Some help around ontape restore errno = 2

Hello, my friends. I am trying to help a client who wants to restore an old ontape backup, in HPUX. Informix backup was made in version 9.30.UC3, but the client installed 9.30.FC3. I can read from the tape device, even with informix user, through strings command (I can see the backup header just fine). All configurations were copied (tape sizes, and block sizes, servernum, servername, rootpath was created with right permissions), but ontape -p returns: Please mount tape 1 on /dev/rmt/6m and press Return to continue ... Physical restore failed - function read archive backup failed code -1 errno 2 Any idea that ontape could fail restoring a 32 bits to a 64 bits engine? I have seing other users complaining, but with different version numbers, not word sizes only. Also I would like to know if I could identify if the backup was not done in another platform (ie linux). Is that possible through that? Maybe I could use dd to copy the files from the tape, for the disk? Thanks a lot. Regards.

Hi, ontape is very strict on the format, there can be a problem when only a minor version upgrade is between the backup and restore. You should restore with the same version and then just start the new version with same onconfig. I remember there is a script which has to be executed when converting from 32bit to 64bit (somewhere in INFORMIX/etc/conv I think). The first block of the archive gives you the details of the version (just open the archive with "hd archivename | less". Hope this helps, Marcus Haarmann ----- Ursprüngliche Mail ----- Von: "ALEXANDRE MARINI" <alexandre@briug.org> An: ids@iiug.org Gesendet: Donnerstag, 18. Juni 2015 23:33:18 Betreff: Some help around ontape restore errno = 2 [35291] Hello, my friends. I am trying to help a client who wants to restore an old ontape backup, in HPUX. Informix backup was made in version 9.30.UC3, but the client installed 9.30.FC3. I can read from the tape device, even with informix user, through strings command (I can see the backup header just fine). All configurations were copied (tape sizes, and block sizes, servernum, servername, rootpath was created with right permissions), but ontape -p returns: Please mount tape 1 on /dev/rmt/6m and press Return to continue ... Physical restore failed - function read archive backup failed code -1 errno 2 Any idea that ontape could fail restoring a 32 bits to a 64 bits engine? I have seing other users complaining, but with different version numbers, not word sizes only. Also I would like to know if I could identify if the backup was not done in another platform (ie linux). Is that possible through that? Maybe I could use dd to copy the files from the tape, for the disk? Thanks a lot. Regards. ******************************************************************************* Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum.

Hi, the layout of data (and its structure) on disk are fundamentally different between a 32-bit and a 64-bit Informix server. Therefore restoring a 32-bit archive to a 64-bit server does not work. Using "dd" to disk or similar attempts will not change this. To restore this archive, the appropriate 32-bit version of Informix server must be installed. Once the restore was done, the data can be exported (e.g. using dbexport) and then imported (e.g. using dbimport) to a different Informix server (on a different platform or with a different word size). It should not be a problem to install a 32-bit Informix server on the appropriate 64-bit UNIX/Linux OS version. I.e. installing IDS 9.30.UC3 for HP-UX on the machine where 9.30.FC3 for HP-UX is installed should be possible (but be aware to keep these separate ... installation directory, chunks, everything). [ I'm not sure about Windows systems with older OS versions. ] I don't know, whether and how you can identify from the tape by itself, on which type and version of OS the archive was produced (e.g. Linux vs. HP-UX). Once you have the archive on disk (e.g. via dd) you can use UNIX tools to search for strings, but I don't know where to look, what to look for and whether you will find anything useful. Especially for such an old version I can't say anything. Regards, Martin Fuerderer -- IBM Informix Development Munich, Germany Information Management Read about the Informix Warehouse Accelerator: http://tinyurl.com/the-iwa-blog IBM Deutschland Research & Development GmbH Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Martina Koederitz Board of Management: Dirk Wittkopp Corporate Seat: Boeblingen, Germany Reg.-Gericht: Amtsgericht Stuttgart, HRB 243294 From: "ALEXANDRE MARINI" <alexandre@briug.org> To: ids@iiug.org Date: 06/18/2015 23:33 Subject: Some help around ontape restore errno = 2 [35291] Sent by: ids-bounces@iiug.org Hello, my friends. I am trying to help a client who wants to restore an old ontape backup, in HPUX. Informix backup was made in version 9.30.UC3, but the client installed 9.30.FC3. I can read from the tape device, even with informix user, through strings command (I can see the backup header just fine). All configurations were copied (tape sizes, and block sizes, servernum, servername, rootpath was created with right permissions), but ontape -p returns: Please mount tape 1 on /dev/rmt/6m and press Return to continue ... Physical restore failed - function read archive backup failed code -1 errno 2 Any idea that ontape could fail restoring a 32 bits to a 64 bits engine? I have seing other users complaining, but with different version numbers, not word sizes only. Also I would like to know if I could identify if the backup was not done in another platform (ie linux). Is that possible through that? Maybe I could use dd to copy the files from the tape, for the disk? Thanks a lot. Regards. ******************************************************************************* Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum.

