5 \label{NewFeaturesChapter}
6 \index[general]{New Features}
8 This chapter presents the new features added to the development 2.5.x
9 versions to be released as Bacula version 3.0.0 near the end of 2008.
12 \index[general]{Accurate Backup}
14 As with most other backup programs, Bacula decides what files to backup for
15 Incremental and Differental backup by comparing the change (st\_ctime) and
16 modification (st\_mtime) times of the file to the time the last backup
17 completed. If one of those two times is different than from last backup time,
18 then the file will be backed up. This does not, however, permit tracking what
19 files have been deleted and will miss any file with an old time that may have
20 been restored or moved on the client filesystem.
22 \subsection{Accurate = \lt{}yes|no\gt{}}
23 If the {\bf Accurate = \lt{}yes|no\gt{}} directive is enabled (default no) in
24 the Job resource, the job will be run as an Accurate Job. For a {\bf Full}
25 backup, there is no difference, but for {\bf Differential} and {\bf
26 Incremental} backups, the Director will send a list of all previous files
27 backed up, and the File daemon will use that list to determine if any new files
28 have been added or or moved and if any files have been deleted. This allows
29 Bacula to make an accurate backup of your system to that point in time so that
30 if you do a restore, it will restore your system exactly. One note of caution
31 about using Accurate backup is that it requires more resources (CPU and memory)
32 on both the Director and the Client machines to create the list of previous
33 files backed up, to send that list to the File daemon, for the File daemon to
34 keep the list (possibly very big) in memory, and for the File daemon to do
35 comparisons between every file in the FileSet and the list.
39 \index[general]{Copy Jobs}
40 A new {\bf Copy} job type has been implemented. It is essentially
41 identical to the existing Migration feature with the exception that
42 the Job that is copied is left unchanged. This essentially creates
43 two identical copies of the same backup. The Copy Job runs without
44 using the File daemon by copying the data from the old backup Volume to
45 a different Volume in a different Pool. See the Migration documentation
46 for additional details.
48 \section{Virtual Backup (Vbackup)}
49 \index[general]{Virtual Backup}
50 \index[general]{Vbackup}
52 Bacula's virtual backup feature is often called Synthetic Backup or
53 Consolidation in other backup products. It permits you to consolidate
54 the previous Full backup plus the most recent Differential backup and any
55 subsequent Incremental backups into a new Full backup. This is accomplished
56 without contacting the client by reading the previous backup data and
57 writing it to a volume in a different pool.
59 In some respects the Vbackup feature works similar to a Migration job, in
60 that Bacula normally reads the data from the pool specified in the
61 Job resource, and writes it to the {\bf Next Pool} specified in the
62 Job resource. The input Storage resource and the Output Storage resource
65 The Vbackup is enabled on a Job by Job in the Job resource by specifying
66 a level of {\bf VirtualFull}.
68 A typical Job resource definition might look like the following:
82 # Default pool definition
86 Recycle = yes # Automatically recycle Volumes
87 AutoPrune = yes # Prune expired volumes
88 Volume Retention = 365d # one year
96 Recycle = yes # Automatically recycle Volumes
97 AutoPrune = yes # Prune expired volumes
98 Volume Retention = 365d # one year
102 # Definition of file storage device
109 Maximum Concurrent Jobs = 5
112 # Definition of DDS Virtual tape disk storage device
115 Address = localhost # N.B. Use a fully qualified name here
118 Media Type = DiskChangerMedia
119 Maximum Concurrent Jobs = 4
124 Then in bconsole or via a Run schedule, you would run the job as:
127 run job=MyBackup level=Full
128 run job=MyBackup level=Incremental
129 run job=MyBackup level=Differential
130 run job=MyBackup level=Incremental
131 run job=MyBackup level=Incremental
134 So providing there were changes between each of those jobs, you would end up
135 with a Full backup, a Differential, which includes the first Incremental
136 backup, then two Incremental backups. All the above jobs would be written to
137 the {\bf Default} pool.
139 To consolidate those backups into a new Full backup, you would run the
143 run job=MyBackup level=VirtualFull
146 And it would produce a new Full backup without using the client, and the output
147 would be written to the {\bf Full} Pool which uses the Diskchanger Storage.
149 \section{Duplicate Job Control}
150 \index[general]{Duplicate Jobs}
151 The new version of Bacula provides four new directives that
152 give additional control over what Bacula does if duplicate jobs
153 are started. A duplicate job in the sense we use it here means
154 a second or subsequent job with the same name starts. This
155 happens most frequently when the first job runs longer than expected because no
158 The four directives each take as an argument a {\bf yes} or {\bf no} value and
159 are specified in the Job resource.
163 \subsection{Allow Duplicate Jobs = \lt{}yes|no\gt{}}
164 If this directive is enabled duplicate jobs will be run. If
165 the directive is set to {\bf no} (default) then only one job of a given name
166 may run at one time, and the action that Bacula takes to ensure only
167 one job runs is determined by the other directives (see below).
169 \subsection{Allow Higher Duplicates = \lt{}yes|no\gt{}}
170 If this directive is set to {\bf yes} (default) the job with a higher
171 priority (lower priority number) will be permitted to run. If the
172 priorities of the two jobs are the same, the outcome is determined by
173 other directives (see below).
175 \subsection{Cancel Queued Duplicates = \lt{}yes|no\gt{}}
176 If this directive is set to {\bf yes} (default) any job that is
177 already queued to run but not yet running will be canceled.
179 \subsection{Cancel Running Duplicates = \lt{}yes|no\gt{}}
180 If this directive is set to {\bf yes} any job that is already running
181 will be canceled. The default is {\bf no}.
184 \section{TLS Authentication}
185 \index[general]{TLS Authentication}
186 In Bacula version 2.5.x and later, in addition to the normal Bacula
187 CRAM-MD5 authentication that is used to authenticate each Bacula
188 connection, you can specify that you want TLS Authentication as well,
189 which will provide more secure authentication.
191 This new feature uses Bacula's existing TLS code (normally used for
192 communications encryption) to do authentication. To use it, you must
193 specify all the TLS directives normally used to enable communications
194 encryption (TLS Enable, TLS Verify Peer, TLS Certificate, ...) and
197 \subsection{TLS Authenticate = yes}
199 TLS Authenticate = yes
202 in the main daemon configuration resource (Director for the Director,
203 Client for the File daemon, and Storage for the Storage daemon).
205 When {\bf TLS Authenticate} is enabled, after doing the CRAM-MD5
206 authentication, Bacula will do the normal TLS authentication, then TLS
207 encryption will be turned off.
209 If you want to encrypt communications data, do not turn on {\bf TLS
212 \section{bextract non-portable Win32 data}
213 \index[general]{bextract handles Win32 non-portable data}
214 {\bf bextract} has been enhanced to be able to restore
215 non-portable Win32 data to any OS. Previous versions were
216 unable to restore non-portable Win32 data to machines that
217 did not have the Win32 BackupRead and BackupWrite API calls.
219 \section{State File updated at Job Termination}
220 \index[general]{State File}
221 In previous versions of Bacula, the state file, which provides a
222 summary of previous jobs run in the {\bf status} command output was
223 updated only when Bacula terminated, thus if the daemon crashed, the
224 state file might not contain all the run data. This version of
225 the Bacula daemons updates the state file on each job termination.
227 \section{MaxFullInterval = \lt{}time-interval\gt{}}
228 \index[general]{MaxFullInterval}
229 The new Job resource directive {\bf Max Full Interval = \lt{}time-interval\gt{}}
230 can be used to specify the maximum time interval between {\bf Full} backup
231 jobs. When a job starts, if the time since the last Full backup is
232 greater than the specified interval, and the job would normally be an
233 {\bf Incremental} or {\bf Differential}, it will be automatically
234 upgraded to a {\bf Full} backup.
