4 \chapter{The Bootstrap File}
5 \label{BootstrapChapter}
6 \index[general]{File!Bootstrap }
7 \index[general]{Bootstrap File }
9 The information in this chapter is provided so that you may either create your
10 own bootstrap files, or so that you can edit a bootstrap file produced by {\bf
11 Bacula}. However, normally the bootstrap file will be automatically created
13 \ilink{restore\_command}{_ConsoleChapter} command in the Console program, or
15 \ilink{ Write Bootstrap}{writebootstrap} record in your Backup
16 Jobs, and thus you will never need to know the details of this file.
18 The {\bf bootstrap} file contains ASCII information that permits precise
19 specification of what files should be restored, what volume they are on,
20 and where they are on the volume. It is a relatively compact
21 form of specifying the information, is human readable, and can be edited with
24 \section{Bootstrap File Format}
25 \index[general]{Format!Bootstrap}
26 \index[general]{Bootstrap File Format }
28 The general format of a {\bf bootstrap} file is:
30 {\bf \lt{}keyword\gt{}= \lt{}value\gt{}}
32 Where each {\bf keyword} and the {\bf value} specify which files to restore.
33 More precisely the {\bf keyword} and their {\bf values} serve to limit which
34 files will be restored and thus act as a filter. The absence of a keyword
35 means that all records will be accepted.
37 Blank lines and lines beginning with a pound sign (\#) in the bootstrap file
40 There are keywords which permit filtering by Volume, Client, Job, FileIndex,
41 Session Id, Session Time, ...
43 The more keywords that are specified, the more selective the specification of
44 which files to restore will be. In fact, each keyword is {\bf AND}ed with
45 other keywords that may be present.
53 VolSessionTime = 108927638
57 directs the Storage daemon (or the {\bf bextract} program) to restore only
58 those files on Volume Test-001 {\bf AND} having VolumeSessionId equal to one
59 {\bf AND} having VolumeSession time equal to 108927638.
61 The full set of permitted keywords presented in the order in which they are
62 matched against the Volume records are:
67 \index[general]{Volume }
68 The value field specifies what Volume the following commands apply to.
69 Each Volume specification becomes the current Volume, to which all the
70 following commands apply until a new current Volume (if any) is
71 specified. If the Volume name contains spaces, it should be enclosed in
72 quotes. At lease one Volume specification is required.
75 \index[general]{Count}
76 The value is the total number of files that will be restored for this Volume.
77 This allows the Storage daemon to know when to stop reading the Volume.
78 This value is optional.
81 \index[general]{VolFile}
82 The value is a file number, a list of file numbers, or a range of file
83 numbers to match on the current Volume. The file number represents the
84 physical file on the Volume where the data is stored. For a tape
85 volume, this record is used to position to the correct starting file,
86 and once the tape is past the last specified file, reading will stop.
89 \index[general]{VolBlock}
90 The value is a block number, a list of block numbers, or a range of
91 block numbers to match on the current Volume. The block number
92 represents the physical block within the file on the Volume where the
96 \item [VolSessionTime]
97 \index[general]{VolSessionTime }
98 The value specifies a Volume Session Time to be matched from the current
102 \index[general]{VolSessionId }
103 The value specifies a VolSessionId, a list of volume session ids, or a
104 range of volume session ids to be matched from the current Volume. Each
105 VolSessionId and VolSessionTime pair corresponds to a unique Job that is
106 backed up on the Volume.
