Chapter 3 - EBR Daily Operations
This chapter describes the day-to-day operation of EBR, including such tasks as:
You complete these tasks using functions accessible through the EBR Administrator Main window, and by using the Media pull-down menu. As new users and machines are added to the network, other tasks are required:
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Adding new clients to a backup group ![]()
Adjusting group start times to reduce network load
You complete these tasks, and many others, by using the EBR Administrator Client and Server pull-down menus.
In this document, the phrase "EBR server" indicates a VINES server is running the Enterprise Backup and Restore (EBR) service. The phrase "EBR service" refers to the service itself.
If the EBR Administrator program is not running, double-click on its icon:
The EBR Administrator window appears:
Use this window to monitor the EBR service and as the starting point for EBR operation and configuration tasks.
For an introduction to the various window elements in the EBR Administrator window, see Chapter 1.
The EBR Administrator window displays the status of the EBR service. There is a menu bar, a speedbar, four display windows (two of which are minimized initially), and a status line showing the name of the current EBR server. The display windows may be arranged any way you like, and EBR Administrator retains your settings by storing them in the EBRADMIN.INI file.
The Devices window displays information about devices the EBR service uses to back up data onto the backup volumes. This information includes the device name(s) and whether a backup volume is mounted on the device. If a backup volume is mounted, its name is displayed next to the device name. Read-only backup volumes appear with an (R) next to the device names; archive volumes are marked with an (A). See "Labeling an Archive Volume" later in this chapter for more information.
The Pending window notifies you of events that may require your intervention. For example, the Pending window shows you whether the EBR service needs a writable backup volume mounted so it can complete a backup, or if it needs a specific backup volume to fulfill a client's request to recover files. If the service needs a specific backup volume, it requests that volume by the name on its label. The Pending window shows you whether a backup volume is full, if a server is not included in the scheduled backup, if no backup is enabled, or if there is not enough memory to complete a scheduled backup operation.
The Messages window records activity at the EBR service, including the day and time.
The Sessions window shows information about which of the current service's clients are currently backing up, browsing, or recovering files.
If you have more than one EBR service on your network, you can use EBR Administrator to configure and monitor the activity of any of them from any VINES workstation on the network if you are authorized to do so. To manage a different EBR service, follow these steps:
1. Choose Change from the Server menu.
Tip: Or click the Change Server button on the speedbar.
The Change Server dialog box appears:
2. In the Server box, type the name of the server you want, or locate its name in the scrolling list and highlight it.
If the scrolling list is empty, click the Update List button. This action enumerates all EBR services (both active and inactive) on the network, and lists the name of the server on which the service is installed. On a large or busy network, this update may take a minute or so to complete. EBR Administrator saves the updated list of EBR services in memory.
Note: EBR Administrator uses StreetTalk Directory Assistance (STDA) to find EBR services on your network. If you have created any EBR services since the last time STDA updated its database, they will not show up when you use Update List.
3. Press [Enter] or click OK. If you prefer to use the list of servers, you can double-click on your choice to select it.
EBR Administrator changes the current server, and the status line in the main window displays the name of the new server you are administering. When EBR Administrator connects to the new server, all of its open windows (Pending, Status, Devices, Messages, Sessions) are updated with information from that server.
The Update List command is useful if you know an EBR service exists and want to access it, but that server is not listed in the Change Server dialog box.
When you install EBR Administrator, you may choose a default EBR service to administer as described in Chapter 1. If you have not specified a default server, and EBR cannot find one, it will ask you to give a server name. The next time you start EBR Administrator, you will be connected to that server.
The VINES EBR client is an EBR agent running on a VINES server, or a VINES workstation running the EBR or Scheduled Backup programs. Every EBR client is assigned to a particular EBR service. If you have more than one EBR service on your network, use the Find Clients command to see which clients are assigned to which EBR services. To list service and client pairs, complete the following steps:
1. Choose Find from the Client menu. The following message appears:
The server names change as EBR Administrator progresses down its list of clients, in alphabetical order. The find client operation can take some time to complete, especially on large or heavily loaded networks. To terminate a search in progress, click Cancel or press the [Esc] key.
When EBR Administrator has enumerated all the EBR client/server pairs, the Find Clients dialog box appears:
The Find Clients dialog box displays the name of every EBR server or workstation client on the network and the name of the EBR service to which it is assigned.
2. To change to a different server, highlight its name in the dialog box and click the Change Server button. You can also use the Change Server dialog box.
Tip: To change servers, you can also double-click on the server name in the Find Clients dialog box.
EBR provides a flexible, comprehensive set of features for managing backup volumes. Backup volumes are the tapes on which an EBR service stores backup data. As a general rule, the more data a service has backed up, and the longer the time span over which you want the service to keep an on-line record of a backup volume' s contents, the more backup volumes you will need to maintain.
As the system administrator, you must decide how long you plan to keep backup media holding client data. For example, if your company policy is to maintain backups for a year, you will have more backup volumes on the shelf than if you maintain backups for only three months. In addition, how often you back up files depends upon how often data on your network changes.
If you keep backups for a year, users will be able to recover any version of a backed-up file dating back to a year old. If you keep backups for three months, users can recover any version of a backed-up file dating back to three months old. All the backup information is maintained in EBR' s on-line media indexes. Therefore, if you keep backups for a year, for example, the indexes will be larger and take up more disk space than if you keep backups for only three months.
