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From: will@ogre.cica.indiana.edu (William Sadler)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.novell
Subject: Re: backups & reinstalls
Message-ID: <10618@cica.cica.indiana.edu>
Date: 7 Feb 91 15:05:34 GMT
References: <21790@dice.la.locus.com>
Sender: news@cica.cica.indiana.edu
Reply-To: will@ogre.cica.indiana.edu (William Sadler)
Organization: Center for Innovative Computing Applications
Lines: 53

In article <21790@dice.la.locus.com> lee@locus.com (Lee Slaughter) writes:
>
>1. I have nightly unattended tape backups going on, but I
>have problems if users have stayed logged in (and of course
>no amount of pleading or threatening stops this) and therefore left
>files open. It screws up the backup. Is there any way to gracefully
>force users off other than console's "CLEAR STATION n"?
>(i.e. not damage open files)

I can't get people to log off even when downing the server in an
emergency.  Sytos or Sytos plus software will skip open files then
go back to get them at the end of the back up.  I think the only
way to prevent this problem is to educate your users.  Of course, you
could prevent usage after a certain time by restricting the
hours for usage in syscon. Just closing their connections is always
tempting. 
>
>2. This backup software theoretically collects all the bindery
>information so I should be able to restore the server's disk in
>the event of a catastrophic hard drive failure. I am trying to
>prepare for that inevitable day.
>The problem is I'm not clear how.
>

You should use larchive (is it nbackup now?) to copy your bindery to
a local drive of some sort.  Also back up NET$OS.EXE.  The bindery
consists of NET$BIND.SYS and NET$BVAL.SYS.  You can restore
these to your drive by copying them on as NET$BVAL.OLD and NET$BIND.OLD
then running BINDREST.EXE

I just transferred a system to a new file server.  The procedure was basically
this:
1) back up everything on the old w/ tape backup and larchive
2) Gen the new system for the new drive onto the server.  This involves
changing the Disk drivers.  You may have to deselect the old disk driver
before you can install the new one.
3) Flag NET$OS.EXE SRO and the restore the bindery from the old server
by using BINDREST
4) Copy everything else onto the new drive using your tape backup EXCEPT
net$os.exe and any .vap files
5) re-install vaps

I would not rely on your backup software for the bindery and net$os.exe,
especially if your backup software won't skip open files.

Good luck,
Will

--
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*   _______________\|/_      Will Sadler     will@ogre.cica.indiana.edu   * 
*   Laser 44888    /|\                       sadler@iubacs.bitnet         *     
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