Amanda-Users

AW: Problem with tape and labeling (archiving)

2005-04-13 07:37:02
Subject: AW: Problem with tape and labeling (archiving)
From: Sebastian Kösters <skoesters AT sino DOT de>
To: "'Paul Bijnens'" <paul.bijnens AT xplanation DOT com>
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 13:31:16 +0200
That does not really help..... also when I would get the error message
earlier I would not now what to do against the Problem....

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Paul Bijnens [mailto:paul.bijnens AT xplanation DOT com] 
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 13. April 2005 13:27
An: Sebastian Kösters
Cc: amanda-users AT amanda DOT org
Betreff: Re: Problem with tape and labeling (archiving)

Sebastian Kösters wrote:
> 
> I have a Problem with archiving tapes.
> 
> On every Sunday we do a backup on tape but I always get the following
error:
> 
> ERROR: /dev/nst0: reading label: Input/output error

Why do you get an IO error here?
Probably that's the cause of the failure.


>        (expecting tape DailySet1001 or a new tape)
> NOTE: skipping tape-writable test
> Server check took 0.198 seconds
> 
> I wrote a little Script which labels the new tape (via cron).


I hope you really know what you're doing.

The idea of labelling a tape is to avoid that you accidently
overwrite a good tape.

Normally you have to label a tape only once: when you unpack it
from the shrink-wrapped package.  At that time, it is assumed
that you have drunk enough coffee, and have had enough sleep
to not make errors when labelling tapes.  After that time, amanda
takes over the  responsability of checking for the correct tape.

By blindly labeling any tape that is found in the drive at night,
you completely drop this safety boundary.

Then: your crontab:

0 1 * * 0 /etc/amanda/label.sh
15 1 * * 0 /usr/sbin/amcheck -a full-sonntag
30 1 * * 0 /usr/sbin/amdump full-sonntag && /usr/sbin/amadmin 
full-sonntag export


The command amcheck is intented to be run during the day and warn you
early of any problems.   At that time you're still there to solve
them.  What is the use of running amcheck in the middle of the night
15 minutes before doing the real dump?

Of course, I'm assuming you work during the day, and sleep in the night.


-- 
Paul Bijnens, Xplanation                            Tel  +32 16 397.511
Technologielaan 21 bus 2, B-3001 Leuven, BELGIUM    Fax  +32 16 397.512
http://www.xplanation.com/          email:  Paul.Bijnens AT xplanation DOT com
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