4 \section*{Bacula Console}
5 \label{_ConsoleChapter}
6 \index[general]{Console!Bacula}
7 \index[general]{Bacula Console}
8 \index[console]{Console!Bacula}
9 \index[console]{Bacula Console}
10 \addcontentsline{toc}{section}{Bacula Console}
13 \index[general]{General}
14 \addcontentsline{toc}{subsection}{General}
16 The {\bf Bacula Console} (sometimes called the User Agent) is a program that
17 allows the user or the System Administrator, to interact with the Bacula
18 Director daemon while the daemon is running.
20 The current Bacula Console comes in two versions: a shell interface (TTY
21 style), and a GNOME GUI interface. Both permit the administrator or authorized
22 users to interact with Bacula. You can determine the status of a particular
23 job, examine the contents of the Catalog as well as perform certain tape
24 manipulations with the Console program.
26 In addition, there is a wx-console built with wxWidgets that allows a graphic
27 restore of files. As of version 1.34.1 it is in an early stage of development,
28 but it already is quite useful.
30 Since the Console program interacts with the Director through the network, your
31 Console and Director programs do not necessarily need to run on the same
34 In fact, a certain minimal knowledge of the Console program is needed in order
35 for Bacula to be able to write on more than one tape, because when Bacula
36 requests a new tape, it waits until the user, via the Console program,
37 indicates that the new tape is mounted.
39 \subsection*{Console Configuration}
40 \index[general]{Console Configuration}
41 \index[general]{Configuration!Console}
42 \index[console]{Console Configuration}
43 \index[console]{Configuration!Console}
44 \addcontentsline{toc}{subsection}{Console Configuration}
46 When the Console starts, it reads a standard Bacula configuration file named
47 {\bf bconsole.conf} or {\bf gnome-console.conf} in the case of the GNOME
48 Console version. This file allows default configuration of the Console, and at
49 the current time, the only Resource Record defined is the Director resource,
50 which gives the Console the name and address of the Director. For more
51 information on configuration of the Console program, please see the
52 \ilink{Console Configuration File}{_ChapterStart36} Chapter of
55 \subsection*{Running the Console Program}
56 \index[general]{Running the Console Program}
57 \index[general]{Program!Running the Console}
58 \index[console]{Running the Console Program}
59 \index[console]{Program!Running the Console}
60 \addcontentsline{toc}{subsection}{Running the Console Program}
62 After launching the Console program (bconsole), it will prompt you for the
63 next command with an asterisk (*). (Note, in the GNOME version, the prompt is
64 not present; you simply enter the commands you want in the command text box at
65 the bottom of the screen.) Generally, for all commands, you can simply enter
66 the command name and the Console program will prompt you for the necessary
67 arguments. Alternatively, in most cases, you may enter the command followed by
68 arguments. The general format is:
72 <command> <keyword1>[=<argument1>] <keyword2>[=<argument2>] ...
76 where {\bf command} is one of the commands listed below; {\bf keyword} is one
77 of the keywords listed below (usually followed by an argument); and {\bf
78 argument} is the value. The command may be abbreviated to the shortest unique
79 form. If two commands have the same starting letters, the one that will be
80 selected is the one that appears first in the {\bf help} listing. If you want
81 the second command, simply spell out the full command. None of the keywords
82 following the command may be abbreviated.
92 will list all files saved for JobId 23. Or:
100 will display all the Pool resource records.
102 \subsection*{Stopping the Console Program}
103 \index[general]{Program!Stopping the Console}
104 \index[general]{Stopping the Console Program}
105 \index[console]{Program!Stopping the Console}
106 \index[console]{Stopping the Console Program}
107 \addcontentsline{toc}{subsection}{Stopping the Console Program}
109 Normally, you simply enter {\bf quit} or {\bf exit} and the Console program
110 will terminate. However, it waits until the Director acknowledges the command.
111 If the Director is already doing a lengthy command (e.g. prune), it may take
112 some time. If you want to immediately terminate the Console program, enter the
115 There is currently no way to interrupt a Console command once issued (i.e.
116 Ctrl-C does not work). However, if you are at a prompt that is asking you to
117 select one of several possibilities and you would like to abort the command,
118 you can enter a period ({\bf .}), and in most cases, you will either be
119 returned to the main command prompt or if appropriate the previous prompt (in
120 the case of nested prompts). In a few places such as where it is asking for a
121 Volume name, the period will be taken to be the Volume name. In that case, you
122 will most likely be able to cancel at the next prompt.
125 \subsection*{Alphabetic List of Console Keywords}
126 \index[general]{Keywords!Alphabetic List of Console}
127 \index[general]{Alphabetic List of Console Keywords}
128 \index[console]{Keywords!Alphabetic List of Console}
129 \index[console]{Alphabetic List of Console Keywords}
130 \addcontentsline{toc}{subsection}{Alphabetic List of Console Keywords}
131 Unless otherwise specified, each of the following keywords
132 takes an argument, which is specified after the keyword following
133 an equal sign. For example:
139 Please note, this list is incomplete as it is currently in
140 the process of being created and is not currently totally in
146 Permitted on the python command, and causes the Python
147 interpreter to be restarted. Takes no argument.
149 Permitted on the status and show commands to specify all components or
150 resources respectively.
152 Used in the restore command.
154 Used in the restore command.
156 Allowed in the use command to specify the catalog name
159 Used in the show command. Takes no arguments.
162 Used in the show, list, and llist commands. Takes no arguments.
164 Used in the show command. Takes no arguments.
166 Used in the restore command. Takes no argument.
169 Used in the show command. Takes no arguments.
170 \item [dir | director]
172 Used in the show command. Takes no arguments.
174 Used in the restore command.
176 Used in the restore command. Takes no argument.
178 Used in the restore command.
180 Used in the list and llist commands. Takes no arguments.
183 Used in the show command. Takes no arguments.
185 Used in the show command. Takes no arguments.
187 Used in the show, list and llist commands. Takes no arguments.
189 Used in the list and llist commands. Takes no arguments.
191 Used in the list and llist commands. Takes no arguments.
193 The JobId is the numeric jobid that is printed in the Job
194 Report output. It is the index of the database record for the
195 given job. While it is unique for all the existing Job records
196 in the catalog database, the same JobId can be reused once a
197 Job is removed from the catalog. Probably you will refer
198 specific Jobs that ran using their numeric JobId.