236 \section{MaxDiffInterval = \lt{}time-interval\gt{}}
237 \index[general]{MaxDiffInterval}
238 The new Job resource directive {\bf Max Diff Interval = \lt{}time-interval\gt{}}
239 can be used to specify the maximum time interval between {\bf Differential} backup
240 jobs. When a job starts, if the time since the last Differential backup is
241 greater than the specified interval, and the job would normally be an
242 {\bf Incremental}, it will be automatically
243 upgraded to a {\bf Differential} backup.
245 \section{Honor No Dump Flag = \lt{}yes|no\gt{}}
246 \index[general]{MaxDiffInterval}
247 On FreeBSD systems, each file has a {\bf no dump flag} that can be set
248 by the user, and when it is set it is an indication to backup programs
249 to not backup that particular file. This version of Bacula contains a
250 new Options directive within a FileSet resource, which instructs Bacula to
251 obey this flag. The new directive is:
254 Honor No Dump Flag = yes|no
257 The default value is {\bf no}.
260 \section{Ignore Dir = \lt{}filename-string\gt{}}
261 \index[general]{IgnoreDir}
262 The {\bf Ignore Dir = \lt{}filename\gt{}} is a new directive that can be added to the Include
263 section of the FileSet resource. If the specified
264 filename is found on the Client in any directory to be backed up,
265 the whole directory will be ignored (not backed up).
269 # List of files to be backed up
277 IgnoreDir = .excludeme
282 But in /home, there may be hundreds of directories of users and some
283 people want to indicate that they don't want to have certain
284 directories backed up. For example, with the above FileSet, if
285 the user or sysadmin creates a file named {\bf .excludeme} in
286 specific directories, such as
289 /home/user/www/cache/.excludeme
290 /home/user/temp/.excludeme
293 then Bacula will not backup the two directories named:
300 NOTE: subdirectories will not be backed up. That is, the directive
301 applies to the two directories in question and any children (be they
302 files, directories, etc).
306 \section{Bacula Plugins}
307 \index[general]{Plugin}
308 Support for shared object plugins has been implemented in the Linux
309 (and Unix) File daemon. The API will be documented separately in
310 the Developer's Guide or in a new document. For the moment, there is
311 a single plugin named {\bf bpipe} that allows an external program to
312 get control to backup and restore a file.
314 Plugins are also planned (partially implemented) in the Director and the
315 Storage daemon. The code is also implemented to work on Win32 machines,
316 but it has not yet been tested.
318 \subsection{Plugin Directory}
319 Each daemon (DIR, FD, SD) has a new {\bf Plugin Directory} directive that may
320 be added to the daemon definition resource. The directory takes a quoted
321 string argument, which is the name of the directory in which the daemon can
322 find the Bacula plugins. If this directive is not specified, Bacula will not
323 load any plugins. Since each plugin has a distinctive name, all the daemons
324 can share the same plugin directory.
328 \subsection{Plugin Options}
329 The {\bf Plugin Options} directive takes a quoted string
330 arguement (after the equal sign) and may be specified in the
331 Job resource. The options specified will be passed to the plugin
332 when it is run. The value defined in the Job resource can be modified
333 by the user when he runs a Job via the {\bf bconsole} command line
336 Note: this directive may be specified, but it is not yet passed to
337 the plugin (i.e. not fully implemented).
339 \subsection{Plugin Options ACL}
340 The {\bf Plugin Options ACL} directive may be specified in the
341 Director's Console resource. It functions as all the other ACL commands
342 do by permitting users running restricted consoles to specify a
343 {\bf Plugin Options} that overrides the one specified in the Job
344 definition. Without this directive restricted consoles may not modify
347 \subsection{Plugin = \lt{}plugin-command-string\gt{}}
348 The {\bf Plugin} directive is specified in the Include section of
349 a FileSet resource where you put your {\bf File = xxx} directives.
365 In the above example, when the File daemon is processing the directives
366 in the Include section, it will first backup all the files in {\bf /home}
367 then it will load the plugin named {\bf bpipe} (actually bpipe-dir.so) from
368 the Plugin Directory. The syntax and semantics of the Plugin directive
369 require the first part of the string up to the colon (:) to be the name
370 of the plugin. Everything after the first colon is ignored by the File daemon but
371 is passed to the plugin. Thus the plugin writer may define the meaning of the
372 rest of the string as he wishes.
374 Please see the next section for information about the {\bf bpipe} Bacula
377 \section{The bpipe Plugin}
378 The {\bf bpipe} plugin is provided in the directory src/plugins/fd/bpipe-fd.c of
379 the Bacula source distribution. When the plugin is compiled and linking into
380 the resulting dynamic shared object (DSO), it will have the name {\bf bpipe-fd.so}.
382 The purpose of the plugin is to provide an interface to any system program for
383 backup and restore. As specified above the {\bf bpipe} plugin is specified in
384 the Include section of your Job's FileSet resource. The full syntax of the
385 plugin directive as interpreted by the {\bf bpipe} plugin (each plugin is free
386 to specify the sytax as it wishes) is:
389 Plugin = "<field1>:<field2>:<field3>:<field4>"
394 \item {\bf field1} is the name of the plugin with the trailing {\bf -fd.so}
395 stripped off, so in this case, we would put {\bf bpipe} in this field.
397 \item {\bf field2} specifies the namespace, which for {\bf bpipe} is the
398 pseudo path and filename under which the backup will be saved. This pseudo
399 path and filename will be seen by the user in the restore file tree.
400 For example, if the value is {\bf /MYSQL/regress.sql}, the data
401 backed up by the plugin will be put under that "pseudo" path and filename.
402 You must be careful to choose a naming convention that is unique to avoid
403 a conflict with a path and filename that actually exists on your system.
405 \item {\bf field3} for the {\bf bpipe} plugin
406 specifies the "reader" program that is called by the plugin during
407 backup to read the data. {\bf bpipe} will call this program by doing a
410 \item {\bf field4} for the {\bf bpipe} plugin
411 specifies the "writer" program that is called by the plugin during
412 restore to write the data back to the filesystem.
415 Putting it all together, the full plugin directive line might look
419 Plugin = "bpipe:/MYSQL/regress.sql:mysqldump -f
420 --opt --databases bacula:mysql"
423 The directive has been split into two lines, but within the {\bf bacula-dir.conf} file
424 would be written on a single line.
426 This causes the File daemon to call the {\bf bpipe} plugin, which will write
427 its data into the "pseudo" file {\bf /MYSQL/regress.sql} by calling the
428 program {\bf mysqldump -f --opt --database bacula} to read the data during
429 backup. The mysqldump command outputs all the data for the database named
430 {\bf bacula}, which will be read by the plugin and stored in the backup.
431 During restore, the data that was backed up will be sent to the program
432 specified in the last field, which in this case is {\bf mysql}. When
433 {\bf mysql} is called, it will read the data sent to it by the plugn
434 then write it back to the same database from which it came ({\bf bacula}
437 The {\bf bpipe} plugin is a generic pipe program, that simply transmits
438 the data from a specified program to Bacula for backup, and then from Bacula to
439 a specified program for restore.
441 By using different command lines to {\bf bpipe},
442 you can backup any kind of data (ASCII or binary) depending
443 on the program called.
445 \section{Microsoft Exchange Server 2003/2007 plugin}
447 \subsection{Concepts}
449 Microsoft Exchange organises its storage into Storage Groups with
450 Databases inside them. A default installation of Exchange will have a
451 single Storage Group called 'First Storage Group', with two Databases
452 inside it, 'Mailbox Store (SERVER NAME)' and 'Public Folder Store
453 (SERVER NAME)', which hold user email and public folders respectively.
