onbar -v syntax: Verifying backups

Use the onbar -v command to verify that backups that were created by the ON-Bar utility are complete and can be restored.

To run ON-Bar commands, you must be user root, user informix, a member of the bargroup group on UNIX™, or a member of the Informix®-Admin group on Windows™.

Sufficient temporary space must be available. For more information, see Temporary space for backup verification.

Usage
Example: Perform a point-in-time verification of a backup
Example: Verify backups of storage spaces listed in a file
Example: ON-Bar activity log verification messages
Example: archecker message log verification messages

Figure 1. Verify backups

Table 1. Options for the onbar -v command
Option	Description
-v	Verifies a backup. The server can be in any mode. If verification is successful, you can restore the storage spaces safely. You can verify a whole-system or physical-only backup. You cannot verify the logical logs.
`space`	Names of storage spaces to verify. If you enter more than one storage-space name, use a space to separate the names.
-f `filename`	Verifies the storage spaces that are listed in the text file whose path name `filename` provides. Use this option to avoid entering a long list of storage spaces every time that you verify them. You can use any valid UNIX™ or Windows™ path name and file name. For the format of this file, see List of storage spaces in a file. The file can list multiple storage spaces per line.
-p	Verifies a physical-only backup.
-t "`time`"	Specifies the date and time to which dbspaces are verified. Must be surrounded by quotation marks. How you enter the time depends on your current GLS locale convention. If the GL_DATETIME environment variable is set, you must specify the date and time according to that variable. If the GLS locale is not set, use ANSI-style date format: `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS`.
-w	Verifies a whole-system backup.

Usage

The onbar -v command runs the archecker utility. The archecker utility verifies that all pages required to restore a backup exist on the media in the correct form. After you successfully verify a backup, you can restore it safely.

When you verify a backup, ON-Bar writes summary messages to the bar_act.log that report which storage spaces were verified and whether the verification succeeded or failed. The archecker utility writes detailed messages to the ac_msg.log. Informix® Software Support uses the ac_msg.log to diagnose problems with backups and restores.

The onbar -v command verifies only the smart-large-object extents in an sbspace. For a complete check, use the oncheck -cS command.

The onbar -v command cannot verify the links between data rows and simple large objects in a blobspace. Use the oncheck -cD command instead to verify the links in a blobspace.

Example: Perform a point-in-time verification of a backup

The following command verifies a backup at a point-in-time:

onbar -v -t "2011-12-10 10:20:50"

Example: Verify backups of storage spaces listed in a file

The following command verifies the backed-up storage spaces that are listed in the file bkup1:

onbar -v -f /usr/backups/bkup1

Example: ON-Bar activity log verification messages

The following examples show messages about verification in the ON-Bar activity log:

The level-0 backup of dbspace dbs2.2 passed verification, as follows:

Begin backup verification of level0 for dbs2.2 (Storage Manager Copy ID:##)
Completed level-0 backup verification successfully.

The level-0 backup of rootdbs failed verification, as follows:

Begin backup verification of level0 for rootdbs (Storage Manager Copy ID:##).
ERROR: Unable to close the physical check: error_message.

Example: archecker message log verification messages

More detailed information is available in the archecker message log, as follows:

STATUS: Scan PASSED
STATUS: Control page checks PASSED
STATUS: Starting checks of dbspace dbs2.2.
STATUS: Checking dbs2.2:TBLSpace
.
.
STATUS: Tables/Fragments Validated: 1
Archive Validation Passed