199 \item [job | jobname]
200 The Job or Jobname keyword refers to the name you specified
201 in the Job resource, and hence it refers to any number of
202 Jobs that ran. It is typically useful if you want to list
203 all jobs of a particular name.
206 Permitted on the estimate command. Takes no argument.
209 Used in the show command. Takes no arguments.
211 Used in the list and llist commands. Takes no arguments.
212 \item [nextvol | nextvolume]
213 Used in the list and llist commands. Takes no arguments.
220 Used in the show, list, and llist commands. Takes no arguments.
222 Used in the restore command. Takes no argument.
224 Used in the show command. Takes no arguments.
226 Used in the show command. Takes no arguments.
227 \item [sd | store | storage]
229 The ujobid is a unique job identification that is printed
230 in the Job Report output. At the current time, it consists
231 of the Job name (from the Name directive for the job) appended
232 with the date and time the job was run. This keyword is useful
233 if you want to completely identify the Job instance run.
236 Used in the list and llist commands. Takes no arguments.
238 Used in the restore command.
240 Used in the restore command. Takes no argument.
244 \subsection*{Alphabetic List of Console Commands}
245 \index[general]{Commands!Alphabetic List of Console}
246 \index[general]{Alphabetic List of Console Commands}
247 \index[console]{Commands!Alphabetic List of Console}
248 \index[console]{Alphabetic List of Console Commands}
249 \addcontentsline{toc}{subsection}{Alphabetic List of Console Commands}
251 The following commands are currently implemented:
254 \item [{add [pool=\lt{}pool-name\gt{} storage=\lt{}storage\gt{}
255 jobid=\lt{}JobId\gt{}]} ]
257 This command is used to add Volumes to an existing Pool. The Volume names
258 entered are placed in the Catalog and thus become available for backup
259 operations. Normally, the {\bf label} command is used rather than this
260 command because the {\bf label} command labels the physical media (tape) and
261 does the equivalent of the {\bf add} command. This command affects only the
262 Catalog and not the physical media (data on Volumes). The physical media must
263 exist and be labeled before use (usually with the {\bf label} command). This
264 command can, however, be useful if you wish to add a number of Volumes to the
265 Pool that will be physically labeled at a later time. It can also be useful
266 if you are importing a tape from another site. Please see the {\bf label}
267 command below for the list of legal characters in a Volume name.
269 \item [autodisplay on/off]
270 \index[console]{autodisplay on/off}
271 This command accepts {\bf on} or {\bf off} as an argument, and turns
272 auto-display of messages on or off respectively. The default for the
273 console program is {\bf off}, which means that you will be notified when
274 there are console messages pending, but they will not automatically be
275 displayed. The default for the gnome-console program is {\bf on}, which
276 means that messages will be displayed when they are received (usually
277 within 5 seconds of them being generated).
279 When autodisplay is turned off, you must explicitly retrieve the
280 messages with the {\bf messages} command. When autodisplay is turned
281 on, the messages will be displayed on the console as they are received.
283 \item [automount on/off]
284 \index[console]{automount on/off}
285 This command accepts {\bf on} or {\bf off} as the argument, and turns
286 auto-mounting of the tape after a {\bf label} command on or off
287 respectively. The default is {\bf on}. If {\bf automount} is turned
288 off, you must explicitly {\bf mount} the tape after a label command to
291 \item [{cancel [jobid=\lt{}number\gt{} job=\lt{}job-name\gt{} ujobid=\lt{}unique-jobid\gt{}]}]
292 \index[console]{cancel jobid}
293 This command is used to cancel a job and accepts {\bf jobid=nnn} or {\bf
294 job=xxx} as an argument where nnn is replaced by the JobId and xxx is
295 replaced by the job name. If you do not specify a keyword, the Console
296 program will prompt you with the names of all the active jobs allowing
299 Once a Job is marked to be canceled, it may take a bit of time
300 (generally within a minute) before it actually terminates, depending on
301 what operations it is doing.
303 \item [{ create [pool=\lt{}pool-name\gt{}]}]
304 \index[console]{create pool}
305 This command is used to create a Pool record in the database using the
306 Pool resource record defined in the Director's configuration file. So
307 in a sense, this command simply transfers the information from the Pool
308 resource in the configuration file into the Catalog. Normally this
309 command is done automatically for you when the Director starts providing
310 the Pool is referenced within a Job resource. If you use this command
311 on an existing Pool, it will automatically update the Catalog to have
312 the same information as the Pool resource. After creating a Pool, you
313 will most likely use the {\bf label} command to label one or more
314 volumes and add their names to the Media database.
316 When starting a Job, if Bacula determines that there is no Pool record
317 in the database, but there is a Pool resource of the appropriate name,
318 it will create it for you. If you want the Pool record to appear in the
319 database immediately, simply use this command to force it to be created.
321 \item [{ delete [volume=\lt{}vol-name\gt{} pool=\lt{}pool-name\gt{} job
322 jobid=\lt{}id\gt{}]}]
323 \index[console]{delete}
324 The delete command is used to delete a Volume, Pool or Job record from
325 the Catalog as well as all associated catalog Volume records that were
326 created. This command operates only on the Catalog database and has no
327 effect on the actual data written to a Volume. This command can be
328 dangerous and we strongly recommend that you do not use it unless you
329 know what you are doing.
