Veritas™ System Recovery 18 Service Pack 3 User's Guide: Linux Edition
- Introducing Veritas™ System Recovery for Linux
- Installing Veritas System Recovery Linux Edition
- Backing up a Linux computer
- Scheduling a backup
- Restoring a Linux computer
- Creating a Veritas Recovery Disk
- Features not supported in Veritas System Recovery for Linux
- Troubleshooting Veritas System Recovery Linux Edition
- Appendix A. Veritas System Recovery for Linux Utilities
Name
symsr — Back up or restore a computer.
SYNOPSIS
symsr [ACTION] [OPTION]...
DESCRIPTION
symsr is a command line utility for backing up and restoring a Linux computer or for adding a product license key. The symsr utility captures a recovery point of the entire live Linux system without affecting the productivity. This includes the operating system, applications, system settings, configurations, and files. The recovery point can be saved to various media or disk storage devices, including a SAN, a NAS, and Direct Attached Storage. When systems fail, you can quickly restore them without the need for manual, lengthy, and error-prone processes.
Using the symsr command line utility involves specifying an action and the options that are associated with that action.
ACTIONS
The actions are a group of choices that are used with the symsr command line utility. Only one action can be specified at a time when running symsr. Different options exist for each action. The actions are listed below:
- -addlicense <license key>
Adds a license key to Veritas System Recovery 18 Linux Edition.
- -b, -backup <device>
Performs a backup of the specified device and creates a recovery point at the specified location.
- -createjob
Lets you schedule a backup job for a specific device, comma-separated multiple volumes, or mount points.
- -info
Shows information about the existing backup jobs, or the partitions and file system types that are available on the disk.
- -r, -restore <recovery point>
Restores the specified recovery point to the specified location.
Note:
You cannot restore a recovery point to a destination that is smaller than the size of the volume that was backed up.
- -rmjob <job id>
Removes an existing backup job from the info job list.
- -runjob <job id>
Runs an existing backup job immediately, irrespective of the backup job schedule.
- -vrp, -verify-recovery-point <recovery point>
Verifies the integrity of the specified recovery point.
Note:
You cannot verify the integrity of the underlying file system in the recovery point.
OPTIONS
- -?, -help
Show the help message and exits.
- -active, -set-active
Sets the restored partition on the destination server to active.
- -cmp, -compress, -compression <level>
The compression level you want to apply to the recovery point. Valid compression levels include None, Standard, Medium, and High. If you do not specify a compression level, the default is Standard.
- -d, -dest, -destination <file>
The file or folder where the recovery point is created, or the device where the recovery point is to be restored. If you do not specify a destination, the default is the current directory. A destination is required for performing a recovery.
- -desc, -description <description>
Use this option to provide a description of the recovery point.
- disk
Lists the partitions and file system types that are available on the disk.
Note:
This option must be used with the -info action.
- -encryption, -use-aes-encryption <level>
Use this option to encrypt a recovery point. Encryption levels include high (256-bit), medium (192-bit), and standard (128-bit).
Each encryption level requires a different length password. Password lengths include at least 32 characters for high, at least 16 characters for medium, and at least eight characters for standard.
The default is no encryption if no encryption level is specified.
- -force-unmount
This option attempts to remove any mount points from the destination before a restore. If this option is not specified, the restore fails and an error message displays indicating that you should remove mount points and retry the restore.
- -ignore-bad-sectors
This option lets you run a backup even if there are bad sectors on the hard disk. Although most drives do not have bad sectors, the potential for problems increases during the lifetime of the hard disk. If you have an older hard drive, you should use this option.
- job
Lists all the scheduled backup jobs and their status. The status of a backup job is either active or in progress. Active status indicates that the scheduled job is active for the given recovery point type. In progress status indicates that the backup job is running on the device, after the backup job completes, the status changes back to active.
Note:
This option must be used with the -info action.
- -mnt, -mount-point <path>
The mount point you want to add to the volume after it is restored (not persistent). <path> must be a valid path.
- -nombr, -do-not-restore-mbr
Do not restore the master boot record that is contained in the recovery point. This option is used only with the Restore action.
- -p, -pwd, -password <password>
Use this option to specify a password for the recovery point file when creating a backup or to supply a password for a password-protected recovery point when restoring.
- -prefix, -file-prefix <string>
Lets you specify a prefix for the recovery point file name. The prefix is used when the destination is not specified or is a directory.
- -raw, -raw-image
This option instructs Veritas System Recovery 18 Linux Edition to not use SmartSector copy. Instead, the entire volume is captured even if there is no data in some sectors of the volume.
