External backup tools can be used to save to tapes and continuation tapes without operator intervention. CONTROL provides a connection to several external backup tools.
Currently, the following external backup tools are supported:
- ADSM (IBM)
- FlashNet (GymData)
- OmniBack (HP)
- Networker (Legato)
- NetVault (AT&T, NCR)
When proceeding according to the NetVault pattern (see the "extern" medium name), any arbitrary backup tools can be linked, because no adaptations are required for CONTROL.
An interactive procedure is not provided. Backup/recovery with external backup tools is only possible in batch mode (see Section Batch Mode: xbackup / xrestore ).
External backup tools are addressed by special media names.
Example of the medium definition:
Media for the Usage of External Backup Tools
The following strings as the start of a medium name will cause special treatment. In all these cases, data transfer will be via named pipes, so the "device type" must be "p" and the "media size" 0:
EXTERN
The external backup tool has the control. xbackup or xrestore is called by an external archiver tool. Data transfer is via a named pipe which must already be available. (The administrator of) The archiver tool is responsible for the proper identification of the save and labelling of the tape reel. This medium name must not be the name of a parallel group. The pipe name must be passed as -f parameter, it is checked against the medium definition.
For Windows NT, the archiver tool NetVault (NCR) is used to store database saves. This tool calls xbackup or xrestore using the "extern" medium name (see also Section Notes on "extern" Medium).
ADSM, FNET, NSR, OMNI
xbackup or xrestore has the control. xbackup or xrestore calls a specific archiver tool to take or deliver the data. Data transfer is via named pipes which must not exist when xbackup or xrestore is called.
The tool called is ADSM (IBM), FlashNet (GymData), Networker (Legato), or OmniBack (HP), respectively. When printing the manual, OmniBack connectivity is not yet ready; details may change for a specific tool. More tools can be added (see the current README file). See the Sections Notes on ADSM, Notes on FlashNet.
On backup, an identification is automatically generated (containing database name, date, time, type of save, and machine name). This identificacion is used to identify the save in the archiver tool. On restore, the user is shown (on standard output) a numbered list of all saves known to the tool whose strings match machine and database name, and is prompted to choose the save wanted.
If the name is that of a parallel group, several instances of the archiver tool will be started in parallel. The number of group members at restore must match that at backup.
This list of archiver tools shows the state at printing time. To see the list valid for the current state of xbackup or xrestore, specify the parameters -h (Help) or -V (Version) with the call of xbackup or xrestore.
Batch Call:
Syntax
Example
xbackup -a SAVEDATA -d mydb -m ADSM
The complete description of the batch calls is included in Section Batch Mode: xbackup / xrestore.
Restoring with the aid of external backup tools is done as saving. One simply uses the same medium definition as for the backup and performs the restore operation as from one medium.
Use the xrestore command as batch call.
See also: