After a complete crash, e.g. a harddisk crash on the backup server, the system must be set up from scratch. This arcticle describes how to achieve that the easiest way. In this scenario, we assume that everything is lost, including the P4/P5 configuration.
The data recovery happens in three steps:
- Install the P4/P5 application
- Recover the P4/P5 configuration
- Recover your files
Install the P4/P5 application The first step is easy: In case you do not have a running P4/P5, install that. An unlicensed version will do, so it is possible to download the latest P4/P5 from http://www.archiware.com/download.
Recover the P4/P5 configuration When P4/P5 is installed, log in using a web browser to the local P4/P5 server by entering the address http://localhost:8000/login. Select the P4/P5 button in the upper right corner and select Configuration restore from the pulldown menu. In the next sub window, you will have to enter the Operating System specific path to your drive in order to get the latest saved configuration of the lost system. Please see the examples given that window. The correct entry for the drive depends on your operating system and your tape:
On a Virtual Jukebox (which is stored on a hard disk), simply specify the name of the latest file belonging to the virtual juke box on your hard disk.
On Solaris or Linux, specify the device file relating to your tape drive. Under Linux, the file is name /dev/scsi/sgN where N refers to the logical number of your tape drive or juke box, usually the SCSI-ID. On Solaris, the file name for a tape drive is /dev/rmt/Ncn, where N refers to the logical number of your tape drive and cn stands for compressed and norewind options when accessing the drive.
On a Mac, a device file must be created first (the Darwin operating system does not make use of device files for magnetic tapes). PresSTORE uses the convention to identify the SCSI-ID from a file name on Macs. Create a file named awstN, e.g. by entering the following command in a terminal window: touch /usr/local/aw/conf/dev/awstN where N refers to the logical number of your tape drive, usually the SCSI-Id. On Windows, a UNC path must be given in order to access the drive. The UNC name for a SCSI tape is {//./TAPEn}, where n refers to the logical number of your tape drive, usually the SCSI-ID. Please refer to the user manual of your juke box for the correct UNC name of your juke box. Please make sure to enclose the path in braces on Windows.
After entering the correct name, make sure the last (or at least one of the last) written tapes is in the drive. P4/P5 will attempt to read the configuration from the tape. After restoring the configuration, the P4/P5 server will restart. Note that your browser windows will be invalidated then and you will have to login again to P4/P5.
After recovering a configuration, it may be required to delete the jukebox or single tape drive in PresSTORE and create it from new. In case the hardware setup changed, the previous settings may turn out to be inoperable.
Now, the configuration including licenses has been recovered. The next step is to recover the backup index files.
Recover the P4/P5 Backup Indexes Backup indices are automatically saved to tape during backup. Because of this, they can be recovered after a crash. To recover the backup index, login to P4/P5, go to Advanced Options, Manage Indexes. For each database you want to recover, select the database and click the Check button in the bottom bar . This option checks the database and recovers it as it will find the database to be not ok.
From then on, the files from the backup are fully accessible again and files can be recovered.
Recover an Archive Index Archive indices are not saved automatically, as these are not part of a possible bare metal recovery. Because of this, Archive indices should be backed up using e.g. the Backup or Synchronize module of P4/P5. The Archive indices and possibly previews in P4 reside in the subdirectory at conf/index/archive, in P5 the paths is config/index/archive. Typically, on Unix and Mac, the path is /usr/local/aw/config/index/archive. On Windows the default path is C:\Program Files (x86)\ARCHIWARE\PresSTORE\config\index\archive (32-bit) or C:\Program Files\ARCHIWARE\Data_Lifecycle_Management_Suite\config\index\archive (64-bit).
P5.5 addendum: Starting with P5.5, it is possible to automatically backup archive indices. To do so, login to P5 > Archive > Advanced Options > Manage Indexes... Double-click on the archive index for which you would like to enable database backups. In the database settings window, tick the checkbox to enable backups, select the P5 client amd the folder where you would like your backups to be stored, set a start time and apply the changes. The archive index will be backed up on a daily basis.
Recover P4/P5 to a new Host Please note that the P4/P5 license is tied to your machine, identified by the Host-ID. In case you set up P4/P5 on a new machine, e.g. because the old one is no longer operable, your will need a license transfer to the new machine, too. Please visit our website at http://www.archiware.com/portal for more information.
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