455 In the default configuration, Exchange logs everything that happens to
456 log files, such that if you have a backup, and all the log files since,
457 you can restore to the present time. Each Storage Group has its own set
458 of log files and operates independently of any other Storage Groups. At
459 the Storage Group level, the logging can be turned off by enabling a
460 function called 'Enable circular logging'. At this time the Exchange
461 plugin will not function if this option is enabled.
463 The plugin allows backing up of entire storage groups, and the restoring
464 of entire storage groups or individual databases. Backing up and
465 restoring at the individual mailbox or email item is not supported but
466 can be simulate by use of the Recovery Storage Group (see below).
468 \subsection{Installing}
470 Once the bacula-fd is installed on your Windows server, the Exchange API
471 DLL must be copied to the bin directory in the Bacula installation
472 directory (eg C:\\Program Files\\Bacula\\bin). The Exchange API DLL is
473 named esebcli2.dll and is found in C:\\Program Files\\Exchsrvr\\bin on a
474 default Exchange installation.
476 We plan to make the plugin a bit smarter about finding the
477 esebcli2.dll file, so the step here will ultimately only be as a last
478 resort, but for now it is required.
481 \subsection{Backup up}
483 To back up an Exchange server the Fileset definition must contain at
484 least 'Plugin = "exchange:/@EXCHANGE/Microsoft Information Store"' for
485 the backup to work correctly. The 'exchange:' bit tells Bacula to look
486 for the exchange plugin, the '@EXCHANGE' bit makes sure all the backed
487 up files are prefixed with something that isn't going to share a name
488 with something outside the plugin, and the 'Microsoft Information Store'
489 bit is required also. It is also possible to add the name of a storage
490 group to the 'Plugin =' line, eg 'Plugin =
491 "exchange:/@EXCHANGE/Microsoft Information Store/First Storage Group"'
492 if you want only a single storage group backed up.
494 Additionally, you can suffix the 'Plugin =' directive with
495 ':notrunconfull' which will tell the plugin not to truncate the Exchange
496 database at the end of a full backup.
498 An Incremental or Differential backup will backup only the database logs
499 for each Storage Group by inspecting the 'modified date' on each
500 physical log file. Because of the way the Exchange API works, the last
501 logfile backed up on each backup will always be backed up by the next
502 Incremental or Differential backup too. This adds 5MB to each
503 Incremental or Differential backup size but otherwise does not cause any
506 \subsection{Restoring}
508 The restore operation is much the same as a normal Bacula restore, with
509 the following provisos:
512 \item The 'Where' restore option must not be specified
513 \item Each Database directory must be marked as a whole. You cannot just
514 select (say) the .edb file and not the others.
515 \item If a Storage Group is restored, the directory of the Storage Group
517 \item It is possible to restore only a subset of the available log files,
518 but they {\bf must} be contiguous. Exchange will fail to restore correctly
519 if a log file is missing from the sequence of log files
520 \item Each database to be restored must be dismounted and marked as 'Can be
521 overwritten by restore'
522 \item If an entire Storage Group is to be restored (eg all databases and
523 logs in the Storage Group), then it is best to manually delete the
524 database files from the server (eg C:\\Program Files\\Exchsrvr\\mdbdata\\*)
525 as Exchange can get confused by stray log files lying around.
528 \subsection{Restoring to the Recovery Storage Group}
530 The concept of the Recovery Storage Group is well documented by
531 Microsoft (find a link and put it here), but to briefly summarise...
533 Microsoft Exchange allows the creation of an additional Storage Group
534 called the Recovery Storage Group, which is used to restore an older
535 copy of a database (eg before a mailbox was deleted) into without
536 messing with the current live data. This is required as the Standard and
537 Small Business Server versions of Exchange can not ordinarily have more
538 than one Storage Group.
540 To create the Recovery Storage Group, drill down to the Server in
541 Exchange System Manager, right click, and select 'New -> Recovery
542 Storage Group...'. Accept or change the file locations and click OK. On
543 the Recovery Storage Group, right click and select 'Add Database to
544 Recover...' and select the database you will be restoring.
546 In Bacula, select the Database and the log files, making sure to mark
547 the Storage Group directory itself too. Once you have selected the files
548 to back up, use the RegexWhere clause to remove the prefix of
549 '/@EXCHANGE/Microsoft Information Store/<storage group name>/' and
550 replace it with '/@EXCHANGE/Microsoft Information Store/Recovery Storage
551 Group/'. Then run the restore.
555 The 'Enable Circular Logging' option cannot be enabled or the plugin
558 Exchange insists that a successful Full backup must have taken place if
559 an Incremental or Differential backup is desired, and the plugin will
560 fail if this is not the case. If a restore is done, Exchange will
561 require that a Full backup be done before an Incremental or Differential
564 The plugin will most likely not work well if another backup application
565 (eg NTBACKUP) is backing up the Exchange database, especially if the
566 other backup application is truncating the log files.
570 \section{libdbi framework}
571 As a general guideline, Bacula has support for a few catalog database drivers
572 coded natively by the Bacula team. With the libdbi implementation, which is a
573 Bacula driver that uses libdbi to access the catalog, we have an open field to
574 use many different kinds database engines following the needs of users.
576 The according to libdbi (http://libdbi.sourceforge.net/) project: libdbi
577 implements a database-independent abstraction layer in C, similar to the
578 DBI/DBD layer in Perl. Writing one generic set of code, programmers can
579 leverage the power of multiple databases and multiple simultaneous database
580 connections by using this framework.
582 Currently the libdbi driver in Bacula project only supports the same drivers
583 natively coded in Bacula. However the libdbi project has support for many
584 others database engines. You can view the list at
585 http://libdbi-drivers.sourceforge.net/. In the future all those drivers can be
586 supported by Bacula, however, they must be tested properly by the Bacula team.
588 Some of benefits of using libdbi are:
590 \item The possibility to use proprietary databases engines in which your
591 proprietary licenses prevent the Bacula team from developing the driver.
592 \item The possibility to use the drivers written for the libdbi project.
593 \item The possibility to use other database engines without recompiling Bacula
594 to use them. Just change one line in bacula-dir.conf
595 \item Abstract Database access, this is, unique point to code and profiling
596 catalog database access.
599 The following drivers have been tested:
601 \item PostgreSQL, with and without batch insert
602 \item Mysql, with and without batch insert
607 In the future, we will test and approve to use others databases engines
608 (proprietary or not) like DB2, Oracle, Microsoft SQL.
610 To compile Bacula to support libdbi we need to configure the code with the
611 --with-dbi and --with-dbi-driver=[database] ./configure options, where
612 [database] is the database engine to be used with Bacula (of course we can
613 change the driver in file bacula-dir.conf, see below). We must configure the
614 access port of the database engine with the option --with-db-port, because the
615 libdbi framework doesn't know the default access port of each database.
617 The next phase is checking (or configuring) the bacula-dir.conf, example:
621 dbdriver = dbi:mysql; dbaddress = 127.0.0.1; dbport = 3306
622 dbname = regress; user = regress; password = ""
626 The parameter {\bf dbdriver} indicates that we will use the driver dbi with a
627 mysql database. Currently the drivers supported by Bacula are: postgresql,
628 mysql, sqlite, sqlite3; these are the names that may be added to string "dbi:".
630 The following limitations apply when Bacula is set to use the libdbi framework:
631 - Not tested on the Win32 platform
632 - A little performance is lost if comparing with native database driver.
633 The reason is bound with the database driver provided by libdbi and the
634 simple fact that one more layer of code was added.
