On Thu, Jun 15, 2006 at 12:33:16PM -0400, Marlin Whitaker wrote:
> Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'm new to amanda.
> 
> If I have a collection of tapes from previous amanda backups,
> is there a procedure for determining which set of tapes contain
> a complete backup?
> 

I'm assuming you don't have access to the logs/indexes/amrecover.

The commonly suggested way is to try to use amrestore to extract
an "impossible" backup.  It then goes on and tells you all the
things on the tape that were not what you were looking for.  Kinda
like making a tape of contents.

Here is an example using virtual (hard disk based) tapes.  But it
would work the same (though slower) for real tapes.

    $ ammt -t file:/vt/slots rewind

    $ amrestore -p file:/vt/slots/ foobar
    amrestore:   1: skipping bigcow.ROOT-HOME.20060615.1.1
    amrestore:   2: skipping butch.WinnieF.20060615.1.1
    amrestore:   3: skipping luci.ROOT-MISC.20060615.1.1
    amrestore:   4: skipping bigcow.HOME.20060615.1.1
    amrestore:   5: skipping butch.WinnieE.20060615.1.1
    amrestore:   6: skipping bigcow.LOCAL.20060615.1.1
    amrestore:   7: skipping butch.U.20060615.1.1
    amrestore:   8: skipping luci.OPT.20060615.1.1
    amrestore:   9: skipping bigcow.OPT.20060615.1.1
    amrestore:  10: reached end of information

    $


You may also wish to consider what you, and amanda, mean
by "a complete backup".  They may not match your expectation.
A complete system backup may be spread by amanda over several
days and tapes.

-- 
Jon H. LaBadie                  jon AT jgcomp DOT com
 JG Computing
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 Princeton, NJ  08540-4322      (609) 683-7220 (fax)