Restore data from tapes

[chenao]

I am testing how to recover the data from tapes using the GUI but I can not find any option when I click on restore or retrive, so after I get the "Specify backupset location" box I have not any option to dropdown and get any tape or file name. The only option I have to recover the data backed up is from File Level that allows me to restore from the server but not from the tapes. I am trying to figure it out how it works in case I need to recover the data from tapes. I Have backuppools defined and a copy activedata backuppool command runs every day and a database Backup (Dbsnapshot) as well.
Any comment will be appreciated.

Chris

 

[wildwest]

I'm not sure I, or you, understand what you're doing.

The client can only restore data directly from tape if it has a locally attached tape drive and the tapes are backupsets. Are you trying to restore from local backupset tapes?

 

[heada]

Are you trying to restore data from a normal backup, from a backup set or a TSM DBBackup? If from a normal backup, then just use the file-level option as TSM knows where the data is and you just have to tell it what version of a file and it will get it for you. If from a backupset, you have to specify the location (but since none are listed, I doubt you are using backup sets). If you are trying to restore the TSM DB, thats a very different process that is detailed in the admin guide manual.

-Aaron

 

[chenao]

I know from the normal backup I can get the data from File-level but supose a scenario that every thing gone except the offsite tapes and I reinstall the server and clients, then I need to recover the data from the tapes. My question is how I access the tapes using the GUI with the administrator account and select the files I need to restore. It suposes to be with the retrive option, isn't? or which information is on the tapes I am getting form the tape drive attached to the tivoli server where the copy activedata backuppol command runs every day and copied on the tapes. What I could do with the data that is on the tapes if I have not options to access it with the GUI as admin with owner rights for each client defined.

 

[heada]

If your primary copy of the data is gone and you need to restore from the offsite copypool tapes, you would update the primary pool volumes as destroyed, the primary pool itself as unavailable and TSM would then automatically restore data from the offsite copypool tapes. The client doesn't know where the data is being restored from and it doesn't need to. That is the function of the TSM server and database.

-Aaron

 

[PJ]

If I understand this correctly (and I'm far from certain I do) then you should just run a restore as usual. If the tapes are offsite, the server will put out a request to get them back - but that will show up on the server, not the client. If your server went down, you'll have to recover the entire thing first from DB backups in order to get to the data. There's no way to do it from the client alone - except we're talking about backup sets.

PJ

 

[wildwest]

You (original poster) seem to be missing the function of the TSM server. It's so you don't have to think about what tape data is on. You simply initiate a restore from the client, and the server does the rest.

Make the tapes avaialble on the server, then do the restore, period.

You're either overthinking this, or you're in over your head.

 

[chenao]

I know Tivoli is doing its job . With the data on the tapes I have to do an act of faith, because the only thing i can be sure about is recovering the data from the primary pool, so Tivoli keeps the data according to the policy I apply and on tapes you don't keep more than 5 or 6 sets (less that the server keeps).. do you?. It could be, I am overthinking but which option I have to see if I can recover the data from the tapes before I have not any other option. I should be able to do it no matter if every thing is on the server. Don't ask me to run a q cont to see what is on the tapes. As Aaron put in his notes ...one of the three certain things is lost data.

 

[heada]

If there are 15 versions of a file in a primary pool and you backup that primary pool to a copy pool, then there are 15 versions of that file in the copy pool as well. The copy pool is not managed any differently than the primary pool when it comes to client data. The only way to test this is to disable all the primary pool volumes and the pool itself and then perform a restore.

-Aaron