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how can I rebuild a backup set from tape without the backupset or catalog files?


cygnus

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Hello collective knowledge,

 

I'm trying to determine how I can get Retrospect to recognize back-ups on the tape when starting fresh with new configs.

 

I don't have the backup set or catalog files, just the tape as it returned from our off-site facility.

 

When trying to rebuild the backup set for tape, it doesn't allow me to proceed, I imagine because there is not backup set associated with the tape.

 

Can this be done?

 

Thank you!

 

--Ryan

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I haven't had to do that in over 8 years. I guess you learn after you have had to do it once...

 

You need to mount every tape and let the system read the headers. Eventually, you will find the last tape in the set. That is the tape that contains the latest version of the catalog. It should allow the OK button to turn black when selected.

 

Good Luck!

 

Backing up is easy. It takes talent to restore!

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I'm trying to determine how I can get Retrospect to recognize back-ups on the tape when starting fresh with new configs.

 

I don't have the backup set or catalog files, just the tape as it returned from our off-site facility.

Actually, you do have the backup set if you have the tape(s). That (collectively) is the backup set, and the tape(s) is (are) the members of the backup set.

 

What you are missing is the "catalog" (or database index into the backup set), which tells Retrospect what is on each tape member. And you can rebuild (recreate) the catalog from the tape(s). There are two mechanisms for doing so. The first is to start with a catalog that is not the most recent one, and "update" it (but you have to have a catalog first as the starting point). The other is to recreate (rebuild) the catalog from scratch, in which case Retrospect has to read each tape in the backup set, in sequence, and figure out what is on each tape member. That takes a long time, because each tape must be read end-to-end.

 

The other posts upthread tell how to do this, as does the manual.

 

Russ

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Thanks for all the responses.

 

I still have no luck selecting a tape to rebuild the catalog from. These are 1 tape backup sets so it wouldn't be the matter of finding the right tape.

 

Is the right idea to create a new backup set, attach the tape to the backup set and then try recreating the catalog from that tape?

 

Thanks again for the guidance,

 

--Ryan

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Is the right idea to create a new backup set, attach the tape to the backup set and then try recreating the catalog from that tape?

Oh, no. A member cannot be moved from one backup set to another. You are trying to recreate the catalog for the original backup set of which the tape is a member. Your backup set is already created, and is on the tape. It's the catalog for that backup set that you are trying to recreate.

 

I don't see any information from you as to what version of Retrospect you have. Assuming that you have Retrospect 7.5/7.6/7.7, see page 302 of the User Guide:

Retrospect for Windows Users Guide

 

Russ

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Thank you for your reply,

 

I'm following the steps as they are laid out in the manual but the dialog boxes simply don't recognize the tapes. At least in that when selecting the appropriate tape, the OK button remains grayed out.

 

Has anyone successfully gone through this and know the caveats? Is there a command-line way of achieving the same result?

 

Thank you so much!

 

--Ryan

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There is no command line method. Yes, I have rebuilt the catalog from tape, it just worked. Haven't done it in a long time, though, so perhaps a recent update introduced a bug (but that's extremely unlikely because this is one of the most critical functions, and others would have noticed it).

 

Have you looked at the video tutorials on this? Scroll down to the "Tools" section:

Retrospect video tutorials

 

It's hard to understand what you might be doing wrong. Perhaps if you could post a screen shot of what you are seeing? See this if you aren't able to post a screen shot:

Forum attachment rules change

 

Russ

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