Progress
Database Administration
Guide and Reference


PROBKUP Utility

Backs up a Progress database, including the database, before-image files, and transaction log (TL) extents.

SYNTAX

Operating System
Syntax
UNIX
Windows
probkup [ online ] db-name [ incremental ]  device-name
[       -estimate
|       -vs n
|       -bf n
|       -verbose
|       -scan
|       -io i
|       -com
|       -red i
|       -no recover
] ...

online

Indicates the backup is an online backup.

db-name

Specifies the database you want to back up.

incremental

Indicates the backup is an incremental backup.

device-name

Identifies a special device (for example, a tape drive) or a standard file. If device-name identifies a special device, Progress assumes the device has removable media, such as a tape or a floppy diskette. For Windows NT, use \\.\tape0 for the device name if you are backing up to a tape drive.

-estimate

Indicates that the backup will give a media estimate only. Use the Scan parameter when using the Incremental or Compression parameters to get an accurate estimate.

Use -estimate for offline backups only.

-vs n

Indicates the volume size in database blocks that can be written to each removable volume. Before PROBKUP writes each volume, it displays a message that tells you to prepare the next volume. After writing each volume, a message tells you to remove the volume.

If you use the Volume Size parameter, the value must be greater than the value of the Blocking Factor parameter.

If you do not use the Volume Size parameter, PROBKUP assumes there is no limit and writes the backup until completion or until the volume is full. When the volume is full, PROBKUP prompts you for the next volume.

-bf n

Indicates the blocking factor for blocking data output to the backup device. The blocking factor specifies how many blocks of data are buffered before being transferred to the backup device. NT uses a variable block size up to 4K. For all other operating systems, each block is the size of one disk block (1K on UNIX). The primary use for this parameter is to improve the transfer speed to tape-backup devices by specifying that the data is transferred in amounts optimal for the particular backup device. The default for the blocking factor parameter is 34.

-verbose

Directs the PROBKUP utility to display information during the backup. If you specify the Verbose parameter, PROBKUP displays “Backed up n blocks in hh:mm:ss” every 10 seconds. If you do not specify the Verbose parameter, the message appears only once when the backup is complete.

-scan

Directs PROBKUP to perform an initial scan of the database and to display the number of blocks that will be backed up and the amount of media the backup requires. You cannot use the Scan parameter for online backups.

For full backups, if you specify the Scan parameter as well as the Compression parameter, PROBKUP scans the database and computes the backup media requirements after the data is compressed.

-io i

Specifies an incremental overlap factor. The incremental overlap factor determines the redundancy among incremental backups. An incremental overlap factor of 1 on every backup allows for the loss of one incremental backup in a backup series, as long as the immediate predecessor of that backup is not also lost. An overlap factor of 2 allows for losing the two immediate predecessors. The default overlap factor is 0.

-com

Indicates that the data should be compressed prior to writing it on the backup media. The unused portion of index and record blocks is compressed to a 3-byte compression string. Free blocks are compressed to the length of their header, 16 bytes.

-red i

Sets the amount of redundancy to add to the backup for error correction. The value i is a positive integer that indicates the number of blocks for every error correction block. Progress creates an error correction block for every i blocks and writes it to the backup media. You can use error correction blocks to recover corrupted backup blocks. See "Backing Up a Database," for more information about error correction blocks and data recovery.

The lower the redundancy factor, the more error correction blocks Progress creates. If you specify a redundancy of 1, you completely duplicate the backup, block for block. Because of the amount of time and media required to create the error correction blocks, use this parameter only if your backup media is unreliable. The default for the redundancy parameter is 0 (no redundancy).

-no recover

Do not perform crash recovery before backing up the database, but back up the BI files.

NOTES


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