Flashes (Alerts)
Abstract
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus does not detect whether a snapshot volume used for backup of an IBM Db2 or MongoDB backup is unmounted before the backup finishes. The backup operation skips the unmounted volume, but the backup is considered successful (complete). The result is undetectable data loss due to the corrupted (incomplete) backup copy.
Content
Problem Description
When IBM Spectrum Protect Plus backs up an IBM Db2 or MongoDB database, snapshots are created for all of the logical volumes that comprise the database. The snapshots are mounted, and then IBM Spectrum Protect Plus copies the data to the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus vSnap server. The copy operations occur sequentially, one snapshot at a time. If a snapshot becomes inactive (for AIX, the term is "invalid"), then the snapshot is unmounted from the system. If the snapshot is unmounted before it is copied, then only the empty mount point directory is copied. The backup is reported as successful in though data from the unmounted snapshot is missing. Thus the backup copy is incomplete.
A restore of the affected backup version fails because of the missing backup data.
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus does not detect whether any of the snapshots are unmounted before the backup ends. The inactivation or invalidation of the snapshot and the subsequent unmount are not controllable by IBM Spectrum Protect Plus. A representative scenario is if a large database takes many hours to back up and the database changes at a rate that causes a snapshot volume to fill up. Under these conditions, the snapshot is unmounted.
This problem is documented in APAR IT38758.Levels Affected
IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.2.x - 10.1.8.x
Immediate Action
- Install IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.9 ifix1 or later.
- Ensure that snapshots are large enough to contain the changing blocks until the backup finishes.
See APAR IT38758 for more details about the problem and the fix.
Fix
The problem is fixed beginning in IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.9.0. However, IBM recommends 10.1.9 ifix1 or later.
The problem is fixed beginning in IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.9.0. However, IBM recommends 10.1.9 ifix1 or later.
Related Information
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Document Information
Modified date:
27 December 2021
UID
ibm16525604