The bottom line is that you must restore to the same binaries as the archive was taken from. Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone -------- Original message -------- From: Martin Fuerderer <MARTINFU@de.ibm.com> Date: 06/19/2015 3:49 AM (GMT-05:00) To: ids@iiug.org Subject: Re: Some help around ontape restore errno = 2 [35293] Hi, the layout of data (and its structure) on disk are fundamentally different between a 32-bit and a 64-bit Informix server. Therefore restoring a 32-bit archive to a 64-bit server does not work. Using "dd" to disk or similar attempts will not change this. To restore this archive, the appropriate 32-bit version of Informix server must be installed. Once the restore was done, the data can be exported (e.g. using dbexport) and then imported (e.g. using dbimport) to a different Informix server (on a different platform or with a different word size). It should not be a problem to install a 32-bit Informix server on the appropriate 64-bit UNIX/Linux OS version. I.e. installing IDS 9.30.UC3 for HP-UX on the machine where 9.30.FC3 for HP-UX is installed should be possible (but be aware to keep these separate ... installation directory, chunks, everything). [ I'm not sure about Windows systems with older OS versions. ] I don't know, whether and how you can identify from the tape by itself, on which type and version of OS the archive was produced (e.g. Linux vs. HP-UX). Once you have the archive on disk (e.g. via dd) you can use UNIX tools to search for strings, but I don't know where to look, what to look for and whether you will find anything useful. Especially for such an old version I can't say anything. Regards, Martin Fuerderer -- IBM Informix Development Munich, Germany Information Management Read about the Informix Warehouse Accelerator: http://tinyurl.com/the-iwa-blog IBM Deutschland Research & Development GmbH Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Martina Koederitz Board of Management: Dirk Wittkopp Corporate Seat: Boeblingen, Germany Reg.-Gericht: Amtsgericht Stuttgart, HRB 243294 From: "ALEXANDRE MARINI" <alexandre@briug.org> To: ids@iiug.org Date: 06/18/2015 23:33 Subject: Some help around ontape restore errno = 2 [35291] Sent by: ids-bounces@iiug.org Hello, my friends. I am trying to help a client who wants to restore an old ontape backup, in HPUX. Informix backup was made in version 9.30.UC3, but the client installed 9.30.FC3. I can read from the tape device, even with informix user, through strings command (I can see the backup header just fine). All configurations were copied (tape sizes, and block sizes, servernum, servername, rootpath was created with right permissions), but ontape -p returns: Please mount tape 1 on /dev/rmt/6m and press Return to continue ... Physical restore failed - function read archive backup failed code -1 errno 2 Any idea that ontape could fail restoring a 32 bits to a 64 bits engine? I have seing other users complaining, but with different version numbers, not word sizes only. Also I would like to know if I could identify if the backup was not done in another platform (ie linux). Is that possible through that? Maybe I could use dd to copy the files from the tape, for the disk? Thanks a lot. Regards. ******************************************************************************* Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum. ******************************************************************************* Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum.

