This chapter familiarizes the user with the variety of uses for BCKMGR Backup Manager from the DCL command line and includes the syntax and operation of the program.

BCKMGR jobs may be created, modified and displayed using the variety of commands that are presented in this chapter. In addition, reports can be created that display a wide range of BCKMGR data.

12.1 BCKMGR command syntax

When you wish to invoke BCKMGR enter the command BCKMGR at the DCL prompt, followed by the appropriate commands and qualifiers.

If the commands are media related, you need to include a list of media in the command line, between the job name and the qualifiers:

$ BCKMGR COMMAND JOB_NAME MEDIUM_NAME/QUALIFIERS

12.1.1 BCKMGR related commands

Table 12-1 General purpose BCKMGR commands

Command	Description
ADD_IN_JOURNAL	add in a backup journal file.
ASSIGN	assign a medium to a backup job.
COMPLETED	marks a job as successfully completed.
COPY	copies an entire job definition.
CREATE	creates a new job definition.
DEASSSIGN	deassign a medium from a job.
DELETE	deletes a job definition from the BCKMGR database.
DIRECTORY	displays all or part of the BCKMGR database.
EDIT	allows the command lists to be modified.
EXTRACT	extracts a list from a job definition and writes it into a file.
INSERT	reads a supplied file and replaces an existing list inside a job definition.
MARK_USED	marks media as used by a backup job
MODIFY	changes any of the fields that make up a job definition.
PICK_MEDIA	select some media for use with a backup.
RELEASE_CHECK	check if any media can be released.
REBUILD	rebuild BCKMGR database.
RENAME	changes the name of a job definition.
SEARCH	search for a particular file.
SETUP	Initialize the database.
SUBMIT	submits a job for immediate execution, regardless of any parameter settings.
TYPE	types out the list sections that can be associated with a job definition.
VERSION	displays the current version information.

These commands will be discussed in the following sections, grouped by tasks. The most common qualifiers used for these commands are: /LOG and /CONFIRM. /LOG causes each completed operation to issue a note to the user. /CONFIRM requests the user to verify a selected medium is correct. If you wanted to copy the job definition of DEPT_QUERY to another job named QUERY_ALL, you would have to indicate the job name to be copied from followed by the name of the job to be copied to:

$BCKMGR COPY DEPT_QUERY QUERY_ALL

This copies all of the job definition data from the source job DEPT_QUERY to the target job QUERY_ALL. ¹

12.2 Creating a job using BCKMGR_MAINT

The BCKMGR_MAINT.COM procedure is the simplest way to create a backup job. ²

It is invoked directly from VMS using the command:

$ @MEDIA_LIBRARY:BCKMGR_MAINT

You can type your responses at each prompt or accept the suggested default (enclosed by parentheses) by responding to the prompt with a <RETURN>. Help information is available for all the prompts by entering a '?' and pressing <RETURN>.

To create or modify a backup job, enter the BCKMGR_MAINT procedure by typing the above command, and then reply to the prompts as they appear:

$ @MEDIA_LIBRARY:BCKMGR_MAINT

After entering this command the following menu is displayed on the screen.

Modify/Create a BACKUP job. (format=COMPACT) 1. VMS Incremental backup 2. Full backup 3. Unloading of unused files 4. Remake an existing backup 5. Display backup attributes 6. Change format 7. RDB Incremental backup 8. Full backup 9. After image journal backup 10. Modify parameter settings 11. Enter rescheduling job into queue 12. Add to SCHEDULE database 13. EXIT Selection (or ?) (1) :

The default selection is (1) or Incremental backup.

12.2.1 Options 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9: Backup job creation

Choosing Option 1 and 7, `Incremental backup' creates or overwrites an incremental backup job. Option 1 is a VMS backup and Option 7 is an RDB backup job. An incremental backup job copies from an on-line disk to the off-line media all files that have been modified or created since that last backup operation was performed. Incremental backups are typically fast and should be done fairly often. All the incremental backups between today and when the last full backup was done must ALWAYS be kept.

Choosing Option 2 and 8, `Full backup' creates or overwrites a full disk image backup job. Option 2 is a VMS backup and option 8 is an RDB backup job. A full backup job makes a copy of the entire on-line disk to the off-line media. This backup is done in an IMAGE mode ³

This type of backup can be lengthy and is usually done at a moderate frequency.

Choosing Option 3, `Unloading of unused files' creates or overwrites a pair of backup jobs that are designed to locate files that have not been modified for a certain period of time and write those files to the off-line media. The first job created just copies (using BACKUP) the files found. The second job makes another copy and deletes the files from the on-line disk.

Choosing Option 9, `After image journal backup' creates or overwrites an after image journal backup job for an RDB backup. ⁴ documentation.)

If you choose any of these six options you will see the following prompts. Depending on the type of job (VMS or RDB) the prompts will differ. Differences are pointed out in the description of the prompt. Options 4 through 6 and 10 through 12 will be explained in subsequent sections. The first step of the procedure will ask you for the job name to assign this backup. A suggested name that does not conflict with any existing ones is provided as a default. For instance the following name may come up for an incremental backup:

Job name (INCREMENTAL1) :

If you enter a ? to request help, the following message will appear:

The JOB NAME is the name given to the job definition created by this command procedure. The name is always checked to be sure that it is not in use already. If an existing job name is supplied, that job's command list is overwritten by this procedure.

