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5.6 Using the Backup Scripts

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The syntax for running a backup script is:

`script-name' [time-to-be-run]

where time-to-be-run can be a specific system time, or can be now. If you do not specify a time, the script runs at the time specified in `backup-specs' (@quote-arg -pxref{Script Syntax}).

You should start a script with a tape or disk mounted. Once you start a script, it prompts you for new tapes or disks as it needs them. Media volumes don't have to correspond to archive files--a multi-volume archive can be started in the middle of a tape that already contains the end of another multi-volume archive. The restore script prompts for media by its archive volume, so to avoid an error message you should keep track of which tape (or disk) contains which volume of the archive. @quote-arg {There is no such restore script!}. @quote-arg -xref{Scripted Restoration}. @quote-arg

The backup scripts write two files on the file system. The first is a record file in `/etc/tar-backup/', which is used by the scripts to store and retrieve information about which files were dumped. This file is not meant to be read by humans, and should not be deleted by them. @quote-arg -xref{incremental and listed-incremental}, for a more detailed explanation of this file.

The second file is a log file containing the names of the file systems and files dumped, what time the backup was made, and any error messages that were generated, as well as how much space was left in the media volume after the last volume of the archive was written. You should check this log file after every backup. The file name is `log-mmm-ddd-yyyy-level-1' or `log-mmm-ddd-yyyy-full'.

The script also prints the name of each system being dumped to the standard output.