tape device's hardware compression be set to TRUE.
And last but not least, Linux may require a fully specified hostname
and tape path (device path and name) inside Informix's ONCONFIG file.
So in your "test4" ONCONFIG file put "TAPEDEV test4:/dev/st0"
-L.S.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: informix-list-bounces@iiug.org [mailto:informix-list-
> bounces@iiug.org] On Behalf Of LIGHT SCANS
> Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 2:19 PM
> To: informix-list@iiug.org
> Subject: Re: Problem with ontape
>
> Hello Heinz,
>
> Everyone here is correct. I especially agree with upgrading to
> Informix 11.5. But I'm guessing that you cannot do that right now. I
> am also guessing that you are on a 32-bit system. If that is true,
> watch out for the 2 Gb limit. If I remember correctly you can backup
> to a tape more than 2 Gb but that will give you false hope because you
> cannot restore it.
The 2GB limit doesn't apply to tape drives. If you back up 60GB to tape
from a 32bit system, you can restore it. Backing up to a file is a
different matter and the 2GB limit definitely applies for 32 bit 7.31
systems.
--EEM
So your TAPESIZE should be 2000000 (kb). It
> actually might be a few bytes more or less so test your restores!
> Also as a general security measure I recommend "-rw-rw----" permission
> on all informix chunks and ontape files. Besides, later versions of
> Informix will require it. As to your tape device you should set its
> block size to something like 1024 and then make TAPEBLK the same. The
> tape device hardware settings are showed with commands like "lscfg",
> "lsattr" and "lsdev" (but Linux may be different). Some system
> administrators will argue that setting the hardware block size to 0 is
> better because the machine will figure out what is best. I have found
> that this can cause Informix backups to fail. I would also make the
> tape device's hardware compression be set to TRUE.
>
> And last but not least, Linux may require a fully specified hostname
> and tape path (device path and name) inside Informix's ONCONFIG file.
> So in your "test4" ONCONFIG file put "TAPEDEV test4:/dev/st0"
>
> -L.S.
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