Re: Dump/restore mystery (off topic)

From: Chris (cfranz_at_chartermi.net)
Date: 11/30/04 

Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 17:39:21 -0500

Triffid wrote:
>
> Not a Solaris question, actually CX/SX - but the relevant newsgroups
> have been dormant for 10+ years so I'll try my luck here. I think I need
> a lateral thought, but none have come to me yet...
>
> I am responsible for some ancient Harris systems running CX/SX. Some
> background here:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/5e3s4
>
> One of them refused to reboot after an unscheduled power outage last
> weekend - hard disk failure. This should not have been a problem - it
> happens with monotonous regularity - I just drop in a new disk, boot
> from tape, and restore the latest backup.
>
> This time it didn't work. The restore script reported numerous instances
> of "file not found on tape". The system was (barely) bootable after
> restore, but many files and directories were missing. I tried several
> backup tapes with the same result, leading me to conclude the tape drive
> had been writing unreadable backups for some time without reporting any
> errors.
>
> I tried restoring a backup from another system with identical hardware
> and similar software configuration as I figured I could reconcile the
> differences without too much difficulty. This worked, but I cannot
> backup and restore the resulting system - I get the same "file not found
> on tape" errors.
>
> I've narrowed the issue down somewhat:
>
> 1. Backup tape from System B restores without error on System A
> 2. System A boots normally after restore, and appears to be a perfect
> System B clone
> 3. Backup of System A immediately after restore completes without error
> 4. Attempt to restore System A from step 3 tape gives numerous "file not
> found on tape" errors
> 5. Swap out the System A tape drive (6 times so far!) and repeat from
> step 1 - same result!
>
> So it seems to me I either have 6 tape drives that boot and read just
> fine, but can't write a usable backup tape - or something else is
> causing the problem. 6 tape drives with the same problem seems highly
> unlikely. The backup script must be identical (since it was restored
> from System B), as must the restore script (it's on the boot partition
> of the backup tape), so WTF is going on here?
>
> TIA
>
> Triffid

Can you dump System A to tape while it's idle?
Then try to restore from that tape.

Are you dumping live file systems in the first place?

Thanks.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Dump/restore mystery (off topic)
    ... Triffid wrote: ... > from tape, and restore the latest backup. ... The restore script reported numerous instances ...
    (comp.unix.solaris)
  • Re: Dump/restore mystery (off topic)
    ... Triffid wrote: ... > from tape, and restore the latest backup. ... The restore script reported numerous instances ...
    (comp.unix.solaris)
  • OSR 6 disaster recovery
    ... third-party utilities. ... The boot media was created using emergency_disk and I ... BEWARE - you can't test the tape by choosing the menu choice ... Isn't this an extremely large step backwards in the restore ...
    (comp.unix.sco.misc)
  • Re: Back Up Entire Hard Drive
    ... and boot up to make sure everything is working fine. ... I wanted to restore the image on the old e: ... >system32 directory is missing or corrupted. ... Delete the file from the C; drive and then restore it from the backup ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.general)
  • Re: Complete backup
    ... I'd like to be able to use the backup to restore the system or be able ... to boot from the Windows CD. ... find your XP installation disk and put it in the drive. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)