Managing snapshot backup objects

You must use the db2acsutil command to manage snapshot backup objects. Do not move or delete snapshot backup objects using file system utilities.

Before you begin

To perform snapshot backup and restore operations, you need one of two things:

A Db2® ACS API driver for your storage device. For a list of supported storage hardware for the integrated driver, refer to this tech note.
For storage devices that are not supported, implement a custom script that allows your storage device to perform snapshot operations.

Restrictions

The db2acsutil command is currently only supported on AIX® and Linux®.

To list available snapshot backup objects, use the QUERY parameter.
For example, to list available snapshot backup objects for a specific database manager instance, use the following syntax:
```
db2acsutil query instance inst-name
```
To check the progress of a snapshot backup operation, use the STATUS parameter. For more verbose progress information, use the SHOW DETAILS parameter as well.
For example, to see the progress of snapshot backup operations that might be currently running on a specific database, use the following syntax:
```
db2acsutil query status db db-name
```
To delete a particular snapshot backup object, use the DELETE parameter.
For example, to delete all snapshot backup objects for a given database older than a specific period of time, use the following syntax:
```
db2acsutil delete older than number days ago db db-name
```
Note: For each of these tasks, you can also query or delete a specific set of snapshot objects by their origin by using one of the following options:
- The LOAD and OPTION parameter to specify the shared library that contains the vendor fast copying technology used for snapshot backup, as in this example:
```
db2acsutil load path-to-library
   options 'option1 optionN'
   ... 
```
- The SCRIPT parameter to specify the snapshot backup objects created by a custom script, as in this example:
```
db2acsutil script "path-to-script" ... 
```