Saving Data with Backup

Saving Data with Backup

With Backup, you can back up files, directories, whole filesystems, and full systems on local or remote devices. Full system backups include the ability to recover a damaged volume header and also to back up only those files modified since a previous backup.

The syntax for the Backup command is:

Backup [-h hostname] [-t device] [-i] directory_name | filename

To back up an entire disk to the default tape device, enter:

Backup /

This Backup command archives the entire system. The current date is saved in the file /etc/lastbackup.

Note: In order to use a Backup tape to restore your system from the System Maintenance Menu, you must make a full system backup. When you make a full system backup, the command also makes a backup of the names of the files in the disk volume header and saves the information in a file that is stored on tape. This file is used during system recovery to restore a damaged volume header. You can make a backup relative to the last full system backup by entering:

Backup -i /

To back up a specific filesystem, enter the directory name of the filesystem. For example, to back up the usr filesystem, enter the following:

Backup /usr

To use a remote tape drive, use the -h hostname option:

Backup -h guest@alice.cbs.tv.com:/dev/tape /usr/people/ralph

This would back up the directory /usr/people/ralph on the /dev/tape device on the host alice.cbs.tv.com. You must have at least guest login privileges on the remote system in order to use a remote tape drive.

To back up a file, enter the filename. For example:

Backup people.tar.Z

Files (and directories) are stored relative to the current directory if the backup is made with a relative pathname as shown in this example. Relative pathnames are those that do not begin with a slash (/) character. Pathnames that begin with a slash are known as absolute pathnames. For example, /usr/bin/vi is an absolute pathname. The leading slash indicates that the pathname begins at the root directory of the system. In contrast, work/special.project/chapter1 is a relative pathname since the lack of a leading slash indicates that the path begins with a directory name in the current directory.