DUMP(8) BSD System Manager's Manual DUMP(8)
dump - filesystem backup
dump [-0123456789acnu] [-B records] [-b blocksize] [-d density] [-f file]
[-h level] [-s feet] [-T date] files-to-dump
dump [-W | -w]
(The 4.3BSD option syntax is implemented for backward compatibility
but is not documented here.)
dump examines files on a filesystem and determines which files need to be
backed up. These files are copied to the given disk, tape or other
storage medium for safe keeping (see the -f option below for doing remote
backups). A dump that is larger than the output medium is broken into
multiple volumes. On most media the size is determined by writing until
an end-of-media indication is returned. This can be enforced by using the
-a option.
On media that cannot reliably return an end-of-media indication (such as
some cartridge tape drives), each volume is of a fixed size; the actual
size is determined by the tape size, density and/or block count options
below. By default, the same output file name is used for each volume
after prompting the operator to change media.
files-to-dump is either a mountpoint of a filesystem or a list of files
and directories on a single filesystem to be backed up as a subset of the
filesystem. In the former case, either the path to a mounted filesystem
or the device of an unmounted filesystem can be used. In the latter case,
certain restrictions are placed on the backup: -u is ignored, the only
dump level that is supported is -0, and all of the files must reside on
the same filesystem.
Rewinding or ejecting tape features after a close operation on a tape
device depend on the name of the tape unit device used. See the -f option
and st(4) for more information.
The options are as follows:
-0-9 Dump levels. A level 0, full backup, guarantees the entire
filesystem is copied (but see also the -h option below). A level
number above 0, incremental backup, tells dump to copy all files
new or modified since the last dump of a lower level. The default
level is 0.
-a "auto-size". Bypass all tape length considerations, and enforce
writing until an end-of-media indication is returned. This option
is recommended for most modern tape drives. Use of this option is
particularly recommended when appending to an existing tape, or
using a tape drive with hardware compression (where you can never
be sure about the compression ratio).
-B records
The number of kilobytes per volume, rounded down to a multiple of
the blocksize. This option overrides the calculation of tape size
based on length and density.
-b blocksize
The number of kilobytes per dump record. Since the IO system
slices all requests into chunks of MAXBSIZE (typically 64KB), it
is not possible to use a larger blocksize without having problems
later with restore(8). Therefore dump will constrain writes to
MAXBSIZE.
-c Change the defaults for use with a cartridge tape drive, with a
density of 8000 bpi, and a length of 1700 feet.
-d density
Set tape density to density. The default is 1600BPI.
-f file
Write the backup to file; file may be a special device file like
/dev/rst0 (a tape drive), /dev/rsd1c (a disk drive), an ordinary
file, or '-' (the standard output). Multiple file names may be
given as a single argument separated by commas. Each file will be
used for one dump volume in the order listed; if the dump re-
quires more volumes than the number of names given, the last file
name will be used for all remaining volumes after prompting for
media changes. If the name of the file is of the form "host:file"
or "user@host:file", dump writes to the named file on the remote
host using rmt(8).
-h level
Honor the user "nodump" flag only for dumps at or above the given
level. The default honor level is 1, so that incremental backups
omit such files but full backups retain them.
-n Whenever dump requires operator attention, notify all operators
in the group "operator" by means similar to a wall(1).
-s feet
Attempt to calculate the amount of tape needed at a particular
density. If this amount is exceeded, dump prompts for a new tape.
It is recommended to be a bit conservative on this option. The
default tape length is 2300 feet.
-T date
Use the specified date as the starting time for the dump instead
of the time determined from looking in /etc/dumpdates. The format
of date is the same as that of ctime(3). This option is useful
for automated dump scripts that wish to dump over a specific
period of time. The -T flag is mutually exclusive from the -u
flag.
