Is a physical only whole backup possible?

I'm using IDS 7.31TC5 on Windows NT4. As an XBSA storage manager for ONBar, I'm using the included ISM 2.20. The Backup and Restore Guide states, The advantage of using a whole-system backup is that you can restore the storage spaces with or without the logical logs. Because the data in all storage spaces is consistent in a whole-system backup, you do not need to restore the logical logs to make the data consistent. Given that I can restore a system to a previous physical state using "onbar -r -p -w," is there a corresponding option to perform a physical only whole backup? I have tried "onbar -b -p -w," but ONBar only returns a command synopsis. A physical only whole backup is possible by running "onbar -b -w" while LTAPEDEV is set to NUL. However, the onbar process returns error 131. According to the Backup and Restore Guide this means "a failure occurred in the interface between ON-Bar and the database server." Is there a recommended way of performing a physical only whole backup using ONBar? When error 131 is returned from "onbar -b -w," is there a reliable method for determining if the physical portion of the backup was performed successfully? If possible, I would like a method that can be used within a Windows NT batch file. Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

A point-in-time restore, onbar -r -p -w..., requires that logical logs be rolled forward to the predetermined point. For this you need a whole system backup since the entire engine is to be restored and rolled forward to the logged point in time. There is no special backup for this, just a whole system backup. Art S. Kagel aaronluz@my-deja.com wrote: > I'm using IDS 7.31TC5 on Windows NT4. As an XBSA storage manager for > ONBar, I'm using the included ISM 2.20. > > The Backup and Restore Guide states, > > The advantage of using a whole-system backup is that you can restore > the storage spaces with or without the logical logs. Because the data > in all storage spaces is consistent in a whole-system backup, you do > not need to restore the logical logs to make the data consistent. > > Given that I can restore a system to a previous physical state > using "onbar -r -p -w," is there a corresponding option to perform a > physical only whole backup? > > I have tried "onbar -b -p -w," but ONBar only returns a command > synopsis. A physical only whole backup is possible by running > "onbar -b -w" while LTAPEDEV is set to NUL. However, the onbar process > returns error 131. According to the Backup and Restore Guide this > means "a failure occurred in the interface between ON-Bar and the > database server." > > Is there a recommended way of performing a physical only whole backup > using ONBar? When error 131 is returned from "onbar -b -w," is there a > reliable method for determining if the physical portion of the backup > was performed successfully? If possible, I would like a method that > can be used within a Windows NT batch file. > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > Before you buy.

In article <38FB3EEA.FAF520E0@bloomberg.net>, "Art S. Kagel" <kagel@bloomberg.net> wrote: > A point-in-time restore, onbar -r -p -w..., requires that logical logs be > rolled > forward to the predetermined point. For this you need a whole system > backup > since the entire engine is to be restored and rolled forward to the logged > point in > time. There is no special backup for this, just a whole system backup. > > Art S. Kagel Thanks, Art. However, what I really want to know is why there is no option to ON-Bar to perform a physical only whole backup. My client would like to keep LTAPEDEV set to NUL, but doing so causes "onbar -b - w" to exit with error 131 as soon as it attempts to backup the logical logs. This error gets picked up by a script, which then reports the entire backup as a failure. I suppose I could change to script to ignore error code 131, but this code could indicate any failure between ON-Bar and the database server. I suppose I could parse the instance's error log for "Archive on rootdbs, ... Completed," but I am hoping for a more direct method. Aaron Luz Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

Aaron Luz wrote: > > In article <38FB3EEA.FAF520E0@bloomberg.net>, > "Art S. Kagel" <kagel@bloomberg.net> wrote: > > A point-in-time restore, onbar -r -p -w..., requires that logical > logs be > > rolled > > forward to the predetermined point. For this you need a whole system > > backup > > since the entire engine is to be restored and rolled forward to the > logged > > point in > > time. There is no special backup for this, just a whole system > backup. > > > > Art S. Kagel > > Thanks, Art. However, what I really want to know is why there is no > option to ON-Bar to perform a physical only whole backup. My client > would like to keep LTAPEDEV set to NUL, but doing so causes "onbar -b - > w" to exit with error 131 as soon as it attempts to backup the logical > logs. This error gets picked up by a script, which then reports the > entire backup as a failure. Remember that if you do not back up your logical logs you CANNOT restore the engine to the point of the crash with minimal loss. The purpose of onbar/ontape/onarchive is for such restores and extentions like point-in-time restore and physical restore are extra features. Informix has always maintained these tools for this purpose not for recovering from fumbling fingers. That is what tools like dbexport/dbimport are for. This is why onbar requires you to back up the logical logs and have LTAPEDEV directed to a real device/file. If you really MUST fake it out just create a symbolic link to /dev/null and set LTAPEDEV to that. Informix will not track the link to find out if your clients are dumb enough (yes I think it is dumb to throw away the logical logs and that's an opinion garnered from three years of getting up at 3AM and working 60 hours straight with no further sleep every few weeks to recover from some other fool's decision to toss the logs not any high minded ideal) to toss the logs away. > I suppose I could change to script to ignore error code 131, but this > code could indicate any failure between ON-Bar and the database > server. I suppose I could parse the instance's error log for "Archive > on rootdbs, ... Completed," but I am hoping for a more direct method. > > Aaron Luz > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > Before you buy. -- Art S. Kagel & Family kagel@erols.com