tar command : tar, aix

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04.19.2004 at 10:12PM PDT, ID: 20959964

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8.0

tar command

Zone: IBM AIX Unix

Tags: tar, aix

Hi All,

Our system is AIX 5.1.

1. I wrote a srcipt to tar only FOUR directories:

tar -cvf /dev/rmt0.1 / >> /logs/coldbackup
tar -cvf /dev/rmt0.1 /usr >> /logs/coldbackup
tar -cvf /dev/rmt0.1 /var>> /logs/coldbackup
tar -cvf /dev/rmt0.1 /opt >> /logs/coldbackup

However at the end, I found it tar ALL the directories in my system, such as /tmp, /abc, /def, ....etc. So what's the problem? I shouldn't put tar / (root) in the script? if there is alternative method (command) to backup root file system only and exclude any mounted file system and the link to them?

2. I saw there is some limitation on using tar to backup the file size which is bigger than 2 G, so how to solve this?

Thanks

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Question Stats

Zone: OS

Question Asked By: terrywong

Solution Provided By: gheist

Participating Experts: 4

Solution Grade: A

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04.19.2004 at 10:17PM PDT, ID: 10865957

sunnycoder:

Hi terrywong,

What version of tar are you using ?

tar -cvf <archive name>.tar <directory to archive>

is the normal way of using tar command ... It does not look same to me

For your second problem, I think recompiling your tar program with large file support should solve the problem

Sunnycoder

04.19.2004 at 10:24PM PDT, ID: 10865989

Rank: Guru

gheist:

AIX has mksysb command, best run for smit, and backup command for other volume groups.
tar is somewhat limited (by posix), same is true about pax or cpio..., and they never back up hdisk5 (boot volume), so you will end up with unusable backup data.

04.19.2004 at 10:25PM PDT, ID: 10865990

terrywong:

thank you for the reply.
What I am trying to do is to put all the files into a non-rewind tape drive directly.
tar -cvf <device> <directory to archive> >> logs

Terry

04.19.2004 at 10:27PM PDT, ID: 10866003

Rank: Guru

gheist:

sunny: wt?.... tar format has 32-bit block counter, any other "support" is non standard.
same about longer file names.

04.19.2004 at 10:28PM PDT, ID: 10866005

sunnycoder:

I do not think tar produces the archive on atandard output ... You need to specify the filename for the archive (I am not sure if it is the same on AIX) ... try using the format

tar -cvf backup.tar main_dir

and then copy it the tape

04.19.2004 at 10:31PM PDT, ID: 10866020

Rank: Guru

gheist:

tar cvf - /wherever | gzip -9 | dd of=/dev/rmt0.6

terry: avoid gcc compiler, it does not work with some aix linker versions, gtar or star make tar files which are not correctly processed by system tar, same about sed awk etc tools.

04.19.2004 at 10:32PM PDT, ID: 10866025

sunnycoder:

Gheist I have not used much of unix but loads of linux ... Recent versions of kernels and compilers came out with large file support which allows you to overcome limitation of 2Gb ... This support is standardized for sure ... If you wish to verify, check the man pages for recent releases of glibc (man 2 open for example) ... However for enabling these options to be used, programs need to be compiled for LFS support enabled through compiler switches

04.20.2004 at 12:14AM PDT, ID: 10866486

Rank: Guru

gheist:

hello - tar format limits block count in file.... large file support enables to create huge tar files

04.20.2004 at 03:28AM PDT, ID: 10867432

Gns:

Sunny, tar will happily write directly to tape. There is no probblem (apart from the obvious need to _exlude_ things instead of _including everything_ a couple of times:-). GNU tar isn't necessarily POSIX, so will "overcome" the POSIX header limitations.
Gheist, for 5.1 the "tar limit" might be 2GiB ("enforeced" in the tar header), on 5.2 it's up to 8 GiB/archived file... "ustar" header... empirically tested to work too:-).

But the correct answer has already been given (by gheist): You should be using mksysb to back up the rootvg, and possibly backup to dump any othe volume groups. Has the added bonus of drastically simplifying restore.

If for some reason you still want to make a tar dump, you should perhaps look at getting GNU tar, since the OS version will not preserve sparce files (amongst other things)... You can get one prebuilt from http://www.bullfreeware.com/download/aix43/gnu.tar-1.13.0.0.exe (following the 5.1 link, you get the 4.3 one. Go figure:).
You might want to explore the possibilitys of the -C and --one-file-system with that one... Removes the need to create "exlude lists".

-- Glenn

04.20.2004 at 05:19AM PDT, ID: 10868055

Rank: Guru

gheist:

export TAPE=/dev/rmt0.1
tar c /
:-)
default is TAPE=/dev/rmt0.0

for full bakup:
1) make mksysb bootable tape
2) make volume group file backups (smit, snoop commands using Esc-6)
3) make backups from applications using raw aio volumes (db2, informix, oracle etc)
4) label tape(s) and write restore guide :-)

mt is your good friend for rewinding/forwarding tape ( read man mt )
you need eof mark on tape to start new backup.

Accepted Solution

04.20.2004 at 05:41AM PDT, ID: 10868190

Gns:

... AFAIK, #1 run from smitty is exactly the same as running "mksysb -i" :-).
Both mksysb and backup/restore have excellent well, at least OK) man-pages.
... And don't forget to take any database you have offline before dumping... Else you need a) really expensive backup system with really expensive "connector module" (like Legato Networker / BSM for Oracle:-), or b) some knowledge on how to make a script/sql-script to take "selected parts" ... "soft offline" ,,, and just dump the (at the moment) invariant db file/raw device (or do battle with rman). Going for a completely offline setup is very much simpler (especially when restoring) than any online setup.

-- Glenn

04.20.2004 at 05:42AM PDT, ID: 10868197

Gns:

BTW gheist, I thought tctl was the command and mt the conveniance ;-)

-- Glenn

04.20.2004 at 07:42AM PDT, ID: 10869333

Rank: Guru

gheist:

mt is posix , tctl and dasd is mainframe

04.20.2004 at 07:59AM PDT, ID: 10869486

Gns:

Convenience all around then :-)

-- Glenn

01.22.2005 at 02:16PM PST, ID: 13112589

esanchezvela:

hi,

It looks a little too late to answer this anyway,..but here it goes anyway...

I belive the question is why other directories than the ones specified in the script landed in the tape the answer is because tar does not respect filesystem boundaries, if you want to backup just / (root filesystem) I would recommend you use the backup command in the following way...

find / -xdev -print | backup -ivf /dev/rmt0.1

that way only the rootfs will be sent to tape.

regards,
esv.

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