Tip: Consider keeping some backup volumes off-site. If backup volumes on-site are destroyed, you can recover your company' s data from the off-site volumes.
Once you decide on a policy for keeping backups, you can manage the size of the backup volume pool and the on-line indexes by creating index policies. See Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 for more information about index management.
The EBR service requires that you label and mount a backup volume before it can be used to back up or recover files. Use the Media pull-down menu to label, mount, and unmount backup volumes.
The labels of the backup volumes are tracked in the EBR service's media index. A record of each file on every backup volume is maintained in the EBR service' s file index. The EBR service uses these two indexes to tell you which backup volumes to mount when you want to recover lost data.
Before using a backup volume for backing up files, you need to add it to the EBR service's media set by labeling it. Labeling a backup volume provides the EBR service with the unique name it needs to use when referring to the volume. A volume's label is recorded electronically on the volume itself. Once you specify this label using EBR Administrator' s Label or Label and Mount dialog box, write the label name on a physical (adhesive) label attached to the volume.
Tip: You can give a backup volume any name you want, provided each one has a unique name. Be sure that the name on the adhesive label to the physical volume is the same name as the one you typed into the Label dialog box.
Each EBR service has its own media set. If you have multiple EBR services, you may find it helpful to label your backup volumes with the name of the EBR service to which it belongs, and then a number. For example:
mars.1 This backup volume is the first of a sequence for the
EBR service running on server mars
pluto.10 This backup volume is the tenth of a sequence for the
EBR service running on server pluto
Naming schemes vary from site to site. The default label template for backup volumes is the name of the EBR server followed by a three-digit number. For example:
jupiter.001 jupiter.002 ... jupiter.999
It is a good idea to take a full set of backup volumes for off-site storage from time to time (weekly or monthly).
Important: The EBR service tracks the information stored on each backup volume. Backups are not overwritten, but appended to the backup volume each time it is used. Therefore, you can leave the same backup volume in the server' s backup device no matter which backups are scheduled. When the backup volume is full, the service requests a new one.
Use the Label and Mount command if you want to label a volume and immediately mount it for writing.
Use the Label command if you want to either label a volume or label several volumes without mounting any of them.
Tip: If you cannot read the adhesive label on a volume, you can use EBR Administrator's Verify Label feature to determine it. See "Verifying a Volume Name" later in this chapter for more information.
Labeling and Mounting in One Operation
Your EBR server has at least one backup (tape) device connected to it. In the Devices display window, select the name of the device you want to administer before bringing up any of the tape management dialog boxes. (This device may already selected.) The device name that is highlighted in the Devices display window appears in all of the label and mount dialog boxes.
To label and mount a backup volume in one operation, follow these steps:
1. Insert the backup volume into the device on the server. For example, put a tape into the drive.
2. If the EBR server has more than one device, highlight the appropriate device in the Devices window. Only Banyan CNS servers currently support more than one tape device.
3. Choose Label and Mount from the Media menu.
Tip: Or click the Label & Mount button on the speedbar.
The Label and Mount dialog box appears:
If the backup volume has already been labeled, the EBR service checks it, then displays its name in the Volume Label field, and its media pool name in the Pools field. For an unlabeled backup volume, the Volume Label field is empty.
4. Under Pools, make sure the Default choice is selected. The Archive choice is explained in "Labeling an Archive Volume" later in this chapter.
The Pools field specifies media pool membership for this volume. The Default pool is for general backups, and the Full and NonFull pools may be used if you want to separate backup media by level of coverage.
See Chapter 4 for more information about media pools and for an explanation of full and non-full backups.
5. Enter the name for this backup volume into the Volume Label field, and click OK or press the [Enter] key. If you try to label a backup volume that you have previously labeled, EBR Administrator prompts you with a notice to make sure you really want to re-label the backup volume with a different name or type. For example:
If a backup volume is recyclable, the EBR service re-labels it without asking permission to overwrite. (Recyclable means a volume is re-usable.)
If a backup volume is not recyclable, EBR Administrator prompts you again to make sure you want to recycle it. For more information about re-labeling and recycling backup volumes, see Chapter 5.
Important: If you re-label a volume, the information written there is no longer accessible to EBR.
The EBR service proceeds to label and mount the backup volume. A message box appears to inform you of its progress. Finally, the name of the backup volume appears highlighted in the Devices status display window. To terminate this operation, click Cancel or press the [Esc] key.
Labeling a Backup Volume without Mounting
Use the Label command if you want to label one or more backup volumes without mounting any of them. You might want to do this to have pre-labeled volumes ready for mounting when needed by pending backups. You may repeat the label procedure if you wish to label several backup volumes at once without mounting any of them.
The workstation EBR program supports archiving data. You must have an archive volume available before this function can be used. When data is archived, it is backed up to a special pool, called the archive pool, and can optionally be deleted automatically from the workstation' s hard disk when the backup is complete. Archive volumes are used differently from normal backup volumes. The intent of the archive operation is to create a stable record of data that must be recoverable if it is needed, but for which no immediate need is foreseen. Backup volumes, on the other hand, are intended to be used on a regular basis for backup and recovery of working data. Archive volumes, when full, are often stored at a secure location, possibly off site, whereas backup volumes are kept readily accessible.
