Veritas NetBackup™ for Informix Administrator's Guide

Last Published:
Product(s): NetBackup (8.1.2)
  1. Introduction to NetBackup for Informix
    1.  
      Features of NetBackup for Informix
    2.  
      About NetBackup for Informix
    3.  
      About NetBackup for Informix terms
    4.  
      Example NetBackup for Informix configuration
    5.  
      About the Informix ON-bar utility and library
    6.  
      How NetBackup for Informix works
  2. Installing NetBackup for Informix
    1.  
      Planning the installation of NetBackup for Informix
    2.  
      Verifying the operating system and platform compatibility
    3.  
      NetBackup server and client requirements
    4.  
      Informix server software requirements
    5.  
      About the license for NetBackup for Informix
    6.  
      Specifying the Informix home path
    7.  
      Adding new Informix instances
  3. Configuring NetBackup for Informix
    1.  
      About configuring NetBackup for Informix
    2. About configuring a backup policy for Informix
      1.  
        Adding a new NetBackup for Informix policy
      2.  
        About policy attributes
      3.  
        Configuring an application backup schedule
      4.  
        Configuring automatic backup schedules
      5. About schedule properties
        1.  
          NetBackup for Informix backup types
        2.  
          Example application backup schedule
        3.  
          Example automatic backup schedule
      6.  
        Adding clients to a policy
      7.  
        Adding NetBackup for Informix scripts to the backup selections list
      8.  
        Rules for NetBackup for Informix scripts
      9.  
        Configuring a Standard policy for backup of the $INFORMIXDIR/etc files
    3. About NetBackup for Informix scripts
      1.  
        Modifying NetBackup for Informix scripts
      2.  
        About NetBackup for Informix environment variables
    4.  
      Configuring an additional bp.conf file
    5.  
      About permissions for NetBackup for Informix log files
    6.  
      Reviewing the auto-discovered mappings in Host Management
    7.  
      Configuring the Maximum jobs per client
    8.  
      Performing a manual backup
  4. Performing backups and restores of Informix
    1.  
      About using NetBackup for Informix
    2.  
      About Informix ON-Bar backup types
    3.  
      Example Informix backup strategy
    4.  
      Automatic backup policy for Informix
    5.  
      Manual backup policy for Informix
    6.  
      Using the onbar command to perform a user-directed backup
    7.  
      About browsing Informix backups
    8.  
      Restoring files to the original client
    9.  
      Redirecting an Informix restore to a different client
    10.  
      Example restore of an Informix database
  5. Troubleshooting
    1.  
      Verifying the NetBackup for Informix configuration
    2.  
      Verifying NetBackup for Informix log files
    3.  
      Enabling the debug logs manually
    4. About the NetBackup for Informix log files
      1.  
        About the bphdb directory on the database client
      2.  
        About the infxbsa directory on the database client
    5.  
      About NetBackup server reports
    6.  
      Setting the debug level
    7.  
      Minimizing timeout failures on large database restores
    8.  
      Minimizing the loading and unloading of tapes for database backups
    9.  
      Deleting expired backups from the Informix backup database
    10.  
      Delays in completion of backup jobs
  6. Appendix A. Register authorized locations
    1.  
      Registering authorized locations used by a NetBackup database script-based policy

Features of NetBackup for Informix

Table: NetBackup for Informix features and descriptions shows NetBackup for Informix's main features and introduces some terms used in this documentation.

Table: NetBackup for Informix features and descriptions

Feature

Description

Media and device management

All devices supported by Media Manager are available to NetBackup for Informix.

Scheduling facilities

NetBackup scheduling facilities on the master server can be used to schedule automatic and unattended Informix backups.

This feature also lets you choose the times when these operations can occur. For example, to prevent interference with normal daytime operations, you can schedule your database backups to occur only at night.

Multiplexed backups and restores

NetBackup for Informix lets you take advantage of NetBackup's multiplexing capabilities. Multiplexing directs multiple data streams to one backup device, thereby reducing the time necessary to complete the operation.

Transparent Informix and regular file system backup and restore operations

All backups and restores run simultaneously and transparently without any action from the NetBackup administrator.

The database administrator can run database backup and restore operations through NetBackup. An administrator or any other authorized user can use NetBackup to run database backups and restores.

Alternatively, you can use the Informix ON-Bar utility as if NetBackup were not present.

Sharing the same storage units used for other file backups

It is possible to share the same devices and media used for other backups or to give Informix exclusive use of certain devices and media. NetBackup for Informix can use Media Manager, disk, and PureDisk storage units.

Centralized and networked backup operations

From the NetBackup master server, you can schedule database backups or start them manually for any client. The Informix databases can also reside on hosts that are different from the devices on which NetBackup stores the backups.

Graphical user interfaces

NetBackup provides the following graphical user interfaces for client users and administrators:

  • NetBackup Administration Console

  • Backup, Archive, and Restore user interface

A database administrator or NetBackup administrator can start backup or restore operations for Informix from the NetBackup graphical user interface on the master server.

Parallel backup and restore operations

NetBackup for Informix supports the parallel backup and restore capabilities of Informix ON-Bar. For example, this permits the user to run more than one tape device at a time for a single Informix backup or restore, thereby reducing the time necessary to complete the operation.

Compression

Compression increases backup performance over the network and reduces the size of the backup image that NetBackup writes to the storage unit.