The dump command syntax

Command syntax

The dump command syntax is as follows:

dump [ option argument ] path

Rules for entering the dump command

The following list describes the rules for entering the dump command:

option can be a list. You must list all options together; do not separate the options by commas or spaces.
argument can be a list of arguments, each of which is associated with an option. The arguments are separated by spaces.
If an option takes a list of arguments, the arguments in the list are separated by commas.
List the arguments in the same order as you list the options.
The dump level must be the first option. You can type other options in any order.
path is the complete path name of the file or directory to be backed up by the dump command.
Always precede the volume name by /vol/ even though the volume is a root volume. This is because between different levels of backups, you might have changed the root volume.

Note: Some options do not have any arguments.

Example of a simple dump command

The following example illustrates how you use the dump command syntax:

dump 0ufb rst0a 63 /vol/vol0/

Options

The following list describes the options:

0 is the dump level.
u updates the /etc/dumpdates file.
f specifies the tape file.
b specifies the blocking factor.

Arguments

The 0 and u options do not have arguments.

The argument for the f option is rst0a (the tape file name), and the argument for the b option is 63 (blocking factor). The rst0a and 63 arguments must be listed in the same order as the f and b options.

Path

The path name is /vol/vol0/, which means that all files and directories in the vol0 volume are backed up to tape.

Note: The dump command consists of more options than those described in this section. All options are described in greater detail in the next section.

Descriptions of dump options

The following table describes the meanings of the dump command options.


Option	Meaning
Dump level	It is mandatory. It can be a number from 0 to 9. Level 0 is a full backup; levels 1 through 9 are for incremental backups.
`A`	The `dump` command does not back up Windows NT ACLs.
`b`	It is the blocking factor. It takes a number as an argument, which is the number of 1-KB blocks in each write. If you use a local tape drive for backup, the number should be from 4 to 64. If you use a remote tape device for backup, the number must be from 4 to 256. The `dump` command generates an error message if you specify a number that is out of range for your tape drive. The default argument is 63.
`B`	It takes a number as an argument, which is the number of tape blocks in a tape file. The `dump` command writes the specified number of tape blocks to a tape file before starting a new tape file. The argument must be equal to or larger than the argument to the `b` option. If you do not specify this option, the `dump` command writes data until it reaches the end of tape.
`f`	It is mandatory. It takes the tape file name as an argument. You can specify a comma-separated list of tape file names.
`l`	It backs up only specific files and directories in the dump path. It must be used with the `n` option.
`n`	It takes a string as an argument, which is the name of the backup to be recorded in the /etc/dumpdates file. It is required if you use the `l` option.
`Q`	It takes a volume name as argument. The `dump` command backs up all data in the specified volume that does not reside in a qtree. You cannot perform incremental backups on data that is backed up with the `Q` option. However, you can use both the `Q` option and `u` option to record the backup in the /etc/dumpdates file. The entry in the /etc/dumpdates file enables you to keep a history of the backups.
`u`	The `dump` command updates the /etc/dumpdates file, which contains the dump path, the dump level, and the creation time of the snapshot used by the `dump` command. You must use this option if you plan to perform incremental backups in the future.
`X`	It takes a string as argument. You can specify a comma-separated list of strings. If the name of a file in the dump path matches one of the strings, the `dump` command excludes that file from the backup. Each string for the `X` option applies to files at every directory under the dump path. The following list describes the rules for specifying the strings: To exclude a file, the name of the file must match the string exactly. For example, if you specify `core`, only those files whose names are `core` are excluded. A file named `a.core` is not excluded. You can use the asterisk () as a wildcard character. The wildcard character must be the first or last character of the string. Each string can contain up to two wildcard characters. For example, you can specify `.core`, `core.`, or `core.`, but not `core.1`. Because the strings in the list are comma-separated, if you want to exclude files whose names contain a comma, precede the comma in the string with a backslash. You can specify up to 32 strings for the `X` option.

Part No. 210-02334
File: dump8.htm
Last updated: 04/26/99 08:11:48