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I'm trying to use pax as a tar replacement, because the completed file
runs to 5+ GB -- but I can't seem to get what I want.

Specifically, I get this error: "A file or directory in the path name does
not exist" when pax runs across a symbolic linc to a non-existant file.
Tar and tsm both archive the symlink, while pax complains and does NOT
archive the link.

What option(s) do I need to feed to pax to just get the link archived?
Currently I'm using pax -xXf <path to pax file> <directory to archive>.

What can I use in place of pax or tar for output files larger than 2 GB?

Some of the symlinks pax is complaining about are to file off on a nfs
mount that isn't mounted at the time of the run.

TIA

Tom

TomK wrote:
> I'm trying to use pax as a tar replacement, because the completed file
> runs to 5+ GB -- but I can't seem to get what I want.

Did you checked the latest GNU-tar too?
http://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual/tar.html

Lorinczy Zsigmond wrote:
> TomK wrote:
> > I'm trying to use pax as a tar replacement, because the completed file
> > runs to 5+ GB -- but I can't seem to get what I want.
>
> Did you checked the latest GNU-tar too?
> http://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual/tar.html

of course gnutar is the answer in some cases .. especially for
portability to other types of unix .. but if you are only going to be
using AIX, then "man backup"

Rgds
Mark Taylor

Tom Kauffman wrote:

> Specifically, I get this error: "A file or directory in the path name does
> not exist" when pax runs across a symbolic linc to a non-existant file.
> Tar and tsm both archive the symlink, while pax complains and does NOT
> archive the link.
>
> What option(s) do I need to feed to pax to just get the link archived?
> Currently I'm using pax -xXf <path to pax file> <directory to archive>.

What release of AIX are you using?

Is the flag x for archiving a speciality
of this release and why do you need it?

(If it is not about file size limits, have
you tried simply archiving with the flag w?
pax -wXf archive directory)

On Sat, 30 Dec 2006 01:23:37 +0100 (CET), Sven Mascheck
<cua.x.mascheck@spamgourmet.com> wrote:

>Tom Kauffman wrote:
>
>> Specifically, I get this error: "A file or directory in the path name does
>> not exist" when pax runs across a symbolic linc to a non-existant file.
>> Tar and tsm both archive the symlink, while pax complains and does NOT
>> archive the link.
>>
>> What option(s) do I need to feed to pax to just get the link archived?
>> Currently I'm using pax -xXf <path to pax file> <directory to archive>.
>
>What release of AIX are you using?

5.3-02 and 5.3-04-csp
>
>Is the flag x for archiving a speciality
>of this release and why do you need it?
>

It's a typo (sigh) -- should read pax -wXf

>(If it is not about file size limits, have
> you tried simply archiving with the flag w?
> pax -wXf archive directory)

I've looked at the pax source on my linux box and don't see the error
message; looks like an IBM 'extension'. I've got a PMR open.

My point here is that this could very easily be a symlink to an
nfs-mountable file system that isn't mounted at the time of the pax run,
and failure to copy the symlink is a design flaw.

We'll see what kind of response I get.

I see that tar under AIX 5.3 now supports output files up to 8 GB, but I
run into different issues with tar (ever get the feeling you're being
punished for activities in a past life?)

The structure(s) I'm trying to archive are oracle and sap executable and
work file systems. The layout is:

/oracle/SID
/oracle/SID/fs-1
/oracle/SID/fs-2

and so forth.

Tar seems to have no 'good' method to not recurse through file systems
(the X) in the pax command. I can build an exclude list for fs-1 and fs-2
-- and tar will cheerfully exclude the filesystems - and their mount
points. (the fs-1 and fs-2 represent the 80-odd 'sapdata' filesystems with
out 1.4 TB database)

Tom

TomK wrote:

>>What release of AIX are you using?
>
> 5.3-02 and 5.3-04-csp

I consider the behaviour you described as plain bug.
Not to mention the respective documentation doesn't explain
anything related. I guess you verified that you used the
original /usr/bin/pax (that is, you didn't get something else by
accident). Have you tried to find out about patches for you
AIX release?

As last try, you could switch to paranoia mode, delete the environment
("env -i") in case the strange behaviour is triggered from there and
also explicitly name the tar archiving format ("-x ustar").

$ env -i /usr/bin/pax -wX -f archive -x ustar directory

Otherwise, yes, I'd switch to "find -xdev" & tar until getting
a fixed pax.