636 It is important to remember, when compiling Bacula with libdbi, the
637 following packages are needed:
639 \item libdbi version 1.0.0, http://libdbi.sourceforge.net/
640 \item libdbi-drivers 1.0.0, http://libdbi-drivers.sourceforge.net/
643 You can download them and compile them on your system or install the packages
644 from your OS distribution.
647 \section{Display Autochanger Content}
648 \index[general]{StatusSlots}
650 The {\bf status slots storage=\lt{}storage-name\gt{}} command displays autochanger content.
654 Slot | Volume Name | Status | Media Type | Pool |
655 ------+---------------+----------+-------------------+------------|
656 1 | 00001 | Append | DiskChangerMedia | Default |
657 2 | 00002 | Append | DiskChangerMedia | Default |
658 3*| 00003 | Append | DiskChangerMedia | Scratch |
663 If you an asterisk ({\bf *}) appears after the slot number, you must run an
664 {\bf update slots} command to synchronize autochanger content with your
667 \section{Miscellaneous}
668 \index[general]{Misc New Features}
670 \subsection{Allow Mixed Priority = \lt{}yes|no\gt{}}
671 This directive is only implemented in version 2.5 and later. When
672 set to {\bf yes} (default {\bf no}), this job may run even if lower
673 priority jobs are already running. This means a high priority job
674 will not have to wait for other jobs to finish before starting.
675 The scheduler will only mix priorities when all running jobs have
678 Note that only higher priority jobs will start early. Suppose the
679 director will allow two concurrent jobs, and that two jobs with
680 priority 10 are running, with two more in the queue. If a job with
681 priority 5 is added to the queue, it will be run as soon as one of
682 the running jobs finishes. However, new priority 10 jobs will not
683 be run until the priority 5 job has finished.
685 \subsection{Bootstrap File Directive -- FileRegex}
686 {\bf FileRegex} is a new command that can be added to the bootstrap
687 (.bsr) file. The value is a regular expression. When specified, only
688 matching filenames will be restored.
690 During a restore, if all File records are pruned from the catalog
691 for a Job, normally Bacula can restore only all files saved. That
692 is there is no way using the catalog to select individual files.
693 With this new command, Bacula will ask if you want to specify a Regex
694 expression for extracting only a part of the full backup.
697 \subsection{Virtual Tape Emulation}
698 We now have a Virtual Tape emulator that allows us to run though 99.9\% of
699 the tape code but actually reading and writing to a disk file. Used with the
700 \textbf{disk-changer} script, you can now emulate an autochanger with 10 drives
701 and 700 slots. This feature is most useful in testing. It is enabled
702 by using {\bf Device Type = vtape} in the Storage daemon's Device
703 directive. This feature is only implemented on Linux machines.
705 \subsection{Bat Enhancements}
706 Bat (the Bacula Administration Tool) GUI program has been significantly
707 enhanced and stabilized. In particular, there are new table based status
708 commands; it can now be easily localized using Qt4 Linguist.
710 The Bat communications protocol has been significantly enhanced to improve
713 \subsection{RunScript Enhancements}
714 The {\bf RunScript} resource has been enhanced to permit multiple
715 commands per RunScript. Simply specify multiple {\bf Command} directives
722 Command = "/bin/echo test"
723 Command = "/bin/echo an other test"
724 Command = "/bin/echo 3 commands in the same runscript"
731 A new Client RunScript {\bf RunsWhen} keyword of {\bf AfterVSS} has been implemented, which
732 runs the command after the Volume Shadow Copy has been made.
734 Console commands can be specified within a RunScript by using:
735 {\bf Console = \lt{}command\gt{}}, however, this command has not been
736 carefully tested and debugged and is known to easily crash the Director.
737 We would appreciate feedback. Due to the recursive nature of this command, we
738 may remove it before the final release.
740 \subsection{Status Enhancements}
741 The bconsole {\bf status dir} output has been enhanced to indicate
742 Storage daemon job spooling and despooling activity.
744 \subsection{Connect Timeout}
745 The default connect timeout to the File
746 daemon has been set to 3 minutes. Previously it was 30 minutes.
748 \subsection{ftruncate for NFS Volumes}
749 If you write to a Volume mounted by NFS (say on a local file server),
750 in previous Bacula versions, when the Volume was recycled, it was not
751 properly truncated because NFS does not implement ftruncate (file
752 truncate). This is now corrected in the new version because we have
753 written code (actually a kind user) that deletes and recreates the Volume,
754 thus accomplishing the same thing as a truncate.
756 \subsection{Support for Ubuntu}
757 The new version of Bacula now recognizes the Ubuntu (and Kubuntu)
758 version of Linux, and thus now provides correct autostart routines.
759 Since Ubuntu officially supports Bacula, you can also obtain any
760 recent release of Bacula from the Ubuntu repositories.
762 \subsection{Recycle Pool = \lt{}pool-name\gt{}}
763 The new \textbf{RecyclePool} directive defines to which pool the Volume will
764 be placed (moved) when it is recycled. Without this directive, a Volume will
765 remain in the same pool when it is recycled. With this directive, it can be
766 moved automatically to any existing pool during a recycle. This directive is
767 probably most useful when defined in the Scratch pool, so that volumes will
768 be recycled back into the Scratch pool.
770 \subsection{FD Version}
771 The File daemon to Director protocol now includes a version
772 number, which although there is no visible change for users,
773 will help us in future versions automatically determine
774 if a File daemon is not compatible.
776 \subsection{Max Run Sched Time = \lt{}time-period-in-seconds\gt{}}
777 The time specifies the maximum allowed time that a job may run, counted from
778 when the job was scheduled. This can be useful to prevent jobs from running
779 during working hours. We can see it like \texttt{Max Start Delay + Max Run
782 \subsection{Max Wait Time = \lt{}time-period-in-seconds\gt{}}
784 Previous \textbf{MaxWaitTime} directives aren't working as expected, instead
785 of checking the maximum allowed time that a job may block for a resource,
786 those directives worked like \textbf{MaxRunTime}. Some users are reporting to
787 use \textbf{Incr/Diff/Full Max Wait Time} to control the maximum run time of
788 their job depending on the level. Now, they have to use
789 \textbf{Incr/Diff/Full Max Run Time}. \textbf{Incr/Diff/Full Max Wait Time}
790 directives are now deprecated.
792 \subsection{Incremental|Differential Max Wait Time = \lt{}time-period-in-seconds\gt{}}
793 Theses directives have been deprecated in favor of
794 \texttt{Incremental|Differential Max Run Time}.
796 \subsection{Max Run Time directives}
797 Using \textbf{Full/Diff/Incr Max Run Time}, it's now possible to specify the
798 maximum allowed time that a job can run depending on the level.
800 \addcontentsline{lof}{figure}{Job time control directives}
801 \includegraphics{\idir different_time.eps}
803 \subsection{Statistics Enhancements}
804 If you (or probably your boss) want to have statistics on your backups to
805 provide some \textit{Service Level Agreement} indicators, you could use a few
806 SQL queries on the Job table to report how many:
810 \item jobs have been successful
811 \item files have been backed up
815 However, these statistics are accurate only if your job retention is greater
816 than your statistics period. Ie, if jobs are purged from the catalog, you won't
819 Now, you can use the \textbf{update stats [days=num]} console command to fill
820 the JobStat table with new Job records. If you want to be sure to take in
821 account only \textbf{good jobs}, ie if one of your important job has failed but
822 you have fixed the problem and restarted it on time, you probably want to
823 delete the first \textit{bad} job record and keep only the successful one. For
824 that simply let your staff do the job, and update JobStat table after two or
825 three days depending on your organization using the \textbf{[days=num]} option.