At the time you label a tape, you must determine if it will be used for backups or archives by making a choice in the Pools field of the Label and Mount or Label dialog boxes. You cannot back up files to an archive volume, or archive files to a backup volume. You must mount the correct type of backup media before trying to back up or archive files.
If an archive volume is mounted in the EBR server' s backup device, only file archives can be written to the device. If anyone tries to back up files to an archive volume, EBR does not allow it. Similarly, if a backup volume is mounted in the device, no one is allowed to archive their files to the volume. Archive volume names display an "(A)" next to their names in the Devices status display window.
Before you can back up files to a backup volume, archive files to an archive volume, or recover files from a volume of either type, you must mount the volume in the server' s backup device.
There are two options available for mounting backup volumes: Mount (Read/Write) and Mount (Read Only). The Label and Mount command is equivalent to Label followed by Mount (Read/Write).
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Use Mount (Read/Write) when you want the backup volume to be available for both backing up files or recovering files. ![]()
Use Mount (Read Only) when the backup volume should be used for recovering files only. In other words, the EBR service will not write to the mounted volume even if someone tries to back up their files. Backup volumes mounted as read only display an "(R)" next to their name in the Devices window.
The server devices used for backing up and recovering files appear in the Devices window. To mount a labeled volume on a specific device:
1. Insert the backup volume into its server device.
2. In the Devices window, highlight the appropriate device (if necessary).
3. Choose Mount (Read/Write) from the Media menu.
Tip: Or click the Mount read/write button on the speedbar.
If you wish to mount a volume for recovers only, and do not want users backing up to that volume, choose Mount (Read Only) instead.
The EBR service proceeds to mount the backup volume. An EBR Administrator message box appears to inform you of progress. The message box disappears when the mount is finished, and can be closed without canceling the operation. When the operation is complete, the volume name appears highlighted in the Devices display window.
Important: The EBR service allows you to pre-mount a backup volume so you can complete unattended backups. Pre-mounting means mounting a volume on the EBR server in anticipation of a scheduled backup (for example, before going home at night).
To unmount a backup volume from a specific device:
1. In the Devices window, highlight the appropriate device.
2. Choose Unmount from the Media menu.
Tip: Or click the Unmount button on the speedbar.
The EBR service proceeds to unmount the backup volume. When the operation is complete, the volume name appears highlighted in the Devices display window, with a message indicating that the volume has been unmounted.
Note: You cannot unmount a volume if it is in use.
If anyone tries to back up or archive files when no volume is mounted or the incorrect type of volume is mounted, the EBR Administrator displays a message like this in the Pending display window:
media waiting: waiting for 1 writable backup tape
Important: When a user or administrator tries to recover files, the EBR service requests by name the backup volume you need to mount in the device. If you need more than one backup volume to recover the files, EBR Administrator provides a list of necessary volumes in the Pending window, so that you can prepare all of them at once. As files are recovered, EBR requests each backup volume it needs, one at a time.
If the physical label on a backup (or archive) volume is missing or illegible, you can find out its name by placing it in a device and verifying its label. You must first unmount the volume.
Note: Verifying a label does not mount the volume, so there is no danger of it getting used for a pending backup request.
To verify a backup volume label:
1. Insert the volume into its drive, if it is not already there.
2. Highlight the appropriate device in the Devices window.
3. Choose Verify Label from the Media menu.
A message box displays the name of the backup (or archive) volume. If you verify the label of an archive volume, EBR Administrator displays "archive" next to the label:
Volume name: tut.000 (archive)
Displaying Media Set Information
An EBR service' s collection of backup and (possibly) archive volumes is called the service's media set.
The Volumes command displays information about the media set. It gives you a global view of the EBR service's collection of backup volumes. Use the Volumes dialog box to monitor and control the media set.
To use the Volumes dialog box, either choose Volumes from the Media menu or click the Volumes button on the speedbar. The Volumes dialog box appears:
This dialog box displays the name of each volume tracked by the current EBR service, the amount of data written on the volume, the percentage of space used, the volume mode, and its location. Mode may be appendable, full, or recyclable, depending on the volumes' status.
Show Save Sets displays the contents of the currently highlighted backup volume. A save set is a set of one or more files backed up by an EBR service in one backup session. Displaying the save sets is like displaying a table of contents of the backup volume.
The Volume Save Sets dialog box displays the name(s) of the client(s) whose files are on the backup volume, the backup dates, levels, status, and the directories that were backed up.
The status of browsable means that the save set is still within the time limits of the Browse time policy, and remains accessible for recovery.
Use Remove Volume to purge and delete a backup volume from the media set. Setting the location, changing modes, and removing backup volumes are discussed in Chapter 5.
Starting a Network-wide Backup
Once you label your backup volumes and configure an EBR service to recognize its clients, you are ready to back up clients over the network. See Chapter 2 for information on configuring the EBR service to recognize server and workstation clients.
There are four ways to back up files using EBR. The first method works only for workstations running the EBR workstation backup program. The last three methods work for VINES servers running EBR agents, or for workstations running Scheduled Backup.
