Daniel Haas wrote: > For a minimal administration I found the vchanger script on this mailing list. > I read the documentation but I altough have some questions: > > How can I configure the autochanger without changing the scripts > - one autochanger with 6 physical disks (3 for monthly and 3 for weekly > backup) > - two autochanger with 3 physical disks per changer (one changer for weekly > backup one changer for monthly backup) > - six autochanger with one physical disk >
Each autochanger has its own config file. In the "Autochanger" directive in the bacula-sd.conf file, the "ChangerDevice" directive specifies the path to the config file to use for that (virtual) autochanger. There will be an "Autochanger" directive in bacula-sd.conf for each virtual autochanger. Each autochanger must also be defined with "Storage" directives in bacula-dir.conf, but that is done exactly the same as if it were a real autochanger except for the MediaType. I usually put the vchanger config files in /etc/bacula. > I need the whole disk capacity of the physical drives (250GB) for one backup. > So I think I can't work with more than one virtuell slot. > The reason for multiple virtual "slots" is to allow multiple pools to contain bacula volumes residing on the USB disk. The reason for multiple virtual "drives" (ie. symlinks) is to allow multiple jobs to write to the USB disk concurrently. There is no imposed restriction on the size of a slot (file containing a bacula volume) other than OS file size limit, capacity of the filesystem, or bacula volume size limit set by the bacula config. In other words, the whole disk capacity may be used regardless of the number of "slots" defined. I personally feel that it is better to use multiple slots to purposefully keep the file sizes smaller. In the event of a drive failure, filesystem corruption, etc. there is then a better chance of recovering at least some data. This is especially true if compression is used. > How does the autochanger know which disk is the next. (All disks have the > same label)? > I think you are confusing the filesystem label with the bacula volume label. The vchanger script relies on autofs to mount the USB disk at a known mountpoint. Autofs uses the filesystem label to accomplish this. Bacula is only concerned with bacula volume labels. With MediaType = File storage, bacula treats a regular file as a volume, writes a bacula volume label to that file, and creates a catalog record for it just as it would for a tape volume. Think of the USB disk as a magazine, as in a magazine-based tape autoloader. The "magazine" holds some number of bacula volumes (which are actually just regular files) in each of its "slots". Unplugging the USB drive is equivalent to ejecting a magazine. Plugging it in is equivalent to inserting a magazine. Bacula is in charge of which volume it needs. Bacula queries the autochanger to determine which volume is in the autochanger's "drive(s)". If bacula needs a volume not in a "drive" then it tells the autochanger to load the volume it needs. vchanger loads a volume by creating a symlink to the file containing the requested bacula volume. If the requested volume is not on the current "magazine" (ie currently plugged in USB disk) then the load fails and bacula continues searching for a volume in the usual manner, which may include informing the operator that a particular volume is needed. > What do you think about this implementation? > Should work well. I do suggest you get laptop-type USB drives for off-site use, as they are more shock proof and designed for moving about. > I use Debian Etch with Bacula 1.38.11 > > Thanks for your help > > Daniel > _____________________________________________________________________ > Der WEB.DE SmartSurfer hilft bis zu 70% Ihrer Onlinekosten zu sparen! > http://smartsurfer.web.de/?mc=100071&distributionid=000000000066 > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > This SF.net email is sponsored by DB2 Express > Download DB2 Express C - the FREE version of DB2 express and take > control of your XML. No limits. Just data. Click to get it now. > http://sourceforge.net/powerbar/db2/ > _______________________________________________ > Bacula-users mailing list > Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by DB2 Express Download DB2 Express C - the FREE version of DB2 express and take control of your XML. No limits. Just data. Click to get it now. http://sourceforge.net/powerbar/db2/ _______________________________________________ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