827 These statistics records aren't used for restoring, but mainly for
828 capacity planning, billings, etc.
830 The Bweb interface provides a statistics module that can use this feature. You
831 can also use tools like Talend or extract information by yourself.
833 The {\textbf Statistics Retention = \lt{}time\gt{}} director directive defines
834 the length of time that Bacula will keep statistics job records in the Catalog
835 database after the Job End time. (In \texttt{JobStat} table) When this time
836 period expires, and if user runs \texttt{prune stats} command, Bacula will
837 prune (remove) Job records that are older than the specified period.
839 You can use the following Job resource in your nightly \textbf{BackupCatalog}
840 job to maintain statistics.
846 Console = "update stats days=3"
847 Console = "prune stats yes"
854 \subsection{SpoolSize = \lt{}size-specification-in-bytes\gt{}}
855 A new job directive permits to specify the spool size per job. This is used
856 in advanced job tunning. {\bf SpoolSize={\it bytes}}
859 \section{Building Bacula Plugins}
860 There is currently one sample program {\bf example-plugin-fd.c} and
861 one working plugin {\bf bpipe-fd.c} that can be found in the Bacula
862 {\bf src/plugins/fd} directory. Both are built with the following:
866 ./configure <your-options>
874 After building Bacula and changing into the src/plugins/fd directory,
875 the {\bf make} command will build the {\bf bpipe-fd.so} plugin, which
876 is a very useful and working program.
878 The {\bf make test} command will build the {\bf example-plugin-fd.so}
879 plugin and a binary named {\bf main}, which is build from the source
880 code located in {\bf src/filed/fd\_plugins.c}.
882 If you execute {\bf ./main}, it will load and run the example-plugin-fd
883 plugin simulating a small number of the calling sequences that Bacula uses
884 in calling a real plugin. This allows you to do initial testing of
885 your plugin prior to trying it with Bacula.
887 You can get a good idea of how to write your own plugin by first
888 studying the example-plugin-fd, and actually running it. Then
889 it can also be instructive to read the bpipe-fd.c code as it is
890 a real plugin, which is still rather simple and small.
892 When actually writing your own plugin, you may use the example-plugin-fd.c
893 code as a template for your code.
899 \chapter{Bacula FD Plugin API}
900 To write a Bacula plugin, you create a dynamic shared object
901 program (or dll on Win32) with a particular name and two
902 exported entry points, place it in the {\bf Plugins Directory}, which is defined in the
903 {\bf bacula-fd.conf} file in the {\bf Client} resource, and when the FD
904 starts, it will load all the plugins that end with {\bf -fd.so} (or {\bf -fd.dll}
905 on Win32) found in that directory.
907 \section{Normal vs Command Plugins}
908 In general, there are two ways that plugins are called. The first way,
909 is when a particular event is detected in Bacula, it will transfer control
910 to each plugin that is loaded in turn informing the plugin of the event.
911 This is very similar to how a {\bf RunScript} works, and the events are very similar.
912 Once the plugin gets control, it can interact with Bacula by getting and
913 setting Bacula variables. In this way, it behaves much like a RunScript.
914 Currently very few Bacula variables are defined, but they will be implemented
915 as the need arrises, and it is very extensible.
917 We plan to have plugins register to receive events that they normally would
918 not receive, such as an event for each file examined for backup or restore.
919 This feature is not yet implemented.
921 The second type of plugin, which is more useful and fully implemented
922 in the current version is what we call a command plugin. As with all
923 plugins, it gets notified of important events as noted above (details described below),
924 but in addition, this kind of plugin can accept a command line, which
928 Plugin = <command-string>
931 directive that is placed in the Include section of a FileSet and is very
932 similar to the "File = " directive. When this Plugin directive is encountered
933 by Bacula during backup, it passes the "command" part of the Plugin directive
934 only to the plugin that is explicitly named in the first field of that command string.
935 This allows that plugin to backup any file or files on the system that it wants. It can
936 even create "virtual files" in the catalog that contain data to be restored but do
937 not necessarily correspond to actual files on the filesystem.
939 The important features of the command plugin entry points are:
941 \item It is triggered by a "Plugin =" directive in the FileSet
942 \item Only a single plugin is called that is named on the "Plugin =" directive.
943 \item The full command string after the "Plugin =" is passed to the plugin
944 so that it can be told what to backup/restore.
948 \section{Loading Plugins}
949 Once the File daemon loads the plugins, it asks the OS for the
950 two entry points (loadPlugin and unloadPlugin) then calls the
951 {\bf loadPlugin} entry point (see below).
953 Bacula passes information to the plugin through this call and it gets
954 back information that it needs to use the plugin. Later, Bacula
955 will call particular functions that are defined by the
956 {\bf loadPlugin} interface.
958 When Bacula is finished with the plugin
959 (when Bacula is going to exit), it will call the {\bf unloadPlugin}
962 The two entry points are:
965 bRC loadPlugin(bInfo *lbinfo, bFuncs *lbfuncs, pInfo **pinfo, pFuncs **pfuncs)
972 both these external entry points to the shared object are defined as C entry points
973 to avoid name mangling complications with C++. However, the shared object
974 can actually be written in any language (preferrably C or C++) providing that it
975 follows C language calling conventions.
977 The definitions for {\bf bRC} and the arguments are {\bf
978 src/filed/fd-plugins.h} and so this header file needs to be included in
979 your plugin. It along with {\bf src/lib/plugins.h} define basically the whole
980 plugin interface. Within this header file, it includes the following
984 #include <sys/types.h>
986 #include "bc_types.h"
987 #include "lib/plugins.h"
988 #include <sys/stat.h>
991 Aside from the {\bf bc\_types.h} and {\bf confit.h} headers, the plugin definition uses the
992 minimum code from Bacula. The bc\_types.h file is required to ensure that
993 the data type defintions in arguments correspond to the Bacula core code.
995 The return codes are defined as:
999 bRC_Stop = 1, /* Stop calling other plugins */
1000 bRC_Error = 2, /* Some kind of error */
1001 bRC_More = 3, /* More files to backup */
1006 At a future point in time, we hope to make the Bacula libbac.a into a
1007 shared object so that the plugin can use much more of Bacula's
1008 infrastructure, but for this first cut, we have tried to minimize the
1009 dependence on Bacula.
1011 \section{loadPlugin}
1012 As previously mentioned, the {\bf loadPlugin} entry point in the plugin
1013 is called immediately after Bacula loads the plugin when the File daemon
1014 itself is first starting. This entry point is only called once during the
1015 execution of the File daemon. In calling the
1016 plugin, the first two arguments are information from Bacula that
1017 is passed to the plugin, and the last two arguments are information
1018 about the plugin that the plugin must return to Bacula. The call is:
1021 bRC loadPlugin(bInfo *lbinfo, bFuncs *lbfuncs, pInfo **pinfo, pFuncs **pfuncs)
1024 and the arguments are:
1028 This is information about Bacula in general. Currently, the only value
1029 defined in the bInfo structure is the version, which is the Bacula plugin
1030 interface version, currently defined as 1. The {\bf size} is set to the
1031 byte size of the structure. The exact definition of the bInfo structure
1032 as of this writing is:
1035 typedef struct s_baculaInfo {
1042 The bFuncs structure defines the callback entry points within Bacula
1043 that the plugin can use register events, get Bacula values, set
1044 Bacula values, and send messages to the Job output or debug output.
1046 The exact definition as of this writing is:
1048 typedef struct s_baculaFuncs {
1051 bRC (*registerBaculaEvents)(bpContext *ctx, ...);
1052 bRC (*getBaculaValue)(bpContext *ctx, bVariable var, void *value);
1053 bRC (*setBaculaValue)(bpContext *ctx, bVariable var, void *value);
1054 bRC (*JobMessage)(bpContext *ctx, const char *file, int line,
1055 int type, time_t mtime, const char *fmt, ...);
1056 bRC (*DebugMessage)(bpContext *ctx, const char *file, int line,
1057 int level, const char *fmt, ...);
1058 void *(*malloc)(bpContext *ctx, const char *file, int line,
1060 void (*free)(bpContext *ctx, const char *file, int line, void *mem);
1064 We will discuss these entry points and how to use them a bit later when
1065 describing the plugin code.
