Restoring data to a point in time
Use a point-in-time restore to restore files to the state that existed at a specific date and time.
About this task
A point-in-time restore can eliminate the effect of data corruption by restoring data from a time prior to known corruption, or recover a basic configuration to a prior condition.
You can perform a point-in-time restore of a file
space, directory, or file.
You can also perform a point-in-time restore of image
backups.
You can perform a point-in-time restore of system state data, a file space, a
directory, or a file. You can also perform a point-in-time restore of image backups.
Perform incremental backups to support a point-in-time restore. During an incremental backup, the client notifies the server when files are deleted from a client file space or directory. Selective and incremental-by-date backups do not notify the server about deleted files. Run incremental backups at a frequency consistent with possible restore requirements.
If you request a point-in-time restore with a date and time that is before the oldest version maintained by the Tivoli® Storage Manager server, the object is not restored to your system. Files that were deleted from your workstation before the point-in-time specified are not restored.
- Your administrator must define copy group settings that maintain enough inactive versions of a file to guarantee that you can restore that file to a specific date and time. If enough versions are not maintained, Tivoli Storage Manager might not be able to restore all objects to the point-in-time you specify.
- If you delete a file or directory, the next time you run an incremental backup, the active backup version becomes inactive and the oldest versions that exceed the number specified by the versions data deleted attribute of the management class are deleted.
When you perform a point-in-time restore, consider the following information:
- Tivoli Storage Manager restores file versions from the most recent backup before the specified point-in-time date. Ensure the point-in-time that you specify is not the same as the date and time this backup was performed.
- If the date and time you specify for the object you are trying to restore is earlier than the oldest version that exists on the server, Tivoli Storage Manager cannot restore that object.
- Point-in-time restore restores files that were deleted from the client workstation after the point-in-time date but not files that were deleted before this date.
- Tivoli Storage Manager cannot restore a file that was created after the point-in-time date and time. When a point-in-time restore runs, files that were created on the client after the point-in-time date are not deleted.
Procedure
To perform a point-in-time restore by using the client GUI, complete the following steps:
- Click the Restore button in the main window. The Restore window appears.
- Click the Point-in-Time button from the Restore window. The Point in Time Restore window appears.
- Select the Use a Point-in-Time Date selection box. Select the date and time and click OK. The point in time that you specified appears in the Point in Time display field in the Restore window.
- Display the objects that you want to restore. You can search for an object by name, filter the directory tree, or work with the directories in the directory tree.
- Click the selection boxes next to the objects you want to restore.
- Click the Restore button. The Restore Destination window is displayed. Enter the appropriate information.
- Click the Restore button to start the restore. The Restore Task List window displays the restore processing status.
Results
You can start point-in-time restore from the command-line client by using the pitdate and pittime options with the query backup and restore commands. For example, when you use the pitdate and pittime options with the query backup command, you establish the point-in-time for which file information is returned. When you use pitdate and pittime with the restore command, the date and time values you specify establish the point-in-time for which files are returned. If you specify pitdate without a pittime value, pittime defaults to 23:59:59. If you specify pittime without a pitdate value, it is ignored.