cpio archive does not restore directories.

pobman · 11-24-2008, 08:24 PM

Hello,

Today I have a new problem that is baffling me when I try to restore my cpio it dumps all the files in what seems one directory.
I was expecting the tape to contain the root file sytem and relative directories, can anyone suggest why the files I recovered

a) Are not in a directory structure as expected.
b) Are missing files such as /etc

I have a tape which contains a cpio backup, it has been created with the following commands

Code:

cd /
find . -print |cpio -ocvBdum >/dev/rmt0
cpio -itcB /dev/rmt0 >/tmp/verify.log 2>/tmp/verify.log

I understand the switches to backup mean:

Code:

o - reads file path names from standard input
c - Reads and writes header information in ASCII character form.
v - Lists file names.
B - Performs block input and output using 512 bytes to a record.
d - Creates directories as needed.
u - Copies unconditionally.
m - Retains previous file modification time.

The switches to Test the backup are:

Code:

-i - command reads from standard input an archive file created by the cpio -o command
c - Reads and writes header information in ASCII character form.
B - Performs block input and output using 512 bytes to a record.

To restore I used:

Code:

cpio -icBvd < /dev/rmt0

AuroraCA · 11-24-2008, 09:31 PM

Using the ‘.’ in the find statement will give you more flexibility when doing restores, as it will save file names with a relative path rather than a hard wired, absolute path. I would also add a -depth flag. The -depth option forces ‘find’ to print of the entries in a directory before printing the directory itself. This limits the effects of restrictive directory permissions by printing the directory entries in a directory before the directory name itself.

Create archive:

Code:

cd /
find . -depth -print |cpio -ocvB > /dev/rmt0

Restore archive:

Code:

cd /
cpio -icBvdum < /dev/rmt0