1069 When the loadPlugin entry point is called, the plugin must initialize
1070 an information structure about the plugin and return a pointer to
1071 this structure to Bacula.
1073 The exact definition as of this writing is:
1076 typedef struct s_pluginInfo {
1079 const char *plugin_magic;
1080 const char *plugin_license;
1081 const char *plugin_author;
1082 const char *plugin_date;
1083 const char *plugin_version;
1084 const char *plugin_description;
1090 \item [version] is the current Bacula defined plugin interface version, currently
1091 set to 1. If the interface version differs from the current version of
1092 Bacula, the plugin will not be run (not yet implemented).
1093 \item [plugin\_magic] is a pointer to the text string "*FDPluginData*", a
1094 sort of sanity check. If this value is not specified, the plugin
1095 will not be run (not yet implemented).
1096 \item [plugin\_license] is a pointer to a text string that describes the
1097 plugin license. Bacula will only accept compatible licenses (not yet
1099 \item [plugin\_author] is a pointer to the text name of the author of the program.
1100 This string can be anything but is generally the author's name.
1101 \item [plugin\_date] is the pointer text string containing the date of the plugin.
1102 This string can be anything but is generally some human readable form of
1104 \item [plugin\_version] is a pointer to a text string containing the version of
1105 the plugin. The contents are determined by the plugin writer.
1106 \item [plugin\_description] is a pointer to a string describing what the
1107 plugin does. The contents are determined by the plugin writer.
1110 The pInfo structure must be defined in static memory because Bacula does not
1111 copy it and may refer to the values at any time while the plugin is
1112 loaded. All values must be supplied or the plugin will not run (not yet
1113 implemented). All text strings must be either ASCII or UTF-8 strings that
1114 are terminated with a zero byte.
1117 When the loadPlugin entry point is called, the plugin must initialize
1118 an entry point structure about the plugin and return a pointer to
1119 this structure to Bacula. This structure contains pointer to each
1120 of the entry points that the plugin must provide for Bacula. When
1121 Bacula is actually running the plugin, it will call the defined
1122 entry points at particular times. All entry points must be defined.
1124 The pFuncs structure must be defined in static memory because Bacula does not
1125 copy it and may refer to the values at any time while the plugin is
1128 The exact definition as of this writing is:
1131 typedef struct s_pluginFuncs {
1134 bRC (*newPlugin)(bpContext *ctx);
1135 bRC (*freePlugin)(bpContext *ctx);
1136 bRC (*getPluginValue)(bpContext *ctx, pVariable var, void *value);
1137 bRC (*setPluginValue)(bpContext *ctx, pVariable var, void *value);
1138 bRC (*handlePluginEvent)(bpContext *ctx, bEvent *event, void *value);
1139 bRC (*startBackupFile)(bpContext *ctx, struct save_pkt *sp);
1140 bRC (*endBackupFile)(bpContext *ctx);
1141 bRC (*startRestoreFile)(bpContext *ctx, const char *cmd);
1142 bRC (*endRestoreFile)(bpContext *ctx);
1143 bRC (*pluginIO)(bpContext *ctx, struct io_pkt *io);
1144 bRC (*createFile)(bpContext *ctx, struct restore_pkt *rp);
1145 bRC (*setFileAttributes)(bpContext *ctx, struct restore_pkt *rp);
1149 The details of the entry points will be presented in
1150 separate sections below.
1154 \item [size] is the byte size of the structure.
1155 \item [version] is the plugin interface version currently set to 1.
1158 Sample code for loadPlugin:
1160 bfuncs = lbfuncs; /* set Bacula funct pointers */
1162 *pinfo = &pluginInfo; /* return pointer to our info */
1163 *pfuncs = &pluginFuncs; /* return pointer to our functions */
1168 where pluginInfo and pluginFuncs are statically defined structures.
1169 See bpipe-fd.c for details.
1175 \section{Plugin Entry Points}
1176 This section will describe each of the entry points (subroutines) within
1177 the plugin that the plugin must provide for Bacula, when they are called
1178 and their arguments. As noted above, pointers to these subroutines are
1179 passed back to Bacula in the pFuncs structure when Bacula calls the
1180 loadPlugin() externally defined entry point.
1182 \subsection{newPlugin(bpContext *ctx)}
1183 This is the entry point that Bacula will call
1184 when a new "instance" of the plugin is created. This typically
1185 happens at the beginning of a Job. If 10 Jobs are running
1186 simultaneously, there will be at least 10 instances of the
1189 The bpContext structure will be passed to the plugin, and
1190 during this call, if the plugin needs to have its private
1191 working storage that is associated with the particular
1192 instance of the plugin, it should create it from the heap
1193 (malloc the memory) and store a pointer to
1194 its private working storage in the {\bf pContext} variable.
1195 Note: since Bacula is a multi-threaded program, you must not
1196 keep any variable data in your plugin unless it is truely meant
1197 to apply globally to the whole plugin. In addition, you must
1198 be aware that except the first and last call to the plugin
1199 (loadPlugin and unloadPlugin) all the other calls will be
1200 made by threads that correspond to a Bacula job. The
1201 bpContext that will be passed for each thread will remain the
1202 same throughout the Job thus you can keep your privat Job specific
1203 data in it ({\bf bContext}).
1206 typedef struct s_bpContext {
1207 void *pContext; /* Plugin private context */
1208 void *bContext; /* Bacula private context */
1213 This context pointer will be passed as the first argument to all
1214 the entry points that Bacula calls within the plugin. Needless
1215 to say, the plugin should not change the bContext variable, which
1216 is Bacula's private context pointer for this instance (Job) of this
1219 \subsection{freePlugin(bpContext *ctx)}
1220 This entry point is called when the
1221 this instance of the plugin is no longer needed (the Job is
1222 ending), and the plugin should release all memory it may
1223 have allocated for this particular instance (Job) i.e. the pContext.
1224 This is not the final termination
1225 of the plugin signaled by a call to {\bf unloadPlugin}.
1226 Any other instances (Job) will
1227 continue to run, and the entry point {\bf newPlugin} may be called
1228 again if other jobs start.
1230 \subsection{getPluginValue(bpContext *ctx, pVariable var, void *value)}
1231 Bacula will call this entry point to get
1232 a value from the plugin. This entry point is currently not called.
1234 \subsection{setPluginValue(bpContext *ctx, pVariable var, void *value)}
1235 Bacula will call this entry point to set
1236 a value in the plugin. This entry point is currently not called.
1238 \subsection{handlePluginEvent(bpContext *ctx, bEvent *event, void *value)}
1239 This entry point is called when Bacula
1240 encounters certain events (discussed below). This is, in fact, the
1241 main way that most plugins get control when a Job runs and how
1242 they know what is happening in the job. It can be likened to the
1243 {\bf RunScript} feature that calls external programs and scripts,
1244 and is very similar to the Bacula Python interface.
1245 When the plugin is called, Bacula passes it the pointer to an event
1246 structure (bEvent), which currently has one item, the eventType:
1249 typedef struct s_bEvent {
1254 which defines what event has been triggered, and for each event,
1255 Bacula will pass a pointer to a value associated with that event.
1256 If no value is associated with a particular event, Bacula will
1257 pass a NULL pointer, so the plugin must be careful to always check
1258 value pointer prior to dereferencing it.