331 If the keyword {\bf Volume} appears on the command line, the named
332 Volume will be deleted from the catalog, if the keyword {\bf Pool}
333 appears on the command line, a Pool will be deleted, and if the keyword
334 {\bf Job} appears on the command line, a Job and all its associated
335 records (File and JobMedia) will be deleted from the catalog. The full
336 form of this command is:
338 delete pool=\lt{}pool-name\gt{}
342 delete volume=\lt{}volume-name\gt{} pool=\lt{}pool-name\gt{} or
344 delete JobId=\lt{}job-id\gt{} JobId=\lt{}job-id2\gt{} ... or
346 delete Job JobId=n,m,o-r,t ...
348 The first form deletes a Pool record from the catalog database. The
349 second form deletes a Volume record from the specified pool in the
350 catalog database. The third form deletes the specified Job record from
351 the catalog database. The last form deletes JobId records for JobIds
352 n, m, o, p, q, r, and t. Where each one of the n,m,... is, of course, a
353 number. That is a "delete jobid" accepts lists and ranges of
356 \item [disable job\lt{}job-name\gt{}]
357 \index[console]{enable}
358 This command permits you to disable a Job for automatic scheduling.
359 The job may have been previously enabled with the Job resource
360 {\bf Enabled} directive or using the console {\bf enable} command.
361 The next time the Director is restarted or the conf file is reloaded,
362 the Enable/Disable state will be set to the value in the Job resource
365 \item [enable job\lt{}job-name\gt{}]
366 \index[console]{enable}
367 This command permits you to enable a Job for automatic scheduling.
368 The job may have been previously disabled with the Job resource
369 {\bf Enabled} directive or using the console {\bf disable} command.
370 The next time the Director is restarted or the conf file is reloaded,
371 the Enable/Disable state will be set to the value in the Job resource
376 \index[console]{estimate}
377 Using this command, you can get an idea how many files will be backed
378 up, or if you are unsure about your Include statements in your FileSet,
379 you can test them without doing an actual backup. The default is to
380 assume a Full backup. However, you can override this by specifying a
381 {\bf level=Incremental} or {\bf level=Differential} on the command line.
382 A Job name must be specified or you will be prompted for one, and
383 optionally a Client and FileSet may be specified on the command line.
384 It then contacts the client which computes the number of files and bytes
385 that would be backed up. Please note that this is an estimate
386 calculated from the number of blocks in the file rather than by reading
387 the actual bytes. As such, the estimated backup size will generally be
388 larger than an actual backup.
390 Optionally you may specify the keyword {\bf listing} in which case, all the
391 files to be backed up will be listed. Note, it could take quite some time to
392 display them if the backup is large. The full form is:
394 estimate job=\lt{}job-name\gt{} listing client=\lt{}client-name\gt{}
395 fileset=\lt{}fileset-name\gt{} level=\lt{}level-name\gt{}
397 Specification of the {\bf job} is sufficient, but you can also override
398 the client, fileset and/or level by specifying them on the estimate
402 As an example, you might do:
407 estimate job=NightlySave listing level=Incremental
412 which will do a full listing of all files to be backed up for the Job {\bf
413 NightlySave} during an Incremental save and put it in the file {\bf
417 \index[console]{help}
418 This command displays the list of commands available.
421 \index[console]{label}
422 \index[console]{relabel}
423 \index[general]{label}
424 \index[general]{relabel}
425 This command is used to label physical volumes. The full form of this command
428 label storage=\lt{}storage-name\gt{} volume=\lt{}volume-name\gt{}
431 If you leave out any part, you will be prompted for it. The media type
432 is automatically taken from the Storage resource definition that you
433 supply. Once the necessary information is obtained, the Console program
434 contacts the specified Storage daemon and requests that the tape be
435 labeled. If the tape labeling is successful, the Console program will
436 create a Volume record in the appropriate Pool.
438 The Volume name is restricted to letters, numbers, and the special
439 characters hyphen ({\bf -}), underscore ({\bf \_}), colon ({\bf :}), and
440 period ({\bf .}). All other characters including a space are illegal.
441 This restriction is to ensure good readability of Volume names to reduce
444 Please note, when labeling a blank tape, Bacula will get {\bf read I/O
445 error} when it attempts to ensure that the tape is already labeled. If
446 you wish to avoid getting these messages, please write and EOF mark on
447 your tape before attempting to label it:
457 The label command can fail for a number of reasons:
460 \item The Volume name you specify is already in the Volume database.
461 \item The Storage daemon has a tape already mounted on the device, in which
462 case you must {\bf unmount} the device, insert a blank tape, then do the
464 \item The tape in the device is already a Bacula labeled tape. (Bacula will
465 never relabel a Bacula labeled tape unless it is recycled and you use the
466 {\bf relabel} command).
467 \item There is no tape in the drive.
470 There are two ways to relabel a volume that already has a Bacula label. The
471 brute force method is to write an end of file mark on the tape using the
472 system {\bf mt} program, something like the following:
476 mt -f /dev/st0 rewind
481 Then you use the {\bf label} command to add a new label. However, this could
482 leave traces of the old volume in the catalog.
484 The preferable method to relabel a tape is to first {\bf purge} the volume,
485 either automatically, or explicitly with the {\bf purge} command, then use
486 the {\bf relabel} command described below.
488 If your autochanger has barcode labels, you can label all the Volumes in your
489 autochanger one after another by using the {\bf label barcodes} command. For
490 each tape in the changer containing a barcode, Bacula will mount the tape and
491 then label it with the same name as the barcode. An appropriate Media record
492 will also be created in the catalog. Any barcode that begins with the same
493 characters as specified on the "CleaningPrefix=xxx" directive in the
494 Director's Pool resource, will be
495 treated as a cleaning tape, and will not be labeled. However,
496 an entry for the cleaning tape will be created in
497 the catalog. For example with:
503 Cleaning Prefix = "CLN"
509 Any slot containing a barcode of CLNxxxx will be treated as a cleaning tape
510 and will not be mounted. Note, the full form of the command is:
514 update storage=xxx pool=yyy slots=1-5,10 barcodes
519 \index[console]{list}
520 The list command lists the requested contents of the Catalog. The
521 various fields of each record are listed on a single line. The various
522 forms of the list command are:
527 list jobid=<id> (list jobid id)
529 list ujobid<unique job name> (list job with unique name)
531 list job=<job-name> (list all jobs with "job-name")
533 list jobname=<job-name> (same as above)
535 In the above, you can add "limit=nn" to limit the output to
540 list jobmedia jobid=<id>
542 list jobmedia job=<job-name>
544 list files jobid=<id>
546 list files job=<job-name>
556 list volumes jobid=<id>
558 list volumes pool=<pool-name>
560 list volumes job=<job-name>
562 list volume=<volume-name>
564 list nextvolume job=<job-name>
566 list nextvol job=<job-name>
568 list nextvol job=<job-name> days=nnn
575 What most of the above commands do should be more or less obvious. In
576 general if you do not specify all the command line arguments, the
577 command will prompt you for what is needed.
