ffile(1M) MISC. REFERENCE MANUAL PAGES ffile(1M)
NAME
ffile - create, or restore from, a full file system archive
SYNOPSIS
ffile -B [-dlmortvAENSV] bkjobid ofsname ofsdev ofslab
descript
ffile -RC [-dlmortvAENSV] ofsname ofsdev refsname redev
rsjobid descript
ffile -RF [-dlmortvAENSV] ofsname ofsdev descript
rsjobid:uid:date:type:name
[:[rename]:[inode]] ...
DESCRIPTION
The ffile command is invoked as a child process by other
shell commands. The command name, ffile, is read either
from the bkhist.tab file or the bkreg -m command and option.
The -B, -R, -F, and -C options are passed to ffile by the
shell commands backup, restore, and urestore. The other
options are passed from the bkhist.tab or the bkreg -p com-
mand and option. The arguments are sent to ffile from vari-
ous locations in the backup service.
ffile -B is invoked as a child process by bkdaemon to per-
form a full backup of the file system ofsname (the originat-
ing file system). All files in ofsname are archived. The
resulting backup is created in the format described on
cpio(4). The backup is recorded in the backup history log,
/usr/oam/bkrs/tables/bkhist.tab.
ffile -RC and RF are invoked as child processes by rsoper to
extract files from an full file system archive created by
ffile -B. The file system archive is assumed to be in the
format described on cpio(4).
If the -RC option is selected, the entire file system is
restored.
If the -RF option is specified, only selected objects from
the archive are restored. Each 7-tuple, composed of
rsjobid:uid:date:type:name:rename:inode, specifies an object
to be restored from the file system archive. The 7-tuple
objects come to ffile from rsstatus.tab. The arguments to
ffile are defined as follows:
bkjobid
the job id assigned by backup. The method uses the
bkjobid when it creates history log and table-of-
contents entries.
ofsname
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ffile(1M) MISC. REFERENCE MANUAL PAGES ffile(1M)
the name of the file system that is to be backed up.
ofsdev the name of the block special device on which the
file system resides.
ofslab the volume name on the file system [see labelit(1M)].
descript
is a description for a destination device in the
form:
dgroup:dname:dchar:dlabels
dgroup specifies a device group [see
devgroup.tab(4)].
dname specifies a particular device name [see
device.tab(4)].
dchars specifies characteristics associated with the
device. If specified, dchar overrides the defaults
for the specified device and group. [See
device.tab(4) for a further description of device
characteristics.]
dlabels specifies the volume names for the media to
be used for reading or writing the archive.
refsname
if non-null, the name of the file system to be
restored to instead of ofsname. At least one of
refsname and redev must be null.
redev if non-null, the partition to be restored to instead
of ofsdev. At least one of refsname and redev must
be null.
rsjobid
the restore jobid assigned by restore or urestore.
uid the real uid of the user who requested the object to
be restored. It must match the uid of the owner of
the object at the time the archive was made, or it
must be the superuser uid.
date the newest "last modification time" that is accept-
able for a restorable object. The object is restored
from the archive immediately older than this date.
date is a hexadecimal representation of the date and
time provided by the time system call [see time(2)].
type either F or D, indicating that the object is a file
or a directory, respectively.
name the name the object had in the file system archive.
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ffile(1M) MISC. REFERENCE MANUAL PAGES ffile(1M)
rename the name that the object should be restored to (it
may differ from the name the object had in the file
system archive). If omitted, the object is restored
to name.
inode the inode number of the object as it was stored in
the file system archive. [inode] is not used by
ffile -R, and is provided only for command-line com-
patibility with other restoration methods.
Options
Some options are only significant during ffile -B invoca-
tions; they are accepted but ignored during ffile -R invo-
cations because the command is invoked and options are
specified automatically by restore. These options are
flagged with an asterisk (*).
d* Inhibits recording of the archive in the backup
history log.
l* Creates a long form of the backup history log that
includes a table-of-contents for the archive.
This includes the data used to generate a listing
of each file in the archive (like that produced by
the ls -l command).
m* Mounts the originating file system read-only
before starting the backup and remounts it with
its original permissions after completing the
backup. Cannot be used with root or /usr file
systems.
o Permits the user to override media insertion
requests [see getvol(1M) and the description of
the -o option].
r* Includes remotely mounted resources in the
archive.
t* Creates a table of contents for the backup on
additional media instead of in the backup history
log.
v* Validates the archive as it is written. A check-
sum is computed as the archive is being written;
as each medium is completed, it is re-read and the
checksum recomputed to verify that each block is
readable and correct. If either check fails, the
medium is considered unreadable. If -A has been
specified, the archiving operation fails; other-
wise, the operator is prompted to replace the
failed medium.
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ffile(1M) MISC. REFERENCE MANUAL PAGES ffile(1M)
A Establishes automated mode, (i.e., does not prompt
the user to insert or remove media).
E* Reports an estimate of media usage for the
archive; then performs the backup.
N* Reports an estimate of media usage for the
archive; does not perform the backup.
S Displays a period (.) for every 100 (512 byte)
blocks read-from or written-to the archive on the
destination device.
V Displays the name of each file written-to or
extracted-from the archive on the destination dev-
ice.
User Interactions
The connection between an archiving method and backup is
more complex than a simple fork/exec or pipe. The backup
command is responsible for all interactions with the user,
either directly, or through bkoper. Therefore, ffile nei-
ther reads from standard-input nor writes to standard-output
or standard-error. A method library must be used [see lib-
brmeth(3)] to communicate reports (estimates, filenames,
periods, status, etc.) to backup.
DIAGNOSTICS
The exit codes for ffile are the following:
0 successful completion of the task
1 one or more parameters to ffile are invalid.
2 an error has occurred which caused ffile to fail to
complete all portions of its task.
FILES
/usr/oam/bkrs/tables/bkexcept.tab
lists the files that are to be excluded
from an incremental file system backup.
/usr/oam/bkrs/tables/bkhist.tab
lists the labels of all volumes that have
been used for backup operations.
/usr/oam/bkrs/tables/rsstatus.tab
tracks the status ofall restore requests
from users.
/usr/oam/bkrs/logs/bklog
logs errors generated by the backup methods
and the backup command
/usr/oam/bkrs/logs/rslog
logs errors generated by the restore
methods and the restore command
$TMP/filelist$$ temporarily stores a table of contents for
a backup archive.
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ffile(1M) MISC. REFERENCE MANUAL PAGES ffile(1M)
SEE ALSO
backup(1M), bkoper(1M) cpio(1), cpio(4), device.tab(4),
fdp(1), ffile(1), fimage(1), getvol(1M), incfile(1),
labelit(1M), libbrmeth(3), ls(1), restore(1M), rsoper(1M),
time(2), urestore(1)
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