- -reboot, -reboot-on-success
Restart the computer when the restore is complete.
- -seg, -segment <number>
You can specify an empty section of the disk to restore the recovery point to (a zero-based index). The number must not be a negative number.
- -span, -split, -span-size <number>
Use this option to divide the recovery point file into separate chunks. The number is the chunk size in x 500 MB, and cannot be negative.
- -v, -version
Provides the information about the product name, version, and the license status.
- -verify
Verify the recovery point after it is created or before it is restored.
OPTIONS FOR CREATE JOB ACTION
Usage: symsr -createjob
Note:
The symsr -createjob action starts the schedule backup wizard. To exit the wizard, type q, Q, or Quit at any prompt of the wizard other than the Select Source prompt or the Select Destination prompt.
The following options are specific to the -createjob action.
- Select Source
Lets you select the source that you want to back up. The source can be one or more comma-separated devices or a mount point of a device.
- Select Destination
Lets you select the location where you want to store the recovery points.
- Create a computer specific folder
Creates a computer-specific folder in the backup destination location. By default, this option is set to no [n].
- Select a recovery point type
Lets you select the type of backup you want to create. The available backup types are independent backup and recovery point set. The default backup type is recovery point set [1].
- Select compression level
Lets you select a compression level for the recovery points.
The following compression levels are available:
[1] Standard - 40 percent average data compression ratio on recovery points.
[2] Medium - 45 percent average data compression ratio on recovery points.
[3] High - 50 percent average data compression ratio on recovery points.
[4] No compression for the recovery points.
By default, standard [1] compression level is used for the recovery points.
- Select encryption type
Lets you set a password with or without encryption on the recovery point when it is created.
The following encryption types are available:
[1] No password and no encryption
[2] Standard 128-bit (8+ character password)
[3] Medium 192-bit (16+ character password)
[4] High 256-bit (32+ character password)
By default, this option is set to no password and no encryption [2].
Note:
If you select an encryption type that requires a password, you are prompted to enter and confirm the password.
- Start a new recovery point set
Lets you specify a schedule to run the base backup for a recovery point set.
The following scheduling options are available:
[1] Weekly
Runs the backup on the day of the week you specify. By default, the backup is run on Sunday [SUNDAY].
[2] Monthly
Runs the backup on the days of the month you specify. You can choose to run the backup every day, on a specific day, or on the last of day of the month. By default, the backup runs on the first day of the month [1].
[3] Quarterly
Runs the backup on the first day of every quarter. If you choose this option, the backup runs on the first day of January, April, July, and October.
[4] Yearly
Runs the backup on the first day of January.
Note:
The default schedule for running backups is Monthly [2].
Specify backup start time
Runs the backup at the time and on the days specified by you.
Note:
Veritas System Recovery Linux Edition adjusts the time you specify a backup to run to the nearest quarter of an hour. For example, if you schedule a backup to run at 2:20 P.M., the time to run the backup is adjusted to 2:30 P.M.
The default schedule for running backups is Weekly [1].
- Create recovery points
Lets you schedule a backup to create recovery points.
The following scheduling options are available:
Schedule recovery points
Lets you specify whether you want to create recovery points. By default, this option is set to yes [y].
Recur every week
Runs the backup on the days of the week you specify. You can choose to run the backup on one day or multiple days in a week. By default, the backup runs on Sunday [SUNDAY]
Run more than once a day
Runs the backup more than once a day to protect the data that you change frequently. By default, this option is set to no [n].
Time between backups
Specifies the maximum time period that should occur between two backups. This option appears only if you have selected to run backups more than once a day.
Number of backups
Specifies the number of times the backup should run in a day. Ensure that you specify a number considering the number of hours that you have specified to occur between two backups. For example, if you have specified a period of 10 hours to occur between backups, you cannot run more than three backups a day.
- Specify independent recovery point schedule
Lets you schedule backups to create independent recovery points.
The following scheduling options are available:
[1] Weekly
Runs the backup on the day of the week you specify. By default, the backup runs on Sunday [SUNDAY].
[2] Monthly
Runs the backup on the days of the month you specify. You can choose to run the backup every day, on a specific day, or on the last of day of the month. By default, the backup runs on the first day of the month [1].
[3] Quarterly
Runs the backup on the first day of every quarter. If you choose this option, the backup runs on the first day of January, April, July, and October.
[4] Yearly
Runs the backup on the first day of January.
[5] Run only once
Runs the backup only once.
Note:
The default schedule for running backups is Weekly [1].
Recur every week
Runs the backup on the days of the week you specify. You can choose to run the backup on one or more days of the week. By default, the backup runs on Sunday [SUNDAY].
