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Informix Error -43195: ERROR: Logical Logs will not be backed up / salvaged because LTAPEDEV value is <null-device> . Normal backup (onbar -b) cannot be done without logical logs being backed up, because restore of such backups requires a logical log restore.

Cause and resolution

ERROR: Logical Logs will not be backed up / salvaged because LTAPEDEV value is <null-device> . Normal backup (onbar -b) cannot be done without logical logs being backed up, because restore of such backups requires a logical log restore.

If the LTAPEDEV parameter value in your ONCONFIG file is /dev/null (UNIX) or NUL (NT) or blank, logical log backup is not performed. These are special values that the user sets to tell the server and ON-Bar that log backups are not desired. Data in the logical log cannot be restored. Normal backups (that are not whole system backups) cannot be restored without logical log restore. Therefore such backups are not possible without logical logs being backed up.

ACTION Set the LTAPEDEV parameter value to something other than /dev/null (UNIX) or NUL (NT) or blank if logical log backups are desired. Or use whole system backup (onbar -b -w) and whole system physical-only restore (onbar -r -w -p) which can be performed without logical logs being backed up / restored.

</null-device>

Oninit® Troubleshooting Guidance

Reasons / Common Causes

-43195 fires when LTAPEDEV is /dev/null (UNIX), NUL (Windows), or blank and a normal (non-whole-system) backup is attempted — per the official guidance, a normal backup requires logical-log backup to be restorable, which these special LTAPEDEV values disable.

  1. LTAPEDEV set to /dev/null/NUL/blank while attempting a normal onbar -b backup, per the official guidance — the direct, only cause.
Solutions / Resolution
  1. Set LTAPEDEV to something other than /dev/null/NUL/blank if logical-log backups are wanted, per the official guidance.
  2. Otherwise, use whole-system backup/restore instead, per the official guidance — onbar -b -w for backup, onbar -r -w -p for restore, neither of which needs logical logs backed up or restored.
Examples
Whole-system-only backup and restore
$ onbar -b -w
$ onbar -r -w -p
Diagnostic Checks
  1. Check ONCONFIG's LTAPEDEV value, and either set it to a real device/file or switch to whole-system-only backup/restore.
Related Errors / Related Topics
  • -43183 — "Logical logs will not be backed up / salvaged because LTAPEDEV value is ." A related, less-severe LTAPEDEV warning about a general disabling of logical-log backup, rather than blocking a specific normal-backup attempt outright.
  • -43196 — "ERROR: Logical Logs cannot be restored because LTAPEDEV value is . Restoring a normal backup (done by onbar -b) is not possible without restore of logical logs. Only whole system backups (done with onbar -b -w) can be restored without logical logs as whole system physical-only restore (using onbar -r -w -p). Then use onmode commands (options -s or -m) to bring server up without logical log restore." The restore-side equivalent of this same LTAPEDEV restriction.

LTAPEDEV disables logical-log backup, so a normal (non-whole-system) backup can't be done — set a real LTAPEDEV value, or use whole-system-only backup/restore.