579 The {\bf list nextvol} command will print the Volume name to be used by
580 the specified job. You should be aware that exactly what Volume will be
581 used depends on a lot of factors including the time and what a prior job
582 will do. It may fill a tape that is not full when you issue this
583 command. As a consequence, this command will give you a good estimate
584 of what Volume will be used but not a definitive answer. In addition,
585 this command may have certain side effect because it runs through the
586 same algorithm as a job, which means it may automatically purge or
587 recycle a Volume. By default, the job specified must run within the
588 next two days or no volume will be found. You can, however, use the
589 {\bf days=nnn} specification to specify up to 50 days. For example,
590 if on Friday, you want to see what Volume will be needed on Monday,
591 for job MyJob, you would use {\bf list nextvol job=MyJob days=3}.
593 If you wish to add specialized commands that list the contents of the
594 catalog, you can do so by adding them to the {\bf query.sql} file.
595 However, this takes some knowledge of programming SQL. Please see the
596 {\bf query} command below for additional information. See below for
597 listing the full contents of a catalog record with the {\bf llist}
600 As an example, the command {\bf list pools} might produce the following
605 +------+---------+---------+---------+----------+-------------+
606 | PoId | Name | NumVols | MaxVols | PoolType | LabelFormat |
607 +------+---------+---------+---------+----------+-------------+
608 | 1 | Default | 0 | 0 | Backup | * |
609 | 2 | Recycle | 0 | 8 | Backup | File |
610 +------+---------+---------+---------+----------+-------------+
614 As mentioned above, the {\bf list} command lists what is in the
615 database. Some things are put into the database immediately when Bacula
616 starts up, but in general, most things are put in only when they are
617 first used, which is the case for a Client as with Job records, etc.
619 Bacula should create a client record in the database the first time you
620 run a job for that client. Doing a {\bf status} will not cause a
621 database record to be created. The client database record will be
622 created whether or not the job fails, but it must at least start. When
623 the Client is actually contacted, additional info from the client will
624 be added to the client record (a "uname -a" output).
626 If you want to see what Client resources you have available in your conf
627 file, you use the Console command {\bf show clients}.
630 \index[console]{llist}
631 The llist or "long list" command takes all the same arguments that the
632 list command described above does. The difference is that the llist
633 command list the full contents of each database record selected. It
634 does so by listing the various fields of the record vertically, with one
635 field per line. It is possible to produce a very large number of output
636 lines with this command.
638 If instead of the {\bf list pools} as in the example above, you enter
639 {\bf llist pools} you might get the following output:
650 VolRetention: 1,296,000
651 VolUseDuration: 86,400
666 VolUseDuration: 3,600
678 \index[console]{messages}
679 This command causes any pending console messages to be immediately displayed.
683 \index[console]{mount}
684 The mount command is used to get Bacula to read a volume on a physical
685 device. It is a way to tell Bacula that you have mounted a tape and
686 that Bacula should examine the tape. This command is used only after
687 there was no Volume in a drive and Bacula requests you to mount a new
688 Volume or when you have specifically unmounted a Volume with the {\bf
689 unmount} console command, which causes Bacula to close the drive. If
690 you have an autoloader, the mount command will not cause Bacula to
691 operate the autoloader. The various forms of the mount command are:
693 mount storage=\lt{}storage-name\gt{}
695 mount [ jobid=\lt{}id\gt{} | job=\lt{}job-name\gt{} ]
697 If you have specified {\bf Automatic Mount = yes} in the Storage daemon's
698 Device resource, under most circumstances, Bacula will automatically access
699 the Volume unless you have explicitly {\bf unmount}ed it in the Console
703 \index[console]{python}
704 The python command takes a single argument {\bf restart}:
708 This causes the Python interpreter in the Director to be reinitialized.
709 This can be helpful for testing because once the Director starts and the
710 Python interpreter is initialized, there is no other way to make it
711 accept any changes to the startup script {\bf DirStartUp.py}. For more
712 details on Python scripting, please see the \ilink{Python
713 Scripting}{_ChapterStart60} chapter of this manual.
715 \label{ManualPruning}
717 \index[console]{prune}
718 The Prune command allows you to safely remove expired database records
719 from Jobs and Volumes. This command works only on the Catalog database
720 and does not affect data written to Volumes. In all cases, the Prune
721 command applies a retention period to the specified records. You can
722 Prune expired File entries from Job records; you can Prune expired Job
723 records from the database, and you can Prune both expired Job and File
724 records from specified Volumes.
726 prune files|jobs|volume client=\lt{}client-name\gt{}
727 volume=\lt{}volume-name\gt{}
729 For a Volume to be pruned, the {\bf VolStatus} must be Full, Used, or
730 Append, otherwise the pruning will not take place.
733 \index[console]{purge}
734 The Purge command will delete associated Catalog database records from
735 Jobs and Volumes without considering the retention period. {\bf Purge}
736 works only on the Catalog database and does not affect data written to
737 Volumes. This command can be dangerous because you can delete catalog
738 records associated with current backups of files, and we recommend that
739 you do not use it unless you know what you are doing. The permitted
740 forms of {\bf purge} are:
742 purge files jobid=\lt{}jobid\gt{}|job=\lt{}job-name\gt{}|client=\lt{}client-name\gt{}
744 purge jobs client=\lt{}client-name\gt{} (of all jobs)
746 purge volume|volume=\lt{}vol-name\gt{} (of all jobs)
748 For the {\bf purge} command to work on Volume Catalog database records the
749 {\bf VolStatus} must be Append, Full, Used, or Error.