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Manually back up a single client. This process is done through the Backup window of EBR and is explained in the VINES EBR User's Guide. Users can back up their own files manually using EBR. ![]()
Schedule the EBR service to start network-wide backups at a given time. (The default time is 3:33 a.m.) Choose Groups from the Client menu. The Groups command is described in Chapter 4. ![]()
Initiate a network-wide backup immediately. This choice is useful if the scheduled backup did not complete, or if for maintenance reasons you need to back up a group of clients over the network immediately. Use the Group Control command described in the following procedure. ![]()
Initiate a backup of specified clients immediately. This backup is useful only if the scheduled backup of specific EBR clients never started or was partially successful.
To start a network-wide backup immediately, follow these steps:
1. Choose Group Control from the Client menu.
Tip: Or click the Group Control button on the speedbar.
The Group Control dialog box appears:
All backup groups known to the EBR service appear in this dialog box. A backup group is comprised of zero or more clients that an EBR service backs up in one session. Notice that the dialog box shows when the group backup was last run, when the next run is scheduled, and the backup status.
2. Highlight the name of the group of clients that you want to back up immediately. Make sure status is Finished or Never Run; starting a group that is Not Finished causes the backup to start all over again. Groups that are Not Finished should be restarted using the Restart button.
3. Click the Start button.
The EBR service immediately begins to back up all the clients that belong to the group for which you have initiated the backup.
Tip: Make sure the EBR service has a labeled backup volume mounted in its device before you initiate a backup. If there is no backup volume in the device, the service will ask you for one before it can back up the group.
Use the Group Control command to monitor the completion status of a savegroup (a group of clients). To create savegroups or to add clients to backup groups, see Chapter 4.
To bring up the dialog box, choose Group Control from the Operation menu or click the Group Control button on the speedbar. This dialog box provides buttons for starting, stopping, and re-starting a group backup. See "Starting and Stopping Group Backup" later in this chapter for more information. In addition, names of groups known to the EBR service appear in the Group Control dialog box, with these headings:
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Group - Displays the name of the backup group ![]()
Last Run - Displays date and time the group was last backed up ![]()
Next Run - Displays the date and time scheduled for the next group backup, or whether scheduled backup is disabled ![]()
Status - Displays the progress of the backup. There are three different progress messages:
Never run The group has never been run.
Finished The backup has finished.
Not finished The backup is still running or has exited prematurely.
The Restart and Stop buttons are dimmed (to indicate they are disabled) for groups Never Run or Finished, because these groups cannot be re-started or stopped.
The EBR service keeps track of the disk volumes, directories, or files it was unable to back up during the backup of a group of clients. You can see which files or save sets were not backed up by viewing the Details dialog box.
Click the Details button or press the [Enter] key to open the Details dialog box, which provides more information about the group currently highlighted in the Group Control dialog box.
The Details dialog box appears:
Four types of messages can appear in the Details dialog box, depending on the success of the backup:
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Clients - All clients of a group, listed alphabetically ![]()
Incomplete Save Sets - Scheduled backup has not started, or has started but not yet completed, backing up the listed save sets ![]()
Successful Save Sets - Scheduled backup completed successfully; no major errors occurred ![]()
Unsuccessful Save Sets - Scheduled backup ran and completed but did not successfully back up all the save sets listed
EBR Administrator marks save sets with an asterisk (*) if it was unable to back them up. An error message from the EBR service is usually given too. Perhaps a file was open during backup, or the client was not accessible.
Typical reasons for unsuccessful save sets include:
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The target VINES server was not running the EBR agent. ![]()
The target VINES workstation not running Scheduled Backup. ![]()
The server or client crashed during backup. ![]()
The network connection failed during the backup.
Starting and Stopping Group Backup
The Group Control dialog box contains buttons to start, re-start, or stop a backup group.
If the group backup is Finished, or has Never Run, you may use the Start button to initiate an immediate backup for the group. If the group backup is Not finished, and you suspect it should have finished, there are several things you can do:
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Check the Pending status window. You might need to mount another backup volume, or maybe the index is full. ![]()
Check the Sessions window. Perhaps a recover is in progress, or other backups are occurring and parallelism is too low. Parallelism is the state of an EBR server when backing up different save sets in parallel and multiplexing files onto the same backup volume. ![]()
Click the Start button to back up the group of all clients again. Even clients that completed successfully will be backed up again. ![]()
Click the Restart button to back up only the clients that EBR was unable to finish during scheduled backup. ![]()
Click the Stop button to stop backup of the group currently running, if for example an I/O error occurs and you need to clean the tape, or if you need to take systems down for network maintenance. The STOP button only works for groups that were started automatically.
If the scheduled backup of some EBR clients never started, or was only partly successful, or if you just want to back up a client right away, you may initiate an immediate backup of selected clients by following these steps:
1. Choose Group Control from the Client menu, or click the Group Control button on the speedbar. The Group Control dialog box appears.
2. Highlight the name of the group to which the selected clients belong, and click the Select Clients button. The Select Clients dialog box appears:
3. Check the box for the clients you wish to try backing up again, then click the Start button. The EBR service immediately begins to back up the client(s) you have selected.
When backing up workstations, EBR is able to back up open files only if they are not locked. Open files on VINES servers, or workstation files opened in "share deny none" mode will be backed up. If the file contents change during backup, however, the EBR service logs a message about the resultant change in file size.