-u Update the file /etc/dumpdates after a successful dump. The for-
mat of /etc/dumpdates is human readable, consisting of one free
format record per line: filesystem name, increment level and
ctime(3) format dump date. There may be only one entry per
filesystem at each level. The file /etc/dumpdates may be edited
to change any of the fields, if necessary. If a list of files or
subdirectories is being dumped (as opposed to an entire filesys-
tem), then -u is ignored.
-W dump tells the operator what filesystems need to be dumped. This
information is gleaned from the files /etc/dumpdates and
/etc/fstab. The -W flag causes dump to print out, for each
filesystem in /etc/dumpdates, the most recent dump date and lev-
el, and highlights those filesystems that should be dumped. If
the -W flag is set, all other options are ignored, and dump exits
immediately.
-w Same as -W, but prints only those filesystems which need to be
dumped.
dump requires operator intervention on these conditions: end of tape, end
of dump, tape write error, tape open error or disk read error (if there
is more than a threshold of 32). In addition to alerting all operators
implied by the -n flag, dump interacts with the operator on dump's con-
trol terminal at times when dump can no longer proceed, or if something
is grossly wrong. All questions dump poses must be answered by typing
"yes" or "no", appropriately.
Since making a dump involves a lot of time and effort for full dumps,
dump checkpoints itself at the start of each tape volume. If writing that
volume fails for some reason, dump will, with operator permission, res-
tart itself from the checkpoint after the old tape has been rewound and
removed, and a new tape has been mounted.
dump tells the operator what is going on at periodic intervals, including
usually low estimates of the number of blocks to write, the number of
tapes it will take, the time to completion, and the time to the tape
change. The output is verbose, so that others know that the terminal con-
trolling dump is busy, and will be for some time.
In the event of a catastrophic disk event, the time required to restore
all the necessary backup tapes or files to disk can be kept to a minimum
by staggering the incremental dumps. An efficient method of staggering
incremental dumps to minimize the number of tapes follows:
• Always start with a level 0 backup, for example:
# /sbin/dump -0u -f /dev/nrst1 /usr/src
This should be done at set intervals, say once a month or once
every two months, and on a set of fresh tapes that is saved
forever.
• After a level 0, dumps of active file systems are taken on a
daily basis, using a modified Tower of Hanoi algorithm, with
this sequence of dump levels:
3 2 5 4 7 6 9 8 9 9 ...
For the daily dumps, it should be possible to use a fixed
number of tapes for each day, used on a weekly basis. Each
week, a level 1 dump is taken, and the daily Hanoi sequence re-
peats beginning with 3. For weekly dumps, another fixed set of
tapes per dumped filesystem is used, also on a cyclical basis.
After several months or so, the daily and weekly tapes should get rotated
out of the dump cycle and fresh tapes brought in.
If dump receives a SIGINFO signal (see the "status" argument of stty(1))
whilst a backup is in progress, statistics on the amount completed,
current transfer rate, and estimated finished time, will be written to
the standard error output.
TAPE default tape device to use instead of /dev/rst0
/dev/rst0 default tape unit to dump to
/dev/rst* raw SCSI tape interface
/etc/dumpdates dump date records
/etc/fstab dump table: filesystems and frequency
/etc/group to find group operator
Many, and verbose.
dump exits with zero status on success. Startup errors are indicated with
an exit code of 1; abnormal termination is indicated with an exit code of
3.
stty(1), fts(3), rcmd(3), st(4), fstab(5), restore(8), rmt(8)
A dump command appeared in Version 5 AT&T UNIX.
Fewer than 32 read errors on the filesystem are ignored.
Each reel requires a new process, so parent processes for reels already
written just hang around until the entire tape is written.
dump with the -W or -w flag does not report filesystems that have never
been recorded in /etc/dumpdates, even if listed in /etc/fstab.
When dumping a list of files or subdirectories, access privileges are re-
quired to scan the directory (as this is done via the fts(3) routines
rather than directly accessing the filesystem).
It would be nice if dump knew about the dump sequence, kept track of the
tapes scribbled on, told the operator which tape to mount when, and pro-
vided more assistance for the operator running restore(8).
MirBSD #10-current June 4, 1997 3