1260 The current list of events are:
1266 bEventStartBackupJob = 3,
1267 bEventEndBackupJob = 4,
1268 bEventStartRestoreJob = 5,
1269 bEventEndRestoreJob = 6,
1270 bEventStartVerifyJob = 7,
1271 bEventEndVerifyJob = 8,
1272 bEventBackupCommand = 9,
1273 bEventRestoreCommand = 10,
1280 Most of the above are self-explanatory.
1283 \item [bEventJobStart] is called whenever a Job starts. The value
1284 passed is a pointer to a string that contains: "Jobid=nnn
1285 Job=job-name". Where nnn will be replaced by the JobId and job-name
1286 will be replaced by the Job name. The variable is temporary so if you
1287 need the values, you must copy them.
1289 \item [bEventJobEnd] is called whenever a Job ends. No value is passed.
1291 \item [bEventStartBackupJob] is called when a Backup Job begins. No value
1294 \item [bEventEndBackupJob] is called when a Backup Job ends. No value is
1297 \item [bEventStartRestoreJob] is called when a Restore Job starts. No value
1300 \item [bEventEndRestoreJob] is called when a Restore Job ends. No value is
1303 \item [bEventStartVerifyJob] is called when a Verify Job starts. No value
1306 \item [bEventEndVerifyJob] is called when a Verify Job ends. No value
1309 \item [bEventBackupCommand] is called prior to the bEventStartBackupJob and
1310 the plugin is passed the command string (everything after the equal sign
1311 in "Plugin =" as the value.
1313 Note, if you intend to backup a file, this is an important first point to
1314 write code that copies the command string passed into your pContext area
1315 so that you will know that a backup is being performed and you will know
1316 the full contents of the "Plugin =" command (i.e. what to backup and
1317 what virtual filename the user wants to call it.
1319 \item [bEventRestoreCommand] is called prior to the bEventStartRestoreJob and
1320 the plugin is passed the command string (everything after the equal sign
1321 in "Plugin =" as the value.
1323 See the notes above concerning backup and the command string. This is the
1324 point at which Bacula passes you the original command string that was
1325 specified during the backup, so you will want to save it in your pContext
1326 area for later use when Bacula calls the plugin again.
1328 \item [bEventLevel] is called when the level is set for a new Job. The value
1329 is a 32 bit integer stored in the void*, which represents the Job Level code.
1331 \item [bEventSince] is called when the since time is set for a new Job. The
1332 value is a time\_t time at which the last job was run.
1335 During each of the above calls, the plugin receives either no specific value or
1336 only one value, which in some cases may not be sufficient. However, knowing the
1337 context of the event, the plugin can call back to the Bacula entry points it
1338 was passed during the {\bf loadPlugin} call and get to a number of Bacula variables.
1339 (at the current time few Bacula variables are implemented, but it easily extended
1340 at a future time and as needs require).
1342 \subsection{startBackupFile(bpContext *ctx, struct save\_pkt *sp)}
1343 This entry point is called only if your plugin is a command plugin, and
1344 it is called when Bacula encounters the "Plugin = " directive in
1345 the Include section of the FileSet.
1346 Called when beginning the backup of a file. Here Bacula provides you
1347 with a pointer to the {\bf save\_pkt} structure and you must fill in
1348 this packet with the "attribute" data of the file.
1352 int32_t pkt_size; /* size of this packet */
1353 char *fname; /* Full path and filename */
1354 char *link; /* Link name if any */
1355 struct stat statp; /* System stat() packet for file */
1356 int32_t type; /* FT_xx for this file */
1357 uint32_t flags; /* Bacula internal flags */
1358 bool portable; /* set if data format is portable */
1359 char *cmd; /* command */
1360 int32_t pkt_end; /* end packet sentinel */
1364 The second argument is a pointer to the {\bf save\_pkt} structure for the file
1365 to be backed up. The plugin is responsible for filling in all the fields
1366 of the {\bf save\_pkt}. If you are backing up
1367 a real file, then generally, the statp structure can be filled in by doing
1368 a {\bf stat} system call on the file.
1370 If you are backing up a database or
1371 something that is more complex, you might want to create a virtual file.
1372 That is a file that does not actually exist on the filesystem, but represents
1373 say an object that you are backing up. In that case, you need to ensure
1374 that the {\bf fname} string that you pass back is unique so that it
1375 does not conflict with a real file on the system, and you need to
1376 artifically create values in the statp packet.
1378 Example programs such as {\bf bpipe-fd.c} show how to set these fields.
1379 You must take care not to store pointers the stack in the pointer fields such
1380 as fname and link, because when you return from your function, your stack entries
1381 will be destroyed. The solution in that case is to malloc() and return the pointer
1382 to it. In order to not have memory leaks, you should store a pointer to all memory
1383 allocated in your pContext structure so that in subsequent calls or at termination,
1384 you can release it back to the system.
1386 Once the backup has begun, Bacula will call your plugin at the {\bf pluginIO}
1387 entry point to "read" the data to be backed up. Please see the {\bf bpipe-fd.c}
1388 plugin for how to do I/O.
1390 Example of filling in the save\_pkt as used in bpipe-fd.c:
1393 struct plugin_ctx *p_ctx = (struct plugin_ctx *)ctx->pContext;
1394 time_t now = time(NULL);
1395 sp->fname = p_ctx->fname;
1396 sp->statp.st_mode = 0700 | S_IFREG;
1397 sp->statp.st_ctime = now;
1398 sp->statp.st_mtime = now;
1399 sp->statp.st_atime = now;
1400 sp->statp.st_size = -1;
1401 sp->statp.st_blksize = 4096;
1402 sp->statp.st_blocks = 1;
1403 p_ctx->backup = true;
1407 Note: the filename to be created has already been created from the
1408 command string previously sent to the plugin and is in the plugin
1409 context (p\_ctx->fname) and is a malloc()ed string. This example
1410 creates a regular file (S\_IFREG), with various fields being created.
1412 In general, the sequence of commands issued from Bacula to the plugin
1413 to do a backup while processing the "Plugin = " directive are:
1416 \item generate a bEventBackupCommand event to the specified plugin
1417 and pass it the command string.
1418 \item make a startPluginBackup call to the plugin, which
1419 fills in the data needed in save\_pkt to save as the file
1420 attributes and to put on the Volume and in the catalog.
1421 \item call Bacula's internal save\_file() subroutine to save the specified
1422 file. The plugin will then be called at pluginIO() to "open"
1423 the file, and then to read the file data.
1424 Note, if you are dealing with a virtual file, the "open" operation
1425 is something the plugin does internally and it doesn't necessarily
1426 mean opening a file on the filesystem. For example in the case of
1427 the bpipe-fd.c program, it initiates a pipe to the requested program.
1428 Finally when the plugin signals to Bacula that all the data was read,
1429 Bacula will call the plugin with the "close" pluginIO() function.
1433 \subsection{endBackupFile(bpContext *ctx)}
1434 Called at the end of backing up a file for a command plugin. If the plugin's work
1435 is done, it should return bRC\_OK. If the plugin wishes to create another
1436 file and back it up, then it must return bRC\_More (not yet implemented).
1437 This is probably a good time to release any malloc()ed memory you used to
1438 pass back filenames.
1440 \subsection{startRestoreFile(bpContext *ctx, const char *cmd)}
1441 Called when the first record is read from the Volume that was
1442 previously written by the command plugin.
