So I asked about pre and post-dump scripts several weeks ago. Here
is what I've ended up doing; it seems to be working, and amverify is
happy:

1. compile amanda with tar=/usr/local/bin/tar
2. copy or symlink tar to /usr/local/bin/realtar
3. create a script /usr/local/bin/tar
4. chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/tar

/usr/local/bin/tar contains:

#!/bin/sh

RealCMD=/usr/local/bin/realtar                # or whatever it is
DB_DLE=/                                        # or whatever
EstOrDmp=estimate                # a flag, values are estimate or dump
IsDB_DLE=no                        # a flag, values are yes and no

case "$5" in
$DB_DLE) IsDB_DLE=yes ;;
*)         IsDB_DLE=no  ;;
esac

case "$3" in
/dev/null) EstOrDmp=estimate ;;
-)         EstOrDmp=dump     ;;
*)         : # unexpected, some error    ;;
esac

echo `date` >> /tmp/amanda/tarlog
echo ${@} >> /tmp/amanda/tarlog
echo $3 >> /tmp/amanda/tarlog
echo $5 >> /tmp/amanda/tarlog
echo ${IsDB_DLE} >> /tmp/amanda/tarlog
echo ${EstOrDmp} >> /tmp/amanda/tarlog

if [ ${IsDB_DLE} = yes -a ${EstOrDmp} = dump ];
then
        #: #shutdown database (':' is a NoOp placeholder)
        # PROFIT$ Database Server Shutdown
        # *MUST* not allow any output from database shutdown
        #otherwise tar breaks
        /u/profits/profits_stop >/dev/null 2>1
fi

${RealCMD} "${@}"                # this just runs the real gtar
RtrnCode=$?                # with all the original args

if [ ${IsDB_DLE} = yes -a ${EstOrDmp} = dump ];
then
        #: #restart database
        # PROFIT$ Database Server Startup
        # *MUST* not allow any output from database startup
        #otherwise tar breaks
        /u/profits/profits_start >/dev/null 2>1
fi

exit ${RtrnCode}

-- 
Kurt Yoder
Sport & Health network administrator