This page has been transferred from the previous website as-is.  The information is still relevant.

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Unix File System Backups at SLAC

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Unix File Systems

For UNIXUnix, there are several network file systems managed by the Computing Division, but we will broadly refer to their backups as NFS/GPFS and AFS backups. NFS/GPFS and AFS are backed up in different ways and have different backup schedules. However, there are a few underlying policies that were followed in setting up both backup systems.  NOTE: not all file systems are backed up.  Some are opt-in only.  See below for more information.

NFS/GPFS and AFS backups are performed automatically on a daily basis and should be viewed primarily as a way of recovering from hardware failures, not as an archival system. This means that the backups are not retained forever. Please see the retention period information below for each backup type.

NFS

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/GPFS Backups and Recovering Your Own Files

By default, we do not backup NFS and GPFS file systems unless requested to do so (opt-in). In those cases, backups run nightly and tapes must be provided by the group groups who owns own the data. Please submit an NFS a backup request to unix-admin.

Those NFS/GPFS file systems that are backed up are done so via IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (ITSM, or commonly just TSM) software. We currently support RHEL 6/7 and Centos 7 x86/x64 clients. Solaris SPARC/x86/x64 clients will be supported until existing hosts are retired.

Files are recovered from TSM by using the dsmj (GUI) or dsmc (command line) programs. If you backed up files from a Centos public machine, then you can also restore the file from that same host. Users may recover any file owned by their account using either interface, though the graphical interface may be easier to understand. See the How-to article "Restoring files using TSM" for instructions on restoring your files. To request the restoration of files you do not own or that were backed up directly from an NFS/GPFS server (as opposed to the client you login to), send email to unix-admin.  Include an explanation, the full path to the file, and from what point in time you need a restore.

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We will notify file owners in advance if their backups are not using the STANDARD retention policy.

AFS

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Backups and Recovering Your Own Files

AFS backup is backups are provided by the native AFS backup system. The unit of AFS file storage and backup is the volume. Typically, each user's home directory is a single volume. For the first level of backup, AFS creates a copy of each volume at midnight each night. This copy is called a "backup volume". You can find this backup volume from the .backup link in each home directory. If you have just deleted or damaged a file that existed at midnight, type "cd ~/.backup" to find a version of it from the previous day and copy it back into your home directory.

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AFS backups are not yet retrievable by users with the exception of those files that are located in the user's .backup subdirectory created each midnight. See the AFS Restore web page or send email to unix-admin to request the retrieval of a file from backup.

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