751 The actual data written to the Volume will be unaffected by this command.
754 \index[console]{relabel}
755 \index[general]{relabel}
756 This command is used to label physical volumes. The full form of this
759 relabel storage=\lt{}storage-name\gt{} oldvolume=\lt{}old-volume-name\gt{}
760 volume=\lt{}newvolume-name\gt{}
762 If you leave out any part, you will be prompted for it. In order for
763 the Volume (old-volume-name) to be relabeled, it must be in the catalog,
764 and the volume status must be marked {\bf Purged} or {\bf Recycle}.
765 This happens automatically as a result of applying retention periods, or
766 you may explicitly purge the volume using the {\bf purge} command.
768 Once the volume is physically relabeled, the old data previously written
769 on the Volume is lost and cannot be recovered.
772 \index[console]{release}
773 This command is used to cause the Storage daemon to rewind (release) the
774 current tape in the drive, and to re-read the Volume label the next time
777 release storage=\lt{}storage-name\gt{}
779 After a release command, the device is still kept open by Bacula (unless
780 Always Open is set to No in the Storage Daemon's configuration) so it
781 cannot be used by another program. However, with some tape drives, the
782 operator can remove the current tape and to insert a different one, and
783 when the next Job starts, Bacula will know to re-read the tape label to
784 find out what tape is mounted. If you want to be able to use the drive
785 with another program (e.g. {\bf mt}), you must use the {\bf unmount}
786 command to cause Bacula to completely release (close) the device.
789 \index[console]{reload}
790 The reload command causes the Director to re-read its configuration
791 file and apply the new values. The new values will take effect
792 immediately for all new jobs. However, if you change schedules,
793 be aware that the scheduler pre-schedules jobs up to two hours in
794 advance, so any changes that are to take place during the next two
795 hours may be delayed. Jobs that have already been scheduled to run
796 (i.e. surpassed their requested start time) will continue with the
797 old values. New jobs will use the new values. Each time you issue
798 a reload command while jobs are running, the prior config values
799 will queued until all jobs that were running before issuing
800 the reload terminate, at which time the old config values will
801 be released from memory. The Directory permits keeping up to
802 10 prior set of configurations before it will refuse a reload
803 command. Once at least one old set of config values has been
804 released it will again accept new reload commands.
806 While it is possible to reload the Director's configuration on the fly,
807 even while jobs are executing, this is a complex operation and not
808 without side effects. Accordingly, if you have to reload the Director's
809 configuration while Bacula is running, it is advisable to restart the
810 Director at the next convenient opportunity.
812 \label{restore_command}
814 \index[console]{restore}
815 The restore command allows you to select one or more Jobs (JobIds) to be
816 restored using various methods. Once the JobIds are selected, the File
817 records for those Jobs are placed in an internal Bacula directory tree,
818 and the restore enters a file selection mode that allows you to
819 interactively walk up and down the file tree selecting individual files
820 to be restored. This mode is somewhat similar to the standard Unix {\bf
821 restore} program's interactive file selection mode.
823 restore storage=\lt{}storage-name\gt{} client=\lt{}client-name\gt{}
824 where=\lt{}path\gt{} pool=\lt{}pool-name\gt{} fileset=\lt{}fileset-name\gt{}
825 select current all done
827 Where {\bf current}, if specified, tells the restore command to
828 automatically select a restore to the most current backup. If not
829 specified, you will be prompted. The {\bf all} specification tells the
830 restore command to restore all files. If it is not specified, you will
831 be prompted for the files to restore. For details of the {\bf restore}
832 command, please see the \ilink{Restore Chapter}{_ChapterStart13} of this
837 This command allows you to schedule jobs to be run immediately. The full form
840 run job=\lt{}job-name\gt{} client=\lt{}client-name\gt{}
841 fileset=\lt{}FileSet-name\gt{} level=\lt{}level-keyword\gt{}
842 storage=\lt{}storage-name\gt{} where=\lt{}directory-prefix\gt{}
843 when=\lt{}universal-time-specification\gt{} yes
845 Any information that is needed but not specified will be listed for
846 selection, and before starting the job, you will be prompted to accept,
847 reject, or modify the parameters of the job to be run, unless you have
848 specified {\bf yes}, in which case the job will be immediately sent to
851 On my system, when I enter a run command, I get the following prompt:
855 A job name must be specified.
856 The defined Job resources are:
866 Select Job resource (1-9):
871 If I then select number 5, I am prompted with:
877 FileSet: Minou Full Set
882 When: 2003-04-23 17:08:18
883 OK to run? (yes/mod/no):
888 If I now enter {\bf yes}, the Job will be run. If I enter {\bf mod}, I will
889 be presented with the following prompt.
893 Parameters to modify:
901 Select parameter to modify (1-7):
906 If you wish to start a job at a later time, you can do so by setting the When
907 time. Use the {\bf mod} option and select {\bf When} (no. 6). Then enter the
908 desired start time in YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS format.
911 \index[dir]{setdebug}
912 This command is used to set the debug level in each daemon. The form of this
915 setdebug level=nn [trace=0/1 client=\lt{}client-name\gt{} | dir | director |
916 storage=\lt{}storage-name\gt{} | all]
918 If trace=1 is set, then the tracing will be enabled, and the daemon
919 where the setdebug applies will be placed in trace mode, and all debug
920 output will go to the file {\bf bacula.trace} in the current directory
921 of the daemon. Normally, tracing is used only for Win32 clients where
922 the debug output cannot be written to a terminal or redirected to a
923 file. When tracing, each debug output message is appended to the trace
924 file. You must explicitly delete the file when you are done.