Use the Details dialog box for a group to determine if any files were not correctly backed up for a client in the group. Any open files that were not backed up will appear in this dialog box, under successful save sets. These files need to be closed or unlocked before they can be backed up properly.
You may choose either to manually back up the skipped files using the Backup window of EBR, or wait for the next scheduled backup. You may also choose to Start the group again, which initiates an immediate incremental backup.
After completing a backup, you may want to verify that the data can be recovered when necessary, or you may periodically want to check backup or archive volumes to verify that they are still readable. EBR provides several ways to verify the readability, correctness, and integrity of backup volumes. To verify that a backup of workstation data is readable by the server, you can use the EBR program, and choose Verify Files from the Operation menu, or click the Verify button on the speedbar. Use the browse window to select a recent save set, and Start the verify. (A browse window displays files and directories visually, like the Windows File Manager.) This type of verification is most often performed immediately after taking a workstation backup, while the required volume is still mounted on the server.
To verify server backups, select the Verify operation from the EBR submenu of the EBR server's Operator Menu and mark the services, directories, and files with the backups you would like to verify as being readable. This operation will proceed exactly as if it were going to recover the data, but only verifies that the data could have been recovered.
If Verify Files shows that the services, directories, and files are readable, then no action is required. If they are unreadable, then you may have a bad tape or a hardware problem with the tape drive or controller. See "EBR Console Operations" later in this chapter for more information on this option.
From time to time, it is a good idea to check the on-line indexes to see if each client is getting backed up regularly. To do this, choose Indexes from the Client menu, or click the Indexes button on the speedbar. In the Indexes dialog box, double-click on each client. This procedure is a shortcut for verifying that each client is getting backed up instead of using Show Save Sets. If the size and cycles of client save sets continue to increase over time, the client is getting backed up regularly.
Use the Options menu to set up the EBR Administrator window. After you set options, EBR Administrator "remembers" your settings by storing them in the EBRADMIN.INI file in the WINDOWS directory.
The four choices in the Options menu are Polling Interval, Font, Speedbar, and Status Line. Use:
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Polling Interval to determine how often, in seconds, you want information in the status windows updated. ![]()
Font to change type style in the status display windows for Devices, Pending, Messages, and Sessions. This section does not change font in the menus, speedbar, or status line. ![]()
Speedbar to alternately show and hide the speedbar. ![]()
Status Line to alternately show and hide the status line.
The first two choices are described in the sections that follow.
The polling interval determines how often, in seconds, information in the status display windows gets updated. Normally, EBR Administrator polls the EBR service it is managing for a status update every five seconds. You can change the polling interval to any number of seconds between 1 and 60.
A frequent polling interval might slow down a busy EBR service, but an infrequent one delays service updates on your screen. To change the polling interval, follow these steps:
1. Choose Polling Interval from the Options menu. The Polling Interval dialog box appears:
2. Enter a number into the Polling interval field, or use the _ and _ arrow buttons to move up and down one second at a time.
3. Click OK or press [Enter] to register the change. EBR Administrator updates the service status information in the status display windows using the new polling interval.
To change the type style in the Devices, Pending, Messages, and Sessions status display windows, choose Font from the Options menu. The Font dialog box appears:
You can set a typeface with the Font scrolling menu, weight, and obliqueness with the Font Style scrolling menu, or point size with the Size scrolling menu. A sample of the font you selected appears in the lower right of the menu.
Recovering backed-up data, although not necessarily a daily activity for EBR administrators, is a routine task. Therefore, it is described in this chapter. Data recovery facilities and procedures are somewhat different on workstations than they are on servers. All recovery of files to workstations is handled by the EBR program, which is described in the VINES EBR User's Guide. The EBR Directed Recover feature is described in this chapter because its use is restricted to administrators. Otherwise, the information about recovery is limited to describing recovery of data to a VINES server using the facilities in the EBR submenu of the VINES server's Operator Menu.
All normal server data recovery operations, disaster recovery operations, and a few maintenance tasks require you to use the EBR submenu on the VINES server console.
Note: You cannot back up a server from this menu. To back up a server, use the EBR Administrator. Refer to Chapter 2 for more information.
To access the EBR main menu, complete the following steps:
1. Select Backup/Restore from the Operator Menu.
2. Select Enterprise Backup/Restore (EBR) from the Backup/Restore Menu. You are prompted for your username and password, which are verified and stored for later use by those EBR Console operations that need them.
3. Enter your username and password. The EBR main menu appears:
Recovering Server Data
To recover backup data to a server, select Recover Server Data from the Backup/Restore Menu.
Note: To use Recover Server Data, you must be a member of AdminList@ServerName@Servers where ServerName is the name of the server on which you are using the Console.
The Confirm Operation screen appears, asking if you want to continue with the recover operation. If you select CONTINUE, the recover submenu appears. If you select ABORT, the EBR Main Menu appears again.