Specify backup start time
Runs the backup at the time on the days that you specified.
Note:
Veritas System Recovery Linux Edition adjusts the time you specify a backup to run to the nearest quarter of an hour. For example, if you schedule a backup to run at 2:20 P.M., the time to run the backup is adjusted to 2:30 P.M.
Verify recovery point after creation
Verifies whether the recovery point is valid after it is created.
Save Job
Lets you save or cancel a backup job. By default, this option is set to yes [y].
Provide Job Name
Lets you specify a name for the backup job you want to save. You must enter a job name. The job name cannot be blank and cannot contain only spaces.
EXAMPLES
The following are usage examples for the symsr command-line utility.
- symsr -b /dev/sda1 -d sda1backup.v2i
Creates a recovery point named sda1backup.v2i for volume sda1 using default options and storage. The recovery point is created in the same folder where the command is run.
- symsr -b /boot -d sda1backup.v2i
Creates a recovery point named sda1backup.v2i for the mount point /boot. The recovery point is created in the same folder where the command is run.
- symsr -b /dev/mapper/vg0-lv0 -d lvmbackup.v2i
Creates a recovery point of an LVM volume. The recovery point is created in the same folder where the command is run.
- symsr -b /dev/sda1 or , symsr -b /boot
Creates a recovery point of volume sda1 with the default file name. This creates the recovery point in the current folder using the name
volume_name_NNN.v2i.
- symsr -b /dev/sda1 -d machinename_volumename or , symsr -b /boot -d machinename_volumename
Creates a recovery point of volume sda1 with the supplied file name. This creates the recovery point in the current folder using the name
machinename_volumename_NNN.v2i.
- symsr -b /dev/sda1 -create-machine-folder or , symsr -b /boot -create-machine-folder
Creates a folder using the computer name and place the recovery point of volume sda1 in that folder.
- symsr -b /dev/sda1 -d /machine_subfolder/machinename_volumename or , symsr -b /boot -d /machine_subfolder/machinename_volumename
Creates a recovery point of volume sda1 in the specified computer subfolder with the specified file name. This creates the recovery point in the specified computer subfolder using the name
machinename_volumename_NNN.v2i.
- symsr -b /boot -d /mnt/backup/sda1backup.v2i -ignore-bad-sector
Creates a recovery point that skips over the bad sectors on the hard disk.
- symsr -b /boot -d /mnt/backup/sda1backup.v2i -p recoverypointpassword
Creates a recovery point with password protection.
- symsr -b /boot -d /mnt/backup/sda1backup.v2i -cmp high
Creates a recovery point with high compression.
- symsr -b /boot -d /mnt/backup/sda1backup.v2i -desc "This backup was taken on July 25 2009 at 10:00AM"
Creates a recovery point with an embedded recovery point description.
- symsr -b /boot -d /mnt/backup/sda1backup.v2i -span 2
Creates a recovery point that spans multiple files that are each 1000 MB. The chunk size in x 500 MB.
- symsr -b / -d /mnt/backup -use-aes-encryption high -password XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Creates a recovery point using AES-256 encryption. For high AES encryption, the password length must be at least 32 characters.
- symsr -info disk
Shows the partitions and file system types that are available on the disk.
- symsr -info job
Shows a list of existing backup jobs and their details.
- symsr -r system_000.v2i -d /dev/sda1
Restores the system partition back to its original location (/dev/sda1).
- symsr -r system_000_005.iv2i -d /dev/sda1
Restores the fifth incremental recovery point of the system partition back to its original location (/dev/sda1).
- symsr -r system_000.v2i -d /dev/sda -segment 0
Restores the system partition back to its original location (/dev/sda1) on a new or empty disk.
- symsr -r lvm2_000.v2i -d /dev/mapper/vg0-lv1
Restores an LVM device back to its original location (/dev/mapper/vg0-lvl).
- symsr -rmjob job-1
Removes the backup job corresponding to the specified job ID.
- symsr -runjob job-4
Runs the backup job corresponding to the specified job ID immediately, irrespective of the backup schedule.
- symsr -v
Shows the information about the product name, version, and the license status.
- symsr -vrp system_000.v2i
Verifies the integrity of the recovery point.
- symsr -vrp system_000_s01.v2i
Verifies the integrity of the spanned recovery point and the recovery point chain.
Note:
Some characters have special meanings and should not be used in recovery point file names and passwords. These characters include colons (:), back slashes (\), question marks (?), ampersand (&), asterisk (*), and caret(^).
SEE ALSO
Man page for Create Veritas Recovery Disk (createSRD utility).
Man page for Granular File Recovery (mount.v2i utility).