109 \index[general]{JobId }
110 The value specifies a JobId, list of JobIds, or range of JobIds to be
111 selected from the current Volume. Note, the JobId may not be unique if you
112 have multiple Directors, or if you have reinitialized your database. The
113 JobId filter works only if you do not run multiple simultaneous jobs.
114 This value is optional and not used by Bacula to restore files.
117 \index[general]{Job }
118 The value specifies a Job name or list of Job names to be matched on the
119 current Volume. The Job corresponds to a unique VolSessionId and
120 VolSessionTime pair. However, the Job is perhaps a bit more readable by
121 humans. Standard regular expressions (wildcards) may be used to match Job
122 names. The Job filter works only if you do not run multiple simultaneous
124 This value is optional and not used by Bacula to restore files.
127 \index[general]{Client }
128 The value specifies a Client name or list of Clients to will be matched on
129 the current Volume. Standard regular expressions (wildcards) may be used to
130 match Client names. The Client filter works only if you do not run multiple
132 This value is optional and not used by Bacula to restore files.
135 \index[general]{FileIndex }
136 The value specifies a FileIndex, list of FileIndexes, or range of FileIndexes
137 to be selected from the current Volume. Each file (data) stored on a Volume
138 within a Session has a unique FileIndex. For each Session, the first file
139 written is assigned FileIndex equal to one and incremented for each file
142 This for a given Volume, the triple VolSessionId, VolSessionTime, and
143 FileIndex uniquely identifies a file stored on the Volume. Multiple copies of
144 the same file may be stored on the same Volume, but for each file, the triple
145 VolSessionId, VolSessionTime, and FileIndex will be unique. This triple is
146 stored in the Catalog database for each file.
148 To restore a particular file, this value (or a range of FileIndexes) is
152 \index[general]{Slot }
153 The value specifies the autochanger slot. There may be only a single {\bf
154 Slot} specification for each Volume.
157 \index[general]{Stream }
158 The value specifies a Stream, a list of Streams, or a range of Streams to be
159 selected from the current Volume. Unless you really know what you are doing
160 (the internals of {\bf Bacula}), you should avoid this specification.
161 This value is optional and not used by Bacula to restore files.
164 \index[general]{*JobType }
168 \index[general]{*JobLevel }
172 The {\bf Volume} record is a bit special in that it must be the first record.
173 The other keyword records may appear in any order and any number following a
176 Multiple Volume records may be specified in the same bootstrap file, but each
177 one starts a new set of filter criteria for the Volume.
179 In processing the bootstrap file within the current Volume, each filter
180 specified by a keyword is {\bf AND}ed with the next. Thus,
185 Client = "My machine"
190 will match records on Volume {\bf Test-01} {\bf AND} Client records for {\bf
191 My machine} {\bf AND} FileIndex equal to {\bf one}.
193 Multiple occurrences of the same record are {\bf OR}ed together. Thus,
198 Client = "My machine"
199 Client = "Backup machine"
204 will match records on Volume {\bf Test-01} {\bf AND} (Client records for {\bf
205 My machine} {\bf OR} {\bf Backup machine}) {\bf AND} FileIndex equal to {\bf
208 For integer values, you may supply a range or a list, and for all other values
209 except Volumes, you may specify a list. A list is equivalent to multiple
210 records of the same keyword. For example,
215 Client = "My machine", "Backup machine"
220 will match records on Volume {\bf Test-01} {\bf AND} {\bf (}Client records for
221 {\bf My machine} {\bf OR} {\bf Backup machine}{\bf )} {\bf AND} {\bf
222 (}FileIndex 1 {\bf OR} 2 {\bf OR} 3 ... {\bf OR} 20 {\bf OR} 35{\bf )}.
224 As previously mentioned above, there may be multiple Volume records in the
225 same bootstrap file. Each new Volume definition begins a new set of filter
226 conditions that apply to that Volume and will be {\bf OR}ed with any other
229 As an example, suppose we query for the current set of tapes to restore all
230 files on Client {\bf Rufus} using the {\bf query} command in the console
235 Using default Catalog name=MySQL DB=bacula
239 2: List where a file is saved:
240 3: List where the most recent copies of a file are saved:
241 4: List total files/bytes by Job:
242 5: List total files/bytes by Volume:
243 6: List last 10 Full Backups for a Client:
244 7: List Volumes used by selected JobId:
245 8: List Volumes to Restore All Files:
246 Choose a query (1-8): 8
247 Enter Client Name: Rufus
248 +-------+------------------+------------+-----------+----------+------------+
249 | JobId | StartTime | VolumeName | StartFile | VolSesId | VolSesTime |
250 +-------+------------------+------------+-----------+----------+------------+
251 | 154 | 2002-05-30 12:08 | test-02 | 0 | 1 | 1022753312 |
252 | 202 | 2002-06-15 10:16 | test-02 | 0 | 2 | 1024128917 |
253 | 203 | 2002-06-15 11:12 | test-02 | 3 | 1 | 1024132350 |
254 | 204 | 2002-06-18 08:11 | test-02 | 4 | 1 | 1024380678 |
255 +-------+------------------+------------+-----------+----------+------------+
259 The output shows us that there are four Jobs that must be restored. The first
260 one is a Full backup, and the following three are all Incremental backups.