The recover submenu provides access to the recover browser. Server data is organized in the recover browser hierarchical filesystem directory in DOS or UNIX. This data is the index of services, directories, and files backed up during scheduled EBR backups of this server. When used from the console EBR menu, the recover browser allows you to recover any of the following types of VINES server data:
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Services hosted on the server, listed by their StreetTalk name. These always appear at the "top" of the hierarchy, where the recover browser starts looking for data to recover. ![]()
StreetTalk groups listed by their StreetTalk name. ![]()
Mailboxes (if the server hosts a mail service) listed by the owner's StreetTalk name. ![]()
Mail Folders (if the server hosts a mail service) listed by their folder name. ![]()
Files and directories in VINES Files services listed by their DOS name. Information about files and directories can be configured using the VIEW subcommand.
You can configure the view of the file system you want to see. The default view is the DOS view, where files are visible in the DOS 8.3 naming convention. You can choose the Macintosh view where filenames are visible as folder:filename. In addition, you can choose the Long filename view where long filenames created on Windows 95 or Windows NT clients, and International (multi-byte) filenames are visible. Long filenames appear as they were created. If International (multi-byte) filenames cannot be displayed at the console, they are converted to the hexadecimal representation of the multi-byte characters on their respective code page and displayed. The UNIX view is also available. Files are shown as /disk2/directory/filename.
The index shows you the default view of your server's data, which is of the most recent server backup at any level. You can browse this index, going up and down the hierarchy and, optionally, back and forth in time, using a few simple commands and build a recover list of the data you want to retrieve from backup volumes. The recover list can consist of files, directories or services, in any combination. When the list is complete, the recover subcommand of the recover submenu initiates the actual recovery. The recover subcommands are:
cd [name] Similar to the DOS cd command. Changes the current working directory to the directory specified by name, where name is either a directory in a VINES file service or the StreetTalk name of a service.
changetime [when] View the index as of the backup closest to, but not later than, the date specified by when. If when is not specified, the date of the backup you are currently browsing is displayed and a prompt is issued for new time.
EBR allows great flexibility in date specification. It accepts absolute dates, such as November 13, 1995 and relative dates, such as last Tuesday. Absolute dates can be given in two formats: MM/DD[/YY], and Month DD[, YYYY]. Times can also be specified as either absolute or relative, with absolute times in the format: HH[[:MM][:SS]] [am|pm] [time zone] - for example, 12:30 a.m., 14:21, and 10 p.m. PST. The current time is used to calculate unspecified parts of a relative date (that is, two days ago means two days ago at the current time), and midnight is assumed for unspecified times on an absolute date (for example, July 2 means July 2 at midnight). The resolution at which times may be specified depends on how often the server was backed up. The EBR service's index browse policies determines the date of the index you can view.
dest name Prints the destination to which the files and directories on the recover list can be recovered. If you have not used the relocate or rename subcommands to specify a new location, then dest indicates that the files will be recovered to their original location.
dir [name] Similar to the DOS dir command. Lists the contents of the directory or service you are currently browsing, or the contents of the directory named by name, where name is either a directory in a VINES file service or the StreetTalk name of a service
force, noforce Force specifies that you want to overwrite files on the server's disk with data retrieved from backup media. noforce (the default) specifies that you want to be prompted if name conflicts occur, and allowed to select one of the following choices:
choice | action |
y | Overwrite existing file |
Y | Overwrite existing file now and in all subsequent cases of name conflict |
n | Leave the existing file in place and do not recover the backup |
N | Leave the existing file in place and do not recover the backup in all subsequent cases of name conflict |
r | Rename existing file |
R | Rename existing files in all subsequent cases of name conflict |
Note: When you specify force, it applies to all items on the recover list. File and directory renaming with force makes sense only when you are recovering file service data. Therefore, recover reverts to the default (noforce) when recovering other service data.
When you choose r or R, the file is renamed by appending an "R" to the name if the existing file, and is truncated, as necessary, to fit within client filename length limits.
help, ? Displays a summary listing of recover subcommands and what they do.
list Show the contents of the recover list.
mark name, unmark name
mark Marks name for recovery and adds it to the recover list. unmark removes name from the recover list. The dir subcommand displays a + sign to the left of files, directories, and services that are marked.
quit Quits the recover browser without recovering anything.
recover Recovers the contents of the recover list.
relocate newdir Specifies that file service files and directories marked for recovery should be recovered under newdir instead of under their current parent. newdir will be created if it does not already exist. newdir can be:
A relative pathname within the current file service (..\dos\mydir\games)
An absolute pathname within this file service or another file service on this server (MyFiles@Server@Servers\dos\mydir\games)
rename oldsvc newsvc Renames a service backed up as oldsvc to newsvc. newsvc must exist on the target server, but oldsvc does not. You can use rename to recover an old version of an existing service into a new name. You may only execute one rename per recover session.
versions name List all the versions of the service, directory, or file named by name that are available for recovery. For each version of name available, versions provides two lines of information: the first is similar to what dir name would produce, and the second lists the tape volume(s) that will be required to recover this version of name. You can use changetime to go back in time as needed to mark the version of name you want to recover.
view [mode] View file and directory names in VINES file services by their DOS, Macintosh, or UNIX names. mode can be one of DOS, MAC, or UNIX. Upper or lower-case characters may be used. If you do not supply the mode, you will prompted to enter one.
volumes List the names of the media volumes (e.g., backup tapes) that will be required to recover all of the files on the recover list.