927 \index[console]{show}
928 The show command will list the Director's resource records as defined in
929 the Director's configuration file (normally {\bf bacula-dir.conf}).
930 This command is used mainly for debugging purposes by developers. The
931 following keywords are accepted on the show command line: directors,
932 clients, counters, jobs, storages, catalogs, schedules, filesets,
933 groups, pools, messages, all, help. Please don't confuse this command
934 with the {\bf list}, which displays the contents of the catalog.
937 \index[dir]{sqlquery}
938 The sqlquery command puts the Console program into SQL query mode where
939 each line you enter is concatenated to the previous line until a
940 semicolon (;) is seen. The semicolon terminates the command, which is
941 then passed directly to the SQL database engine. When the output from
942 the SQL engine is displayed, the formation of a new SQL command begins.
943 To terminate SQL query mode and return to the Console command prompt,
944 you enter a period (.) in column 1.
946 Using this command, you can query the SQL catalog database directly.
947 Note you should really know what you are doing otherwise you could
948 damage the catalog database. See the {\bf query} command below for
949 simpler and safer way of entering SQL queries.
951 Depending on what database engine you are using (MySQL, PostgreSQL or
952 SQLite), you will have somewhat different SQL commands available. For
953 more detailed information, please refer to the MySQL, PostgreSQL or
954 SQLite documentation.
958 This command will display the status of the next jobs that are scheduled
959 during the next twenty-four hours as well as the status of currently
960 running jobs. The full form of this command is:
962 status [all | dir=\lt{}dir-name\gt{} | director |
963 client=\lt{}client-name\gt{} | storage=\lt{}storage-name\gt{} |
966 If you do a {\bf status dir}, the console will list any currently
967 running jobs, a summary of all jobs scheduled to be run in the next 24
968 hours, and a listing of the last 10 terminated jobs with their statuses.
969 The scheduled jobs summary will include the Volume name to be used. You
970 should be aware of two things: 1. to obtain the volume name, the code
971 goes through the same code that will be used when the job runs, which
972 means that it may prune or recycle a Volume; 2. The Volume listed is
973 only a best guess. The Volume actually used may be different because of
974 the time difference (more durations may expire when the job runs) and
975 another job could completely fill the Volume requiring a new one.
977 In the Running Jobs listing, you may find the following types of
983 2507 Catalog MatouVerify.2004-03-13_05.05.02 is waiting execution
984 5349 Full CatalogBackup.2004-03-13_01.10.00 is waiting for higher
985 priority jobs to finish
986 5348 Differe Minou.2004-03-13_01.05.09 is waiting on max Storage jobs
987 5343 Full Rufus.2004-03-13_01.05.04 is running
991 Looking at the above listing from bottom to top, obviously JobId 5343
992 (Rufus) is running. JobId 5348 (Minou) is waiting for JobId 5343 to
993 finish because it is using the Storage resource, hence the "waiting on
994 max Storage jobs". JobId 5349 has a lower priority than all the other
995 jobs so it is waiting for higher priority jobs to finish, and finally,
996 JobId 2508 (MatouVerify) is waiting because only one job can run at a
997 time, hence it is simply "waiting execution"
999 If you do a {\bf status dir}, it will by default list the first
1000 occurrence of all jobs that are scheduled today and tomorrow. If you
1001 wish to see the jobs that are scheduled in the next 3 days (e.g. on
1002 Friday you want to see the first occurrence of what tapes are scheduled
1003 to be used on Friday, the weekend, and Monday), you can add the {\bf
1004 days=3} option. Note, a {\bf days=0} shows the first occurrence of jobs
1005 scheduled today only. If you have multiple run statements, the first
1006 occurrence of each run statement for the job will be displayed for the
1009 If your job seems to be blocked, you can get a general idea of the
1010 problem by doing a {\bf status dir}, but you can most often get a
1011 much more specific indication of the problem by doing a
1012 {\bf status storage=xxx}. For example, on an idle test system, when
1013 I do {\bf status storage=File}, I get:
1017 Connecting to Storage daemon File at 192.168.68.112:8103
1019 rufus-sd Version: 1.39.6 (24 March 2006) i686-pc-linux-gnu redhat (Stentz)
1020 Daemon started 26-Mar-06 11:06, 0 Jobs run since started.
1026 Jobs waiting to reserve a drive:
1030 JobId Level Files Bytes Status Finished Name
1031 ======================================================================
1032 59 Full 234 4,417,599 OK 15-Jan-06 11:54 kernsave
1036 utochanger "DDS-4-changer" with devices:
1038 Device "DDS-4" (/dev/nst0) is mounted with Volume="TestVolume002"
1040 Slot 2 is loaded in drive 0.
1041 Total Bytes Read=0 Blocks Read=0 Bytes/block=0
1042 Positioned at File=0 Block=0
1043 Device "Dummy" is not open or does not exist.
1044 No DEVICE structure.
1046 Device "DVD-Writer" (/dev/hdc) is not open.
1047 Device "File" (/tmp) is not open.
1050 In Use Volume status:
1055 Now, what this tells me is that no jobs are running and that none of
1056 the devices are in use. Now, if I {\bf unmount} the autochanger, which
1057 will not be used in this example, and then start a Job that uses the
1058 File device, the job will block. When I re-issue the status storage
1059 command, I get for the Device status:
1066 Autochanger "DDS-4-changer" with devices:
1068 Device "DDS-4" (/dev/nst0) is not open.
1069 Device is BLOCKED. User unmounted.
1070 Drive 0 is not loaded.
1071 Device "Dummy" is not open or does not exist.
1072 No DEVICE structure.
1074 Device "DVD-Writer" (/dev/hdc) is not open.
1075 Device "File" (/tmp) is not open.
1076 Device is BLOCKED waiting for media.
1082 Now, here it should be clear that if a job were running that wanted
1083 to use the Autochanger (with two devices), it would block because
1084 the user unmounted the device. The real problem for the Job I started
1085 using the "File" device is that the device is blocked waiting for
1086 media -- that is Bacula needs you to label a Volume.