262 The following bootstrap file will restore those files:
268 VolSessionTime=1022753312
271 VolSessionTime=1024128917
274 VolSessionTime=1024132350
277 VolSessionTime=1024380678
281 As a final example, assume that the initial Full save spanned two Volumes. The
282 output from {\bf query} might look like:
286 +-------+------------------+------------+-----------+----------+------------+
287 | JobId | StartTime | VolumeName | StartFile | VolSesId | VolSesTime |
288 +-------+------------------+------------+-----------+----------+------------+
289 | 242 | 2002-06-25 16:50 | File0003 | 0 | 1 | 1025016612 |
290 | 242 | 2002-06-25 16:50 | File0004 | 0 | 1 | 1025016612 |
291 | 243 | 2002-06-25 16:52 | File0005 | 0 | 2 | 1025016612 |
292 | 246 | 2002-06-25 19:19 | File0006 | 0 | 2 | 1025025494 |
293 +-------+------------------+------------+-----------+----------+------------+
297 and the following bootstrap file would restore those files:
303 VolSessionTime=1025016612
306 VolSessionTime=1025016612
309 VolSessionTime=1025016612
312 VolSessionTime=1025025494
316 \section{Automatic Generation of Bootstrap Files}
317 \index[general]{Files!Automatic Generation of Bootstrap }
318 \index[general]{Automatic Generation of Bootstrap Files }
320 One thing that is probably worth knowing: the bootstrap files that are
321 generated automatically at the end of the job are not as optimized as those
322 generated by the restore command. This is because during Incremental and
323 Differential jobs, the records pertaining to the files written for the
324 Job are appended to the end of the bootstrap file.
325 As consequence, all the files saved to an Incremental or Differential job will be
326 restored first by the Full save, then by any Incremental or Differential
329 When the bootstrap file is generated for the restore command, only one copy
330 (the most recent) of each file is restored.
332 So if you have spare cycles on your machine, you could optimize the bootstrap
333 files by doing the following:
338 restore client=xxx select all
342 Backup bootstrap file.
346 The above will not work if you have multiple FileSets because that will be an
347 extra prompt. However, the {\bf restore client=xxx select all} builds the
348 in-memory tree, selecting everything and creates the bootstrap file.
350 The {\bf no} answers the {\bf Do you want to run this (yes/mod/no)} question.
352 \label{bscanBootstrap}
353 \section{Bootstrap for bscan}
354 \index[general]{bscan}
355 \index[general]{bscan!bootstrap}
356 \index[general]{bscan bootstrap}
357 If you have a very large number of Volumes to scan with {\bf bscan},
358 you may exceed the command line limit (511 characters). I that case,
359 you can create a simple bootstrap file that consists of only the
360 volume names. An example might be:
373 \section{A Final Bootstrap Example}
374 \index[general]{Bootstrap Example}
375 \index[general]{Example!Bootstrap}
377 If you want to extract or copy a single Job, you can do it by selecting by
378 JobId (code not tested) or better yet, if you know the VolSessionTime and the
379 VolSessionId (printed on Job report and in Catalog), specifying this is by far
380 the best. Using the VolSessionTime and VolSessionId is the way Bacula does
381 restores. A bsr file might look like the following:
387 VolSessionTime=1080847820
391 If you know how many files are backed up (on the job report), you can
392 enormously speed up the selection by adding (let's assume there are 157
402 Finally, if you know the File number where the Job starts, you can also cause
403 bcopy to forward space to the right file without reading every record:
411 There is nothing magic or complicated about a BSR file. Parsing it and
412 properly applying it within Bacula *is* magic, but you don't need to worry
415 If you want to see a *real* bsr file, simply fire up the {\bf restore} command
416 in the console program, select something, then answer no when it prompts to
417 run the job. Then look at the file {\bf restore.bsr} in your working