Spanning tapes using "dump".

Zombie13 · 08-20-2007, 08:00 AM

I'm trying to backup a machine at work using dump, which has been working fine for quite some time. However, the amount of data is now too large for the media, so I would like to span the backup over multiple tapes.

The command I am currently using to back up is as follows:

Quote:

/sbin/dump 0f /dev/st0 / > /var/log/backup/backup`date +%Y%m%d`.log 2>&1

I tried the following for using multiple volumes:

Quote:

/sbin/dump 0fM /dev/st0 / > /var/log/backup/backup`date +%Y%m%d`.log 2>&1

However, the resulted in dump attempting to back up to /dev/st0001, hence creating a large dump file in /dev.

Any help would be appreciated.

stress_junkie · 08-20-2007, 08:14 AM

I would use GNU tar instead of dump. GNU tar allows you to compress the data going to the tape and it has parameters to span multiple tape volumes. (-L and -M).

Zombie13 · 08-20-2007, 08:19 AM

Hi, many thanks for the reply. A longer-term solution will be to look at other programs, but for the quick-fix to get the backups running OK today I need to find out how to use multiple tapes. The dump man page does mention using more than one tape, I just can't put my finger on exactly how.

stress_junkie · 08-20-2007, 08:58 AM

There is a man page for dump on the Internet at the following address.

http://www.linuxcommand.org/man_pages/dump8.html

It says that there are numerous options to specify the tape length. It also says that the default behavior is to automatically handle multiple volumes if the tape drive provides an end of medium signal.

Since I don't use dump I cannot verify whether this information is correct.

choogendyk · 08-20-2007, 06:47 PM

I don't see any reference to platform, hardware, tape type, etc. An actual answer might depend on those pieces of information, and might get back to tape drivers.

Dump is widely regarded as broken for serious use in linux. Typically, people use gnutar.