Hi,
30.01.2008 12:27, Tilman Schmidt wrote:
> Hi Arno,
>
> thanks for your answer.
>
> On 28.01.2008 00:29, Arno Lehmann wrote:
>> [...] I prefer to do it like this:
>>
>> - Define a pool for full backups (in your case, for the monthly fulls
>> to go to the vault).
>> - After the scheduled jobs run, make sure all the volumes just used
>> are no longer appendable. This can be achieved by setting a limited
>> volume use time and forcing Bacula to consider the pool in questio n
>> when looking for usable volumes, by using the bconsole command 'update
>> volume', or accessong the catalog database directly. Basically, what
>> I'm usually doing is using a script that looks for volumes loaded in
>> the autochanger, which were used recently, and are in status "Append"
>> and set those to "Used".
>> - Then, just unload all the volumes from that pool and store them safely.
>
> So would the following pool definition:
>
> Pool {
> Name = Monthly
> Pool Type = Backup
> Recycle = yes
> AutoPrune = yes
> Volume Use Duration = 8h
> Volume Retention = 360 days
> }
>
> be enough, or do I need some script on top of that?
No, that looks god and should assure that these volumes are kept for
one year, and be used only one month.
>> Loading the next usable volumes is rather straightforward done
>> manually... Just select the next set uf tapes, and load them to the
>> autochanger. If you've ensured the retention periods are set up
>> correctly (i.e., less than a year - 11 months should be ok) the
>> volumes usable will automatically be chosen when the next jobs are
>> running.
>
> I don't have an autochanger. Our full backups still fit on one tape.
> (Lucky, aren't we?)
Indeed...
> So I translate this for my purposes to: "Just
> insert the next month's tape at the appropriate time and Bacula will
> use it." Correct?
Correct.
>
>> The most important thing, in my opinion, is not to rely on volume
>> names but rather to use Baculas front-end to select which volumes to use.
>
> That's ok. It's just that when Bacula sends its mail "please insert
> tape X" it's too late, the operator has gone home. I need a way to
> anticipate which tape Bacula will ask for, so it can be inserted
> ahead of time while there's still someone working. With our old backup
> system, we had a simple static paper calendar telling the operator
> which tape to insert each day.
This would also work with your Bacula setup... I didn't verify this,
but 360 days of retention time should be enough to make sure that next
year, the tape is already out of its retention time.
Now, not using an autochanger with barcodes, it's absolutely
reasonable to label your tapes Jan, Feb, ... Dec and use them in this
order.
> Now Bacula decides dynamically which
> tape it wants next, so I need a way for it to tell our operator which
> one it will be.
The nice thing is that, even if Bacula requests a particular tape, it
accepts any useable tape, i.e. any tape that's aout of its retention
time would be accepted.
>> Choosing the volumes to load would then only require a catalog query
>> which prints the volume names of the volumes from the relavnt pool
>> which were written to 11 months or more ago, or, more useful, the ones
>> that will be out of their retention time at the next backup runs.
>
> I must admit I wouldn't know how to do that. Where do I find information
> writing catalog queries? Can they be scripted, so I can set up a cron
> job sending my operator a daily mail "insert tape X"?
Well, the queries are simple SQL commands. You need a bit of knowledge
about the catalog structure, though. And of course you can script
this, too.
Finding usable tapes is rather simple, but forgive me to not writing
something up now :-) Just look for media which is
- from the right pool,
- has the right MediaType,
- and where LastWritten + Retention < time of next backup.
The actual SQL is rather simple IMO...
Arno
> Thanks,
> Tilman
>
>
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--
Arno Lehmann
IT-Service Lehmann
www.its-lehmann.de
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