There are many ways to use the recover browser. For example, you can recover all of the data in a mail service as of the most recent backup by completing the following procedure:
1. Enter mark MS@Redwood@Servers to add the service to the recover list.
2. Enter recover to start the recovery.
To recover all of the files with the suffix "doc" in the ebr\doc\user directory of the file service EngDoc@Group@Org, enter the following commands:
1. cd EngDoc@Group@Org to change directory into the file service root
2. dir to list the directories at the top level of this file service
3. cd ebr\userdoc to change to the ebr\userdoc directory
4. dir to list the contents of ebr\userdoc as of the most recent backup
5. mark *.doc to add all files in ebr\userdoc with the suffix ".doc" to the recover list
6. volumes to see what tape volumes will be needed to accomplish the recovery
7. recover to actually start the recovery
Renaming and relocating can also be helpful if you want to preserve an existing version of a service while recovering an old one. For example, when browsing the contents of a files service, enter:
1. mark mydir\*.xls
2. relocate yourdir
3. recover
This procedure recovers all files with the suffix ".xls" that were originally backed up in "mydir" to the directory "yourdir" instead. "yourdir" is created if it does not already exist. If you have a backup of a file service named MyFiles@Redwood@Servers and want to recover the entire service without disturbing the existing MyFiles@Redwood@Servers, you can enter:
1. mark MyFiles@Redwood@Servers
2. rename MyFiles@Redwood@Servers NewFiles@Redwood@Servers
3. recover
Verifying Recoverability of Data
To verify that backup data can be recovered without actually recovering any data, select Verify Recoverability of Data from the Enterprise Backup and Restore menu. The Confirm Operation screen appears, asking if you want to continue with the verify operation.
If you select CONTINUE, the verify screen appears. Like the recover subcommand, the verify subcommand allows you to browse your server' s on-line index of backup data. In addition, you can build a recover list of services, directories, and files that can be verified as recoverable.
To verify recoverability of data, proceed as if you were going to actually recover the data. Use the recover browser to scroll through the index of saved data and build a recover list using the mark and unmark subcommands. When you type the verify subcommand from within the verify submenu option, all the steps needed to recover the data (finding the volume, reading the tape, and so on) are performed, but the data is deleted before being recovered.
Note: Verification does not modify data on the backup volume, nor does it create any new data on the VINES server.
Listing Services
Before recovering service data from a backup, you may want to check to see if the service you' re planning to recover is still running on this server. To list services available on the server, select List Services on Server from the Enterprise Backup/Restore menu. Note that EBR appears as one of the services.
Index Maintenance
The Index Maintenance screen provides access to operations that you may want to perform from time to time on a server that hosts an EBR service. Wait until a time when the EBR service is not busy to perform these operations.
Note: Index maintenance operations can only be performed on a server that hosts an EBR service. Index Maintenance operations require you to be a member of AdminList@ServerName@Servers where ServerName is the name of the server on which you are using the Operator Console.
Checking Index Integrity
To check the integrity of an EBR service's on-line indexes, select menu item number one from the Index Maintenance menu. This option runs an EBR utility called nsrck, which compares indexes stored on tape during the last scheduled backup to those currently on disk. First nsrck compares the media indexes, then the client file indexes.
If there are no problems, index repair is not necessary, and nsrck prints a message and exits. If nsrck discovers a problem, you are prompted to confirm that you want to repair the indexes. When you confirm that you want the index repaired, nsrck re-runs in a mode that fixes the indexes according to the most recent index backup.
Deleting a Client Index
If you have removed an EBR client from active service and no longer need to ever recover any of its backup data, you probably want to delete any on-line indexes for that client. These indexes are maintained by the client' s EBR service.
Note: When you delete a client using the Clients window of EBR Administrator, that client's on-line file index is not deleted. To delete the indexes, you must use the EBR Console Menu's Delete Client Index Entries option.
When you select Delete Client Index Entries, a list of currently available client indexes appears. To delete a particular client's on-line file index, select that client's name from the menu choices.
Important: Do not delete a client' s on-line file index unless you have first deleted the client using EBR Administrator.
Should you delete a client's file index by mistake, you can restore it by using the Check Index Integrity menu choice. However, you will lose any record of manual backups done by the client between the last scheduled backup and the deletion of that client's on-line file index.
Local Tape Operations
To change the active backup device, verify the accuracy of backup media, or to rebuild on-line media and file indexes, select Local Tape Operations from the main menu. The Local Tape Operations menu appears.
Note: Local tape operations can only be performed on a server that hosts an EBR service. These operations require you to be a member of AdminList@ServerName@Servers where ServerName is the name of the server on which you are using the console.
Changing the Active Tape Device
This menu choice changes the tape device that is used for local tape operations. It has no effect on the tape device the EBR service uses for backup and recovery. To change that device, use EBR Administrator. Only Banyan CNS servers support multiple tape devices.
Verifying Tape Integrity
To verify the accuracy of data on the tape currently mounted in the drive, select Verify Tape Integrity. A Confirm Operation menu appears with a message indicating that this operation is very time-consuming. Select YES to continue, or NO to cancel. If you decide to continue, EBR runs the scanner program to read and verify the tape. Wait until a time when the EBR service is not busy to perform this operation.
