Windows operating systemsLinux operating systemsOracle Solaris operating systemsAIX operating systems

Performing an image backup using the GUI

Edit online

If the image backup feature is configured, you can create an image backup where the real volume is available to other system applications.

About this task

A consistent image of the volume is maintained during the image backup.

Windows operating systemsWhen you perform an image backup using the client GUI image backup option, the backup operation is run according to the snapshotproviderimage setting in your client options file (dsm.opt). If the online image support is configured, the client performs an online image backup, during which the volume is available to other system applications.

Linux operating systemsAIX operating systemsWhen you perform an image backup using the backup-archive client GUI image backup option, the backup operation is run according to the setting of the snapshotproviderimage option. The snapshotproviderimage option defaults to an AIX® JFS2 snapshot for AIX and a Linux® LVM snapshot for Linux. You can override the default by using the Preferences editor Snapshot tab and the Image Snapshot Preferences.

Oracle Solaris operating systemsFor Solaris clients, selecting the image backup option performs a static image backup by default. For static image backup, the client unmounts and remounts the volume as read-only so that no other applications can access it. You can override the default value by using the include.image option and selecting dynamicimage yes. For dynamic image backup, the client performs the image backup without making the file system read-only during the backup.

Note: When an image backup is interrupted or fails due to some reason, the client attempts to clean up the incomplete backup on the IBM® Storage Protect server when the image backup is run again. If the server option BACKDEL is set to Yes, the client will remove the incomplete image backup before attempting another image backup. If the BACKDEL option is set to No, the client will inactivate the incomplete backup. The inactivated backup will expire according to the policy definition on the server.

To create an image backup of your file system or raw logical volume, perform the following steps:

Procedure

  1. Click on the Backup button in the IBM Storage Protect main window. The Backup window appears.
  2. Expand the directory tree and select the objects you want to back up. To back up a raw logical volume, locate and expand the RAW directory tree object.
  3. Click Backup. The Backup Task List window displays the backup processing status. The Backup Report window displays a detailed status report.

Results

  • Linux operating systemsOracle Solaris operating systemsAIX operating systemsTo perform a static image backup, select Image Backup from the drop-down list.
  • Windows operating systemsTo perform an offline image backup, select Image Backup from the drop-down list.
  • Windows operating systemsTo perform an online image backup, select Snapshot Image Backup from the drop-down list.
  • Linux operating systemsAIX operating systemsFor AIX and Linux clients only: To perform a snapshot image backup, use the snapshotproviderimage option.
  • To perform an incremental-by-date image backup, select Incremental image (date only) from the drop-down list.

Linux operating systemsOracle Solaris operating systemsAIX operating systemsThe following are some items to consider when you perform an snapshot-based image backup:

Windows operating systemsThe following are some items to consider when you perform an online image backup:

  • To modify specific backup options, click the Options button. The options you select are effective only during the current session.
  • Windows operating systemsBecause image backup allows you to back up only used blocks in a file system, the stored image size on the IBM Storage Protect server could be smaller than the volume size. For online image backups, the stored image can be larger than the file system based on the size of the cache files. To determine the actual stored image size, select View > File Details. The actual stored image size is noted in the Stored Size field.
  • To modify specific backup options, click the Options button. The options you select are effective only during the current session.
  • Windows operating systemsBecause image backup allows you to back up only used blocks in a file system, the stored image size on the IBM Storage Protect server could be smaller than the volume size. For online image backups, the stored image can be larger than the file system based on the size of the cache files. To determine the actual stored image size, select View > File Details. The actual stored image size is noted in the Stored Size field.

Linux operating systemsLinux only: The IBM Storage Protect 5.4 (and newer) client will not recognize any LVM1 volumes for image operations. However, it allows prior image backups of LVM1 volumes to be restored on LVM2 volumes. Table 1 shows the combinations involving the old and new client levels handling LVM1 and LVM2 volumes for different image operations.

Linux operating systems
Table 1. LVM1 and LVM2 image operation comparisons
IBM Storage Protect client version LVM1 Backup and Restore LVM2 Backup and Restore Mixed Volumes
Backup: LVM1, Restore: LVM2 Backup: LVM2, Restore: LVM1
5.3 and prior YES Only static image for file system NO NO - raw volumes are not supported
5.4 and beyond
NO
Error msg ANS1090E
displayed
 YES
YES
LVM1 vol must have
been backed up
using prior client
NO
Restore to LVM1 vol
fails