1089 \index[console]{unmount}
1090 This command causes the indicated Bacula Storage daemon to unmount the
1091 specified device. The forms of the command are the same as the mount command:
1094 unmount storage=<storage-name>
1096 unmount [ jobid=<id> | job=<job-name> ]
1100 \label{UpdateCommand}
1102 \index[console]{update}
1103 This command will update the catalog for either a specific Pool record, a Volume
1104 record, or the Slots in an autochanger with barcode capability. In the case
1105 of updating a Pool record, the new information will be automatically taken
1106 from the corresponding Director's configuration resource record. It can be
1107 used to increase the maximum number of volumes permitted or to set a maximum
1108 number of volumes. The following main keywords may be specified:
1111 media, volume, pool, slots
1115 In the case of updating a Volume, you will be prompted for which value you
1116 wish to change. The following Volume parameters may be changed:
1122 Volume Retention Period
1125 Maximum Volume Files
1126 Maximum Volume Bytes
1133 All Volumes from Pool
1138 For slots {\bf update slots}, Bacula will obtain a list of slots and
1139 their barcodes from the Storage daemon, and for each barcode found, it
1140 will automatically update the slot in the catalog Media record to
1141 correspond to the new value. This is very useful if you have moved
1142 cassettes in the magazine, or if you have removed the magazine and
1143 inserted a different one. As the slot of each Volume is updated, the
1144 InChanger flag for that Volume will also be set, and any other Volumes
1145 in the Pool that were last mounted on the same Storage device
1146 will have their InChanger flag turned off. This permits
1147 Bacula to know what magazine (tape holder) is currently in the
1150 If you do not have barcodes, you can accomplish the same thing in
1151 version 1.33 and later by using the {\bf update slots scan} command.
1152 The {\bf scan} keyword tells Bacula to physically mount each tape and to
1153 read its VolumeName.
1155 For Pool {\bf update pool}, Bacula will move the Volume record from its
1156 existing pool to the pool specified.
1158 For {\bf Volume from Pool} and {\bf All Volumes from Pool}, the
1159 following values are updated from the Pool record: Recycle,
1160 VolRetention, VolUseDuration, MaxVolJobs, MaxVolFiles, and MaxVolBytes.
1162 The full form of the update command with all command line arguments is:
1166 update volume=xxx pool=yyy slots volstatus=xxx VolRetention=ddd
1167 VolUse=ddd MaxVolJobs=nnn MaxVolBytes=nnn Recycle=yes|no
1174 \index[console]{use}
1175 This command allows you to specify which Catalog database to use. Normally,
1176 you will be using only one database so this will be done automatically. In
1177 the case that you are using more than one database, you can use this command
1178 to switch from one to another.
1180 use \lt{}database-name\gt{}
1184 \index[console]{var name}
1185 This command takes a string or quoted string and does variable expansion on
1186 it the same way variable expansion is done on the {\bf LabelFormat} string.
1187 Thus, for the most part, you can test your LabelFormat strings. The
1188 difference between the {\bf var} command and the actual LabelFormat process
1189 is that during the var command, no job is running so "dummy" values are
1190 used in place of Job specific variables. Generally, however, you will get a
1191 good idea of what is going to happen in the real case.
1194 \index[console]{version}
1195 The command prints the Director's version.
1198 \index[console]{quit}
1199 This command terminates the console program. The console program sends the
1200 {\bf quit} request to the Director and waits for acknowledgment. If the
1201 Director is busy doing a previous command for you that has not terminated, it
1202 may take some time. You may quit immediately by issuing the {\bf .quit}
1203 command (i.e. quit preceded by a period).
1206 \index[console]{query}
1207 This command reads a predefined SQL query from the query file (the name and
1208 location of the query file is defined with the QueryFile resource record in
1209 the Director's configuration file). You are prompted to select a query from
1210 the file, and possibly enter one or more parameters, then the command is
1211 submitted to the Catalog database SQL engine.
1213 The following queries are currently available (version 1.24):
1219 2: List where a file is saved:
1220 3: List where the most recent copies of a file are saved:
1221 4: List total files/bytes by Job:
1222 5: List total files/bytes by Volume:
1223 6: List last 20 Full Backups for a Client:
1224 7: List Volumes used by selected JobId:
1225 8: List Volumes to Restore All Files:
1226 9: List where a File is saved:
1227 Choose a query (1-9):
1233 \index[console]{exit}
1234 This command terminates the console program.
1237 \index[console]{wait}
1238 The wait command causes the Director to pause until there are no jobs
1239 running. This command is useful in a batch situation such as regression
1240 testing where you wish to start a job and wait until that job completes
1246 \subsection*{Special dot Commands}
1247 \index[general]{Commands!Special dot}
1248 \index[general]{Special dot Commands}
1249 \addcontentsline{toc}{subsection}{Special dot Commands}
1251 There is a list of commands that are prefixed with a period (.). These
1252 commands are intended to be used either by batch programs or graphical user
1253 interface front-ends. They are not normally used by interactive users. Once
1254 GUI development begins, this list will be considerably expanded. The following
1255 is the list of dot commands:
1259 .backups job=xxx list backups for specified job
1260 .defaults client=xxx fileset=yyy list defaults for specified client
1261 .die cause the Director to segment fault (for debugging)
1262 .dir when in tree mode prints the equivalent to the dir command,
1263 but with fields separated by commas rather than spaces.
1264 .jobs list all job names
1265 .levels list all levels
1266 .filesets list all fileset names
1267 .clients list all client names
1268 .pools list all pool names
1269 .types list job types
1270 .msgs return any queued messages
1271 .messages get quick messages
1272 .help help command output
1274 .status get status output
1281 \subsection*{Special At (@) Commands}
1282 \index[general]{Commands!Special At @}
1283 \index[general]{Special At (@) Commands}
1284 \addcontentsline{toc}{subsection}{Special At (@) Commands}
1286 Normally, all commands entered to the Console program are immediately
1287 forwarded to the Director, which may be on another machine, to be executed.
