[Info-vax] Backing up scattered files

[Rich Jordan]

On Apr 3, 5:25 pm, Rich Jordan <jor... at ccs4vms.com> wrote:
> An old request just came up again; we need to back up a group of
> several dozen files, scattered across multiple directories on one
> disk, into a single saveset on a schedule; quiescing the apps is
> handled beforehand.  This is on an Alpha V7.3 system, no upgrade
> possible.  The filenames and paths vary enough that even wildcarding
> won't get the input spec to a valid size.
>
> It occurred that I could set up an a new directory and create a file
> entry for each of the desired files in it, regardless of the source
> directories (on the same disk).  Then backup [newdir]*.* to the
> saveset. The docs recommend caution though.
>
> The path and filenames in the saveset would be 'wrong' from the point
> of view of the production system, and I still need to do one saveset
> per source disk that way, but any reason why this would not work?
> Restoring the files would also need to be tested.
>
> I expect it might be a good idea to SET FILE/ENTER create the file
> entries, perform the backups, and SET FILE/REMOVE the entries as part
> of the same procedure so I don't leave 'unexpected' files around for
> someone who doesn't know the system to delete to 'recover space' or
> the like.
>
> Thoughts appreciated.

FWIW testing is underway and backups work (restored tomorrow; the
system is busy with nightlies now); I'm mostly curious about any
gotchas, potential problems, etc.

Thanks