Hi all,

I have an interesting Korn Shell programming challenge for anyone who
wants to try it. Here is the scenario:

1) I have a backup that is presently made using "cpio -ovC512 >
/dev/rmt0"
2) The first file on the cpio backup contains an index of all the
files that were copied onto the tape and is named
"/tmp/backup_list.$$" where $$ is the PID that created the backup. It
is followed by the rest of the files that were backed up. (This is ALL
stored in one tape file, not using rmt0.1)

When we restore the backup, we want to read the index file off the
tape and stop reading the cpio backup, then confirm with the user that
the data being restored is the one that they actually want to restore.
We can then decide to proceed (which loads the full backup tape) or
aborts. The idea is that we don't want to wait hours for the full tape
backup to be read or loaded, only to find out that it is the wrong
tape that was inserted. We also want it to be automated, so the user
does not have to interrupt the backup using CTRL-C or whatever and
then restart it.

Is there any way we can load the first file ONLY and stop the cpio, so
the operator can confirm that the tape which was inserted is the
correct one, before actually loading the entire backup?

If this cannot be done using cpio and there is an alternate AIX
command (tar, backup, dd) we can look into changing it, but we still
would need to use a unique index name to avoid overwriting another
backup going through to an alternate tape drive.

Your thoughts?

Steve

Steve N. wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have an interesting Korn Shell programming challenge for anyone who
> wants to try it. Here is the scenario:
>
> 1) I have a backup that is presently made using "cpio -ovC512 >
> /dev/rmt0"
> 2) The first file on the cpio backup contains an index of all the
> files that were copied onto the tape and is named
> "/tmp/backup_list.$$" where $$ is the PID that created the backup. It
> is followed by the rest of the files that were backed up. (This is
ALL
> stored in one tape file, not using rmt0.1)
>
> When we restore the backup, we want to read the index file off the
> tape and stop reading the cpio backup, then confirm with the user
that
> the data being restored is the one that they actually want to
restore.
> We can then decide to proceed (which loads the full backup tape) or
> aborts. The idea is that we don't want to wait hours for the full
tape
> backup to be read or loaded, only to find out that it is the wrong
> tape that was inserted. We also want it to be automated, so the user
> does not have to interrupt the backup using CTRL-C or whatever and
> then restart it.
>
> Is there any way we can load the first file ONLY and stop the cpio,
so
> the operator can confirm that the tape which was inserted is the
> correct one, before actually loading the entire backup?
>
> If this cannot be done using cpio and there is an alternate AIX
> command (tar, backup, dd) we can look into changing it, but we still
> would need to use a unique index name to avoid overwriting another
> backup going through to an alternate tape drive.
>


You could segment the tape with the first segment containing a file
with all the information you want the operators to have, and the second
segment containing the backup. But you seem to indicate you don't want
to use rmt0.1??? Am I interpreting that correctly?

--
Dana French