dward@runxtsa.runx.oz.au (David Ward) (01/11/90)
I am looking for a multi-tape backup utility to operate on Xenix 286 & 386
on 2.2.3 and 2.3.2 respectively. We have 40meg, 60meg and 150meg Archive
tape backup units.
The problem with tar & cpio is that at the end of a tape you get a tape
write errors at the end of a tape volume.
If anybody has any solutions, please e-mail me.
I am at UUCP ...uunet!runxtsa.runx.oz.au!dward
Internet ...dward@runxtsa.runx.oz.au
I am ...David Ward > Technical Resource Manager
> Hume Computers Pty. Ltd.
> Sydney, Australia
I do not reflect light or the views of my employer and cannot be held
responible for my reactions.davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.COM (Wm E Davidsen Jr) (01/12/90)
In article <569@runxtsa.runx.oz.au> dward@runxtsa.runx.oz.au (David Ward) writes: | I am looking for a multi-tape backup utility to operate on Xenix 286 & 386 | on 2.2.3 and 2.3.2 respectively. We have 40meg, 60meg and 150meg Archive | tape backup units. I mailed an answer, but for the benefit of others with a similar problem, the "bundle" program just posted to alt.sources solves this problem and may speed the backup, also. -- bill davidsen (davidsen@crdos1.crd.GE.COM -or- uunet!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen) "I'm a left-handed vegetarian, and my hobbies are judo and the number three" Babs Wilcox, _Don't Get Even, Get Odd_
campbell@Thalatta.COM (Bill Campbell) (01/13/90)
In article <569@runxtsa.runx.oz.au> dward@runxtsa.runx.oz.au (David Ward) writes: >I am looking for a multi-tape backup utility to operate on Xenix 286 & 386 >on 2.2.3 and 2.3.2 respectively. We have 40meg, 60meg and 150meg Archive >tape backup units. > If you RTFM you will find that the Xenix tar command has a couple of options (k and b) to specify the size and blocking factor of the output media. Look in /etc/default/tar for the default sizes of floppy drives, Bernoulli cartridges... The general format of the tar command is: tar -cbk blocksize sizeinkilobytes filelist For example to dump the /u directory on a 60 Meg tape with a blocking of 20 512 character records tar -cbk 20 60000 /u Tar will then ask for any additional tapes necessary (while writing only). When reloading from these tapes you will need to tar in each tape unless a large file is split across tape boundaries. -- ....microsoft--\ Bill Campbell; Celestial Software ...uw-beaver-----!thebes!camco!bill 6641 East Mercer Way ....fluke------/ Mercer Island, Wa 98040 ....hplsla----/ (206) 232-4164
larry@tapa.uucp (Larry Pajakowski) (01/15/90)
Be careful with tar for backups. While multi-tape backups work as advertised one anoying problem is that tar won't backup empty directories and thus won't restore them. This seems mostly a problem with some of the queue directories in /usr/spool/lp. We've used afio which was posted many moons ago with good results. It lets you tailor the amount of buffering and also will double buffer if you ask. Since it operates like cpio (and read and writes cpio formats) you need to supply it with file names to backup. One hint to reduce head contention is to do a find of all files and directores into a temp file and then run afio (or cpio if inclined) from that temp file.
simon@ms.uky.edu (G. Simon Gales) (01/16/90)
There _is_ at least one version of Xenix whose tar is broken. You can make
multi-volume tars, but when you try to reload (un-tar?) them, tar will prompt
for the next volume only if a file was split across the volume and the next
one. If a file isn't split across volumes, tar will simply stop at the end
of the volume.
I don't know which version has this problem, but I've experienced it and
heard it from customers. (SCO Xenix, 286 versions)
--
Simon Gales@The University of Kentucky
simon@ms.uky.edu | 'Fate... protects fools, little children,
simon@UKMA.BITNET | and ships named Enterprise.'
{rutgers, uunet}!ukma!simon | - Riker, ST:TNGjbayer@ispi.UUCP (Jonathan Bayer) (01/16/90)
simon@ms.uky.edu (G. Simon Gales) writes: >There _is_ at least one version of Xenix whose tar is broken. You can make >multi-volume tars, but when you try to reload (un-tar?) them, tar will prompt >for the next volume only if a file was split across the volume and the next >one. If a file isn't split across volumes, tar will simply stop at the end >of the volume. This is not a broken tar. Tar has no way of knowing how many volumes a backup crosses UNLESS a file is split across two volumes. All you have to do is to continue the tar by issueing the same command when it stops. JB -- Jonathan Bayer Intelligent Software Products, Inc. (201) 245-5922 500 Oakwood Ave. jbayer@ispi.COM Roselle Park, NJ 07204
mcs@fps.com (Mike Sanfratello) (01/17/90)
In article <13694@s.ms.uky.edu> simon@ms.uky.edu (G. Simon Gales) writes: >There _is_ at least one version of Xenix whose tar is broken. You can make >multi-volume tars, but when you try to reload (un-tar?) them, tar will prompt >for the next volume only if a file was split across the volume and the next >one. If a file isn't split across volumes, tar will simply stop at the end >of the volume. This is not "broken", it is working exactly as it is supposed to. If the last file on the tape is not a huge file, it will not be split across volumes and each volume will be a discrete tar tape. This has advantages, such as if you want a file a few tapes in, you can just go to that tape if you know which one it is. Otherwise, just run tar separately on each tape.
simon@ms.uky.edu (G. Simon Gales) (01/17/90)
In article <1281@ispi.UUCP> jbayer@ispi.UUCP (Jonathan Bayer) writes: >simon@ms.uky.edu (G. Simon Gales) writes: >>There _is_ at least one version of Xenix whose tar is broken. You can make >>multi-volume tars, but when you try to reload (un-tar?) them, tar will prompt >>for the next volume only if a file was split across the volume and the next >>one. If a file isn't split across volumes, tar will simply stop at the end >>of the volume. > >This is not a broken tar. Tar has no way of knowing how many volumes a >backup crosses UNLESS a file is split across two volumes. All you have >to do is to continue the tar by issueing the same command when it stops. > Tar could mark the end of an archive when it has more files to write. Tar could still be restarted on the second or third or n'th volume, but would continue to prompt for all of the disks/tapes left in the set. SCO tar's do differ. At least one older version is 'broken' whereas the 2.3.2 286 version is 'fixed', interchange 'fixed' and 'broken' till you like it. Some tar's let you start extracting in the middle of the set, even if a file was split across volumes, and will restore only the extent provided. -- Simon Gales@The University of Kentucky simon@ms.uky.edu | 'Fate... protects fools, little children, simon@UKMA.BITNET | and ships named Enterprise.' {rutgers, uunet}!ukma!simon | - Riker, ST:TNG