1444 \subsection{createFile(bpContext *ctx, struct restore\_pkt *rp)}
1445 Called for a command plugin to create a file during a Restore job before
1447 This entry point is called before any I/O is done on the file. After
1448 this call, Bacula will call pluginIO() to open the file for write.
1451 restore\_pkt is passed to the plugin and is based on the data that was
1452 originally given by the plugin during the backup and the current user
1453 restore settings (e.g. where, RegexWhere, replace). This allows the
1454 plugin to first create a file (if necessary) so that the data can
1455 be transmitted to it. The next call to the plugin will be a
1456 pluginIO command with a request to open the file write-only.
1458 This call must return one of the following values:
1462 CF_SKIP = 1, /* skip file (not newer or something) */
1463 CF_ERROR, /* error creating file */
1464 CF_EXTRACT, /* file created, data to extract */
1465 CF_CREATED /* file created, no data to extract */
1469 in the restore\_pkt value {\bf create\_status}. For a normal file,
1470 unless there is an error, you must return {\bf CF\_EXTRACT}.
1474 struct restore_pkt {
1475 int32_t pkt_size; /* size of this packet */
1476 int32_t stream; /* attribute stream id */
1477 int32_t data_stream; /* id of data stream to follow */
1478 int32_t type; /* file type FT */
1479 int32_t file_index; /* file index */
1480 int32_t LinkFI; /* file index to data if hard link */
1481 uid_t uid; /* userid */
1482 struct stat statp; /* decoded stat packet */
1483 const char *attrEx; /* extended attributes if any */
1484 const char *ofname; /* output filename */
1485 const char *olname; /* output link name */
1486 const char *where; /* where */
1487 const char *RegexWhere; /* regex where */
1488 int replace; /* replace flag */
1489 int create_status; /* status from createFile() */
1490 int32_t pkt_end; /* end packet sentinel */
1495 Typical code to create a regular file would be the following:
1498 struct plugin_ctx *p_ctx = (struct plugin_ctx *)ctx->pContext;
1499 time_t now = time(NULL);
1500 sp->fname = p_ctx->fname; /* set the full path/filename I want to create */
1502 sp->statp.st_mode = 0700 | S_IFREG;
1503 sp->statp.st_ctime = now;
1504 sp->statp.st_mtime = now;
1505 sp->statp.st_atime = now;
1506 sp->statp.st_size = -1;
1507 sp->statp.st_blksize = 4096;
1508 sp->statp.st_blocks = 1;
1512 This will create a virtual file. If you are creating a file that actually
1513 exists, you will most likely want to fill the statp packet using the
1516 Creating a directory is similar, but requires a few extra steps:
1519 struct plugin_ctx *p_ctx = (struct plugin_ctx *)ctx->pContext;
1520 time_t now = time(NULL);
1521 sp->fname = p_ctx->fname; /* set the full path I want to create */
1522 sp->link = xxx; where xxx is p_ctx->fname with a trailing forward slash
1523 sp->type = FT_DIREND
1524 sp->statp.st_mode = 0700 | S_IFDIR;
1525 sp->statp.st_ctime = now;
1526 sp->statp.st_mtime = now;
1527 sp->statp.st_atime = now;
1528 sp->statp.st_size = -1;
1529 sp->statp.st_blksize = 4096;
1530 sp->statp.st_blocks = 1;
1534 The link field must be set with the full cononical path name, which always
1535 ends with a forward slash. If you do not terminate it with a forward slash,
1536 you will surely have problems later.
1538 As with the example that creates a file, if you are backing up a real
1539 directory, you will want to do an stat() on the directory.
1541 Note, if you want the directory permissions and times to be correctly
1542 restored, you must create the directory {\bf after} all the file directories
1543 have been sent to Bacula. That allows the restore process to restore all the
1544 files in a directory using default directory options, then at the end, restore
1545 the directory permissions. If you do it the other way around, each time you
1546 restore a file, the OS will modify the time values for the directory entry.
1548 \subsection{setFileAttributes(bpContext *ctx, struct restore\_pkt *rp)}
1549 This is call not yet implemented. Called for a command plugin.
1551 See the definition of {\bf restre\_pkt} in the above section.
1553 \subsection{endRestoreFile(bpContext *ctx)}
1554 Called when a command plugin is done restoring a file.
1556 \subsection{pluginIO(bpContext *ctx, struct io\_pkt *io)}
1557 Called to do the input (backup) or output (restore) of data from or to a
1558 file for a command plugin. These routines simulate the Unix read(), write(), open(), close(),
1559 and lseek() I/O calls, and the arguments are passed in the packet and
1560 the return values are also placed in the packet. In addition for Win32
1561 systems the plugin must return two additional values (described below).
1573 int32_t pkt_size; /* Size of this packet */
1574 int32_t func; /* Function code */
1575 int32_t count; /* read/write count */
1576 mode_t mode; /* permissions for created files */
1577 int32_t flags; /* Open flags */
1578 char *buf; /* read/write buffer */
1579 const char *fname; /* open filename */
1580 int32_t status; /* return status */
1581 int32_t io_errno; /* errno code */
1582 int32_t lerror; /* Win32 error code */
1583 int32_t whence; /* lseek argument */
1584 boffset_t offset; /* lseek argument */
1585 bool win32; /* Win32 GetLastError returned */
1586 int32_t pkt_end; /* end packet sentinel */
1590 The particular Unix function being simulated is indicated by the {\bf func},
1591 which will have one of the IO\_OPEN, IO\_READ, ... codes listed above.
1592 The status code that would be returned from a Unix call is returned in
1593 {\bf status} for IO\_OPEN, IO\_CLOSE, IO\_READ, and IO\_WRITE. The return value for
1594 IO\_SEEK is returned in {\bf offset} which in general is a 64 bit value.
1596 When there is an error on Unix systems, you must always set io\_error, and
1597 on a Win32 system, you must always set win32, and the returned value from
1598 the OS call GetLastError() in lerror.
1600 For all except IO\_SEEK, {\bf status} is the return result. In general it is
1601 a positive integer unless there is an error in which case it is -1.
1603 The following describes each call and what you get and what you
1608 You will be passed fname, mode, and flags.
1609 You must set on return: status, and if there is a Unix error
1610 io\_errno must be set to the errno value, and if there is a
1611 Win32 error win32 and lerror.
1614 You will be passed: count, and buf (buffer of size count).
1615 You must set on return: status to the number of bytes
1616 read into the buffer (buf) or -1 on an error,
1617 and if there is a Unix error
1618 io\_errno must be set to the errno value, and if there is a
1619 Win32 error, win32 and lerror must be set.
1622 You will be passed: count, and buf (buffer of size count).
1623 You must set on return: status to the number of bytes
1624 written from the buffer (buf) or -1 on an error,
1625 and if there is a Unix error
1626 io\_errno must be set to the errno value, and if there is a
1627 Win32 error, win32 and lerror must be set.
1630 Nothing will be passed to you. On return you must set
1631 status to 0 on success and -1 on failure. If there is a Unix error
1632 io\_errno must be set to the errno value, and if there is a
1633 Win32 error, win32 and lerror must be set.
1636 You will be passed: offset, and whence. offset is a 64 bit value
1637 and is the position to seek to relative to whence. whence is one
1638 of the following SEEK\_SET, SEEK\_CUR, or SEEK\_END indicating to
1639 either to seek to an absolute possition, relative to the current
1640 position or relative to the end of the file.
1641 You must pass back in offset the absolute location to which you
1642 seeked. If there is an error, offset should be set to -1.
1643 If there is a Unix error
1644 io\_errno must be set to the errno value, and if there is a
1645 Win32 error, win32 and lerror must be set.
1647 Note: Bacula will call IO\_SEEK only when writing a sparse file.