Configuring ISM/OnBar to backup to disk

Running IDS 9.40.UC6 on RH 3.0 ES and I have ISM configured to backup the database and the logs to disk. We will be using external software to back up this files nightly. How do I configure ISM to over write the previously written files? Back when we were using tape drives I would set up the devices as "auto managed" and "auto recycle" and cycled the tapes every 14 days. So on day 15 tape 1 was relabeled and rewritten. It appears I don't have that option when using files, how do I do it? Thanks Peter ---------- CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message, including any attachments,is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s), even if addressed incorrectly, and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy or delete all copies of the original message and all attachments, including deletion from the trash or equivalent folder. Thank you.

The way that we do it to to add a new device (disk directory) each time we run ISM/onbar. We create the directory based on date and time. We run onbar to that directory then we remove the device from ism. With simple UNIX commands we manage to keep the last three days information on disk. We use separate devices for system and logs and we back up the logs once per day. I haven't yet worked out how to handle having the logs backed up pseudo-continuously but I don't think it would be a big problem. Regards Malcolm -----Original Message----- From: forum.subscriber@iiug.org [mailto:forum.subscriber@iiug.org] On Behalf Of Peter J Dia.... Sent: 02 June 2005 12:39 To: ids@iiug.org Subject: Configuring ISM/OnBar to backup to disk [5090] Running IDS 9.40.UC6 on RH 3.0 ES and I have ISM configured to backup the database and the logs to disk. We will be using external software to back up this files nightly. How do I configure ISM to over write the previously written files? Back when we were using tape drives I would set up the devices as "auto managed" and "auto recycle" and cycled the tapes every 14 days. So on day 15 tape 1 was relabeled and rewritten. It appears I don't have that option when using files, how do I do it? Thanks Peter ---------- CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message, including any attachments,is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s), even if addressed incorrectly, and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy or delete all copies of the original message and all attachments, including deletion from the trash or equivalent folder. Thank you.

Hi, generally this is done with "expiration". Now I have never actually done this with disk files. (My cycles during development and testing are too short and I usually initialize the whole thing from scratch rather than bother with expiration ...) But I assume that you want to keep the stuff on tape longer than on disk, right ? The question then is, how do you want to restore something where the file has been expired already and you have restored the file from tape "using external software" ? ISM (as other storage managers) keeps information about the backup media and the objects contained on this media in some kind of "internal database". When you expire the media, then (eventually) ISM will also get rid of that information as it is not needed anymore. Now after some time (meanwhile ISM has "forgotten" about that old stuff) you put that expired media back (via "restore using external software"). I doubt that ISM will be able to find backed up objects on this media so easily. I.e. I doubt that you could restore a dbspace or log from such a thing just like that. Maybe you can let ISM "scan" that old, restored file media, so that it can again build the information about the media and the stuff contained on it, or you have to also backup that ISM internal information in the first place when you "backup using external software" (to then be able to restore it as well). There also is a concept of "cloning" backup objects. I have never looked into this functionality in much detail, but I know that you can e.g. clone a backup object so that it is on disk media and on tape media. But I don't know whether you then can expire one of them (i.e. the disk media) without expiring the other (i.e. tape media). You may want to look into this in more detail ... ? As this cloning is done by ISM (or Legato Networker) means (rather than "external software), ISM will be aware of what happened and where the stuff can be found. That way I would have more confidence in being able to restore from the clone (instead of from something "restored by external software"). Expiration at ON-Bar level is done using "onsmsync" utility. Check "IBM Informix Backup and Restore Guide" manual. For ISM specific stuff, please see "IBM Informix Storage Manager Administrator's Guide" manual. Regards, Martin -- Martin Fuerderer IBM Informix Development Munich, Germany Information Management forum.subscriber@iiug.org wrote on 06/02/2005 01:39:26 PM: > Running IDS 9.40.UC6 on RH 3.0 ES and I have ISM configured to backup > the database and the logs to disk. > We will be using external software to back up this files nightly. How > do I configure ISM to over write the previously > written files? > > Back when we were using tape drives I would set up the devices as "auto > managed" and "auto recycle" and cycled the tapes > every 14 days. So on day 15 tape 1 was relabeled and rewritten. > > It appears I don't have that option when using files, how do I do it? > > Thanks > Peter