Thank you all, for confirmations. I will forward this info to the customer IT team. Best regards. Alexandre Marini IBM Informix Certified Professional v10 / v11.50 / v11.70 / v12.10 IBM Information Management Informix Technical Professional IBM Certified Developer - Informix Genero BRIUG website administrator Informix independent consultant > To: ids@iiug.org > From: walterlowich@yahoo.com > Subject: Re: Some help around ontape restore errno = 2 [35294] > Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2015 06:16:03 -0400 > > The bottom line is that you must restore to the same binaries as the archive > was taken from. > > Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone > > -------- Original message -------- > From: Martin Fuerderer <MARTINFU@de.ibm.com> > Date: 06/19/2015 3:49 AM (GMT-05:00) > To: ids@iiug.org > Subject: Re: Some help around ontape restore errno = 2 [35293] > > Hi, > > the layout of data (and its structure) on disk are fundamentally > different between a 32-bit and a 64-bit Informix server. Therefore > restoring a 32-bit archive to a 64-bit server does not work. > Using "dd" to disk or similar attempts will not change this. > > To restore this archive, the appropriate 32-bit version of > Informix server must be installed. Once the restore was done, > the data can be exported (e.g. using dbexport) and then imported > (e.g. using dbimport) to a different Informix server (on a different > platform or with a different word size). > > It should not be a problem to install a 32-bit Informix server > on the appropriate 64-bit UNIX/Linux OS version. I.e. installing > IDS 9.30.UC3 for HP-UX on the machine where 9.30.FC3 for > HP-UX is installed should be possible (but be aware to keep > these separate ... installation directory, chunks, everything). > [ I'm not sure about Windows systems with older OS versions. ] > > I don't know, whether and how you can identify from the tape > by itself, on which type and version of OS the archive was > produced (e.g. Linux vs. HP-UX). Once you have the archive > on disk (e.g. via dd) you can use UNIX tools to search for strings, > but I don't know where to look, what to look for and whether you > will find anything useful. Especially for such an old version I > can't say anything. > > Regards, > Martin Fuerderer > -- > IBM Informix Development Munich, Germany > Information Management > > Read about the Informix Warehouse Accelerator: > http://tinyurl.com/the-iwa-blog > > IBM Deutschland Research & Development GmbH > Chairman of the Supervisory Board: Martina Koederitz > Board of Management: Dirk Wittkopp > Corporate Seat: Boeblingen, Germany > Reg.-Gericht: Amtsgericht Stuttgart, HRB 243294 > > From: "ALEXANDRE MARINI" <alexandre@briug.org> > To: ids@iiug.org > Date: 06/18/2015 23:33 > Subject: Some help around ontape restore errno = 2 [35291] > Sent by: ids-bounces@iiug.org > > Hello, my friends. > > I am trying to help a client who wants to restore an old ontape backup, in > > HPUX. > Informix backup was made in version 9.30.UC3, but the client installed > 9.30.FC3. > > I can read from the tape device, even with informix user, through strings > command (I can see the backup header just fine). > > All configurations were copied (tape sizes, and block sizes, servernum, > servername, rootpath was created with right permissions), but ontape -p > returns: > > Please mount tape 1 on /dev/rmt/6m and press Return to continue ... > Physical restore failed - function read archive backup failed code -1 > errno 2 > > Any idea that ontape could fail restoring a 32 bits to a 64 bits engine? I > > have seing other users complaining, but with different version numbers, > not > word sizes only. > Also I would like to know if I could identify if the backup was not done > in > another platform (ie linux). Is that possible through that? > Maybe I could use dd to copy the files from the tape, for the disk? > > Thanks a lot. > Regards. > > > ******************************************************************************* > > Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum. > > > ******************************************************************************* > Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum. > > > ******************************************************************************* > Forum Note: Use "Reply" to post a response in the discussion forum. >