To accept the default, simply press [RETURN].

Interval (1-00:00) :<RETURN>

The interval is the frequency at with the job will be re-run. Many various repeat patterns can be established. Once this command procedure completes, all these parameters can be changed via the BCKMGR system. Some typical intervals are:

1-00:00 One day 10:00 Ten hours 1-2:10 One day, two hours, and 10 minutes

Generations to keep: (7) :<RETURN>

A generation is one run of the backup job. Each run starts on a new volume and continues across the number of volumes needed. The number of generations of backups that you keep depends on how often you run the different types of backup job. For an incremental backup, the number of generations should be chosen to assure that the data has been backed up by a full backup job before the incremental backup is released. For example, if you run an incremental backup each day and a full backup once a week, seven generations of incremental backups will assure you of keeping the incremental backups until a full backup has been performed.

Add to VAULT database (Yes) :<RETURN>

(Applies to VMS backup jobs only) The backup job automatically adds the BACKUP journal file to the MEDIA database. Adding it to the VAULT database will make it available to the VAULT system. Once available to the VAULT system any user can selectively restore his own files without asking an OPERATOR or MANAGER for assistance in locating the appropriate medium. ⁵

then creates MEDIA jobs, which in turn will ask the OPERATOR to mount the correct medium.)

Which username (SYSTEM) : PRVBACKUP

The username specifies the id. under which the backup job will be submitted. This user id. must have enough privilege to perform the backup operation (usually SETPRV). Only the owner of the job need this privilege. The OPERATORS who respond to MEDIA jobs do not need the privilege. Frequently it is convenient to establish a new user id. for the sole purpose of using it for BACKUP jobs and in general not allowing any user to log in under this id.

Do a verify (NO) : ?

Applies to VMS backup jobs only. During execution of backup a verify compare pass can be made. Several considerations need to be kept in mind. First a verify pass takes time, all the data will be re-read and compared with the original disk copy. If backups are being done while other activity is going on the file may have been deleted during the backup process, thus causing the verify step to fail.

Source disk (DBA0:) : DISK$ISE0:

Applies to VMS backup jobs only. At this point the source disk for the backup is specified. Any number of disks can be backed up by one job. The source can be a whole disk drive, a logical name or) or a specific directory.

To simplify the OPERATORS job it is usually advisable to keep the number of disks in one job to a small number and thus the number of tapes (or disks) in one backup saveset small. A full backup can take several volumes to save, thus the most common approach is to create one full backup job per disk drive. Usually several incremental backups can fit on one or two reels, thus the most common approach is create one incremental job per SEVERAL disk drives

Source database : rdm$data:personnel

Applies to RDB backup jobs only. A RDB backup uses the root (.RDB) file to point to the database. Simply enter the name of the root RDB file here. Hit "return" again when done entering all databases.

More disks (No) :<RETURN>

Applies to VMS backup jobs only. At this point if you want to include another disk in this job just enter YES. Otherwise the procedure will go and create all the needed definitions and set up entries in the BCKMGR database for this job. The following message is displayed in order to confirm that the job has been created.

Created INCREMENTAL1

After the BCKMGR_MAINT procedure completes, you can use the BCKMGR program to change any of the settings. One setting that is very important to set correctly is the REQUIRED number. The REQUIRED number is the maximum number of tapes (or disks) that the backup job may require to complete. It is VERY important that this number be greater then the maximum you think it will ever require. The default value for this setting is 6. In this case you will need up to 10 media.

$ BCKMGR MODIFY INCREMENTAL1/REQUIRED=10

At any time you can use the BCKMGR DIRECTORY command to display what is in the database. In this example, the newly created INCREMENTAL1 will show up.

$ BCKMGR DIRECTORY * BCKMGR directory on 2-APR-1996 16:45 ACT_YEARLY1 ACT_YEARLY2 INCREMENTAL1 Total 3 jobs.

At this point you can use the BCKMGR MODIFY command to change any of the attributes of the job. Attributes you might want to change are: Job start time, interval, selects days of the week or create interdependencies with other jobs.

12.2.2 Option 4: Remake an existing backup

This option allows an already created backup job to be modified. You can add another disk drive, remove a disk drive, or change the existing flag settings. Use this option whenever you add a new disk drive to your system and you want this new drive included in your existing incremental (or similar) job. In order to change to current format see option 7. In order to modify an existing backup job choose option 4, `Remake an existing backup' from the `Modify/Create a BACKUP job' menu:

Selection (or ?) (1) : 4 Job name : INCREMENTAL1

Entering `?' will provide a list of possible option words as shown below:

Option (or ?) : ? The following option words can be used to change the structure of a backup: VAULT - add file information to the VAULT database NOVAULT - do not add the file information to the VAULT VERIFY - perform /VERIFY pass during the BACKUP NOVERIFY - do not perform a /VERIFY pass during the BACKUP ADD_DISK device: - add device to list of disks backed up REMOVE_DISK device: - remove a device from the list <RETURN> - end options Option (or ?) :

The text following the options are essentially self-explanatory. `VAULT' and `NOVAULT' are used to add or remove a job from the (VAULT) database. `VERIFY' and `NOVERIFY' determine whether a VERIFY pass will be made during the backup. `ADD_DISK device' and `REMOVE_DISK device' add or remove a device from the backup.