Rebuilding On-line Indexes
To rebuild the on-line indexes from the latest backup copy on tape, select Rebuild On-line Media and File Indexes. A Confirm Operation menu appears with a message indicating that this operation is very time-consuming. Select YES to continue, or NO to cancel. Wait until a time when the EBR service is not busy to perform this operation.
If you decide to continue, EBR reruns scanner to read the indexes from tape and reconstruct them on disk. Typically you do not want to rebuild the on-line indexes unless there had been a serious incident such as a disk crash or accidental deletion, which resulted in a total loss of index data.
Displaying EBR Log Files
To look at EBR log files, select Display backup/Recover Logs from the Enterprise Backup/Restore menu. The Display Backup/Restore Logs Menu appears. From this menu, you can pick the View Service Logs option to scroll through service logfiles. These are the same logfiles that you can view from a VINES workstation by using mservice.
Changing the File Service Viewpoint
Normally, the recover browser displays files in VINES file services by their DOS names. If you want to change the default, use the Set Default File Service View from the EBR main menu to choose a different default view for recover and verify operations.
Changing the Recover Source
As described earlier in this section, the recover and verify commands are used to browse the index maintained for this server by the EBR service that most recently backed it up. (This server is the one on which recover is running.) The on-line file index for this server maintained by its "regular" EBR service can be considered the default data source for all normal recover and verify operations.
If you need to recover data backed up by a different EBR service, and from a different VINES server, you can change either of these defaults using Change Recover Source from the main menu before running recover or verify. This menu offers you two choices:
Use the EBR Service on server: servername
Normally, servername is the name of the server hosting the EBR service that most recently backed up this server. You may want to specify a different servername if this server has been backed up by more than one EBR service and you want to browse the on-line file index for backups of this server done by that EBR service.
Recover/Verify data backed up from server: servername
Normally, servername is the name of the server at the console where you are working. (You may want to specify a different servername if you want to recover data backed up from a different server.) This server must be designated as having recover rights to servername's data. Refer to Chapter 4 for more information about this type of directed recover. No attempt is made to check the recover rights until a recover or verify is actually attempted.
If the server from which you want to recover data was not backed up by the EBR service specified in the first option, you must change that name as well. You can find out which EBR service backs up a specific server using the Find Client option of EBR Administrator.
Configuring the EBR Mail User
EBR Administrator allows you to configure the EBR service to send notifications by mail using the ebrmail program when certain events occur. See Chapter 4 for more detail on this. Services cannot easily send mail. Therefore, you must furnish the EBR service with the username and password of a user on your network so that the EBR service can log in as this user when it needs to send mail. If you use mail notifications, enter the name and password of a designated EBR mail user as part of this operation.
Although any user who is allowed to send mail can be used, you should establish a special user account, one with few other privileges, for this purpose. Any undeliverable mail notifications will be returned to this user's mail box. You should periodically log in as this user and examine any undeliverable mail to determine why it was undeliverable, and to delete these messages after they are no longer needed.
If the username and password that you provide for the EBR mail user cannot be verified, you will be prompted to check the spelling of the username and password and include the user's group and organization. If you believe the username and password cannot be verified due to a transient condition (a broken network partition, for example), you may exit from this screen and leave the information unverified. EBR mail notifications will not succeed, however, if the username and password cannot be verified at the time the notification is sent.
Note: When the EBR Mail User cannot log in, notifications that have been configured to be mailed will instead generate a message reminding you to configure the EBR mail user.
Select TRY AGAIN to try a different username and password or both, or select CANCEL if you want to wait until later to be sure that the mail user can be verified by StreetTalk.
Directed Recover, an administrative feature of the EBR program (not the EBR Administrator program), allows you to recover one workstation client' s data from a backup volume to the local disk of another client. This feature can be useful if a machine or a disk drive has failed, or a system has disappeared from the network. You can easily configure the replacement system and recover a set of files for it.
The Directed Recover command is also convenient if you want to transfer files between two clients. For example, if one client's AUTOEXEC.BAT file is perfect for a new client, you can recover it from the old client and copy it to the new client.
The source client is the one from which you are taking backed-up data to give to the destination client. For example, if you want the client venus to have a copy of orion's AUTOEXEC.BAT file, the source client for venus is orion. The destination client is venus. EBR provides you with a choice of source clients when you use the Directed Recover command.
To start a directed recovery, follow these steps:
1. At the destination client machine, log in as a user who is a member of the AdminList on the client's EBR service. This user identity gives you permission to access the on-line index for the source client machine.
2. In the Program Manager, edit the EBR Program Item Properties and add the -a option to the Command Line. This option starts EBR in Administrator Mode.
3. Start the EBR program.
4. Choose Directed Recover from the Operation menu. EBR displays a list of clients known to the workstation' s EBR service in the Source Client dialog box.
5. Highlight the name of the client you wish to designate as the source for recovered files as shown in the following dialog box. Click OK or press the [Enter] key (or double-click on the client name).
The Source and Destination client names appear on the status line (not shown) to remind you that this is a directed recover. Then EBR displays the Directed Recover browse window, where you can mark the file(s) you wish to recover.
From this point, the Directed Recover command works like the Recover command. Refer to the VINES EBR User's Guide for information on how to mark files, change the browse time, or start a recovery.