1288 However, there is a small list of {\bf at} commands, all beginning with an at
1289 character (@), that will not be sent to the Director, but rather interpreted
1290 by the Console program directly. Note, these commands are implemented only in
1291 the tty console program and not in the GNOME Console. These commands are:
1295 \item [@input \lt{}filename\gt{}]
1296 \index[console]{@input \lt{}filename\gt{}}
1297 Read and execute the commands contained in the file specified.
1299 \item [@output \lt{}filename\gt{} w/a]
1300 \index[console]{@output \lt{}filename\gt{} w/a}
1301 Send all following output to the filename specified either overwriting the
1302 file (w) or appending to the file (a). To redirect the output to the
1303 terminal, simply enter {\bf @output} without a filename specification.
1304 WARNING: be careful not to overwrite a valid file. A typical example during a
1305 regression test might be:
1316 \item [@tee \lt{}filename\gt{} w/a]
1317 \index[console]{@tee \lt{}filename\gt{} w/a}
1318 Send all subsequent output to both the specified file and the terminal. It is
1319 turned off by specifying {\bf @tee} or {\bf @output} without a filename.
1321 \item [@sleep \lt{}seconds\gt{}]
1322 \index[console]{@sleep \lt{}seconds\gt{}}
1323 Sleep the specified number of seconds.
1326 \index[console]{@time}
1327 Print the current time and date.
1330 \index[console]{@version}
1331 Print the console's version.
1334 \index[console]{@quit}
1338 \index[console]{@exit}
1341 \item [@\# anything]
1342 \index[console]{anything}
1348 \subsection*{Running the Console Program from a Shell Script}
1349 \index[general]{Script!Running the Console Program from a Shell}
1350 \index[general]{Running the Console Program from a Shell Script}
1351 \addcontentsline{toc}{subsection}{Running the Console Program from a Shell
1354 You can automate many Console tasks by running the console program from a
1355 shell script. For example, if you have created a file containing the following
1360 ./bconsole -c ./bconsole.conf <<END_OF_DATA
1361 unmount storage=DDS-4
1367 when that file is executed, it will unmount the current DDS-4 storage device.
1368 You might want to run this command during a Job by using the {\bf
1369 RunBeforeJob} or {\bf RunAfterJob} records.
1371 It is also possible to run the Console program from file input where the file
1372 contains the commands as follows:
1376 ./bconsole -c ./bconsole.conf <filename
1380 where the file named {\bf filename} contains any set of console commands.
1382 As a real example, the following script is part of the Bacula regression
1383 tests. It labels a volume (a disk volume), runs a backup, then does a restore
1388 bin/bconsole -c bin/bconsole.conf <<END_OF_DATA
1391 @output /tmp/log1.out
1392 label volume=TestVolume001
1399 @output /tmp/log2.out
1410 The output from the backup is directed to /tmp/log1.out and the output from
1411 the restore is directed to /tmp/log2.out. To ensure that the backup and
1412 restore ran correctly, the output files are checked with:
1416 grep "^Termination: *Backup OK" /tmp/log1.out
1418 grep "^Termination: *Restore OK" /tmp/log2.out
1423 \subsection*{Adding Volumes to a Pool}
1424 \index[general]{Adding Volumes to a Pool}
1425 \index[general]{Pool!Adding Volumes to a}
1426 \addcontentsline{toc}{subsection}{Adding Volumes to a Pool}
1428 If you have used the {\bf label} command to label a Volume, it will be
1429 automatically added to the Pool, and you will not need to add any media to the
1432 Alternatively, you may choose to add a number of Volumes to the pool without
1433 labeling them. At a later time when the Volume is requested by {\bf Bacula}
1434 you will need to label it.
1436 Before adding a volume, you must know the following information:
1439 \item The name of the Pool (normally "Default")
1440 \item The Media Type as specified in the Storage Resource in the Director's
1441 configuration file (e.g. "DLT8000")
1442 \item The number and names of the Volumes you wish to create.
1445 For example, to add media to a Pool, you would issue the following commands to
1446 the console program:
1451 Enter name of Pool to add Volumes to: Default
1452 Enter the Media Type: DLT8000
1453 Enter number of Media volumes to create. Max=1000: 10
1454 Enter base volume name: Save
1455 Enter the starting number: 1
1456 10 Volumes created in pool Default
1461 To see what you have added, enter:
1465 *list media pool=Default
1466 +-------+----------+---------+---------+-------+------------------+
1467 | MedId | VolumeNa | MediaTyp| VolStat | Bytes | LastWritten |
1468 +-------+----------+---------+---------+-------+------------------+
1469 | 11 | Save0001 | DLT8000 | Append | 0 | 0000-00-00 00:00 |
1470 | 12 | Save0002 | DLT8000 | Append | 0 | 0000-00-00 00:00 |
1471 | 13 | Save0003 | DLT8000 | Append | 0 | 0000-00-00 00:00 |
1472 | 14 | Save0004 | DLT8000 | Append | 0 | 0000-00-00 00:00 |
1473 | 15 | Save0005 | DLT8000 | Append | 0 | 0000-00-00 00:00 |
1474 | 16 | Save0006 | DLT8000 | Append | 0 | 0000-00-00 00:00 |
1475 | 17 | Save0007 | DLT8000 | Append | 0 | 0000-00-00 00:00 |
1476 | 18 | Save0008 | DLT8000 | Append | 0 | 0000-00-00 00:00 |
1477 | 19 | Save0009 | DLT8000 | Append | 0 | 0000-00-00 00:00 |
1478 | 20 | Save0010 | DLT8000 | Append | 0 | 0000-00-00 00:00 |
1479 +-------+----------+---------+---------+-------+------------------+
1484 Notice that the console program automatically appended a number to the base
1485 Volume name that you specify (Save in this case). If you don't want it to
1486 append a number, you can simply answer 0 (zero) to the question "Enter number
1487 of Media volumes to create. Max=1000:", and in this case, it will create a
1488 single Volume with the exact name you specify.