vob_restore

Restores a VOB from backup media.

APPLICABILITY

ClearCase (administrative command), Attache (administrative command)

SYNOPSIS

ccase-home-dir\etc\vob_restore   [ -restart restart-path ]  vob-tag

DESCRIPTION

The vob_restore command restore a damaged VOB. It prompts for all required input and displays explanatory text at each step. If you quit vob_restore before it completes, you can use the -restart option to resume VOB restoration at the point where you stopped it.

NOTE: We strongly recommended that you do not retrieve VOB storage from backup until prompted to do so by vob_restore. If you get the VOB storage directory from backup media before running vob_restore, you must either unregister the VOB before retrieving the backup or stop ClearCase before retrieval and restart it afterward. If you wait until prompted, vob_restore performs the necessary steps, safeguarding the integrity of your restored VOB.

Restoring a VOB from Separate Database Snapshot and VOB Storage Directories

If the VOB to be restored is backed up using the scenario described in vob_snapshot, the most comprehensive recovery operation requires you to do the following:

• Retrieve a damaged VOB's storage directory from backup media and load it into a temporary disk storage area
• Retrieve the damaged VOB's database from backup media and/or point to the on-disk snapshot location

In this case, vob_restore does all of the following:

• Runs the db_check utility on the database snapshot, if the snapshot was taken from an unlocked VOB and the db_check was not run at snapshot time
• Copies the snapshot directory to a temporary storage location, overwriting the VOB database that was (most likely) restored from the VOB storage directory backup
• Unregisters the VOB from the local host's network region
• Stops ClearCase on the local host
• Prompts you to move or remove the VOB storage at the original storage location, if it exists
• Copies the restored VOB storage directory from its temporary storage location to the VOB's registered location
• (Optional) Runs checkvob to find and fix inconsistencies between the data containers in VOB storage pools and the VOB database
• (ClearCase MultiSite only) If the VOB is replicated, indicates that you should run restorereplica

If You Are Not Restoring a VOB Database Snapshot

If the damaged VOB is not currently being processed by vob_snapshot, do not supply a snapshot directory when prompted for one. A VOB database was backed up as part of the VOB storage directory backup, and you will restore the entire VOB as a single unit.

In this case, if the VOB was backed up while unlocked, vob_restore forces a potentially time-consuming db_check operation on the VOB database.

If There Is No Need to Preserve the Damaged Storage Area

If the VOB storage directory is irretrievably missing or damaged, or if you do not have sufficient disk space for two copies of the VOB storage directory, you can copy the VOB storage backup directly to the VOB's registered storage location. Do not supply a temporary storage location when prompted for one.

PERMISSIONS AND LOCKS

Permissions Checking: You must have the appropriate permissions to stop and start ClearCase (typically, you must be administrator or a member of the Administrators group) to execute this command.

Locks: If the VOB is still accessible, lock it to prevent any further changes. vob_restore leaves the VOB locked when it completes.

OPTIONS AND ARGUMENTS

If you do not specify all required command line arguments, vob_restore prompts for input.

SPECIFYING THE VOB.   Default: None. You must supply a VOB-tag. vob_restore prompts for all additional information.

vob-tag

The VOB's VOB-tag, as specified in mkvob or mktag -vob.

SPECIFYING A RESTART FILE.   Default: None. If you omit this option, vob_restore does not attempt to find a restart-state file that may have resulted from an earlier, aborted vob_restore invocation on the same VOB-tag.

-restart restart-path

Specifies the pathname of the restart file saved during a previous invocation. Always record the restart-path that is reported by vob_restore when you stop VOB restoration before it has completed.

SAMPLE RECOVER PROCEDURE

This sample recover procedure merges a VOB database snapshot and a VOB storage directory backup to restore the damaged VOB \vob_src.

1. Log in to the VOB host as a member of the ClearCase group.
2. As a precaution, lock the VOB, so that no further changes can be made. Note that read access can continue if the VOB is in a readable state (damaged database only, for example).

cleartool lock -c "vob recover required" vob:\vob_src

1. Retrieve the most recent VOB database snapshot and storage directory from backup media.
   1. Retrieve the most recent VOB database snapshot directory, \\saturn\bigdisk\snaps\vob_src.

   NOTE: The most recent snapshot may still be on disk, or it may be on backup media.

   1. Use cleartool lsvob \vob_src to identify the storage directory pathname:

cleartool lsvob \vob_src
  \vob_src       \\io\vobstore\vob_src.vbs

1. Retrieve the VOB storage directory from backup media, and place it in temporary storage location \\io\vobstore\temp.vbs. (If no users are reading the damaged VOB, and it is presumed destroyed, you may choose to restore the VOB storage backup directly to its registered location, rather than to a temporary area.)

1. Run vob_restore to merge the VOB database and storage directory:

ccase-home-dir\etc\vob_restore  \vob_src

vob_restore prompts for all necessary input and displays explanatory text.

1. Restart ClearCase on the local host.
2. Re-register \vob_src:

cleartool mktag -vob -tag \vob_src \\io\vobstore\vob_src.vbs

cleartool register -vob \\io\vobstore\vob_src.vbs

EXAMPLES

• Restore VOB \vob_src. To complete the recovery, run checkvob to find and fix inconsistencies between the restored VOB database and the restored VOB storage pools. vob_restore prompts for all required information.

  NOTE: In this example, as is recommended, the restored data is not retrieved from backup media before running vob_restore.

cd c:\Program Files\Rational\ClearCase\etc

vob_restore \vob_src

SEE ALSO

checkvob, vob_snapshot, vob_snapshot_setup