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+%%
+%%
+
+\chapter{Critical Items to Implement Before Production}
+\label{CriticalChapter}
+\index[general]{Production!Critical Items to Implement Before }
+\index[general]{Critical Items to Implement Before Production }
+
+We recommend you take your time before implementing a production a Bacula
+backup system since Bacula is a rather complex program, and if you make a
+mistake, you may suddenly find that you cannot restore your files in case
+of a disaster. This is especially true if you have not previously used a
+major backup product.
+
+If you follow the instructions in this chapter, you will have covered most of
+the major problems that can occur. It goes without saying that if you ever
+find that we have left out an important point, please inform us, so
+that we can document it to the benefit of everyone.
+
+\label{Critical}
+\section{Critical Items}
+\index[general]{Critical Items }
+\index[general]{Items!Critical }
+
+The following assumes that you have installed Bacula, you more or less
+understand it, you have at least worked through the tutorial or have
+equivalent experience, and that you have set up a basic production
+configuration. If you haven't done the above, please do so and then come back
+here. The following is a sort of checklist that points with perhaps a brief
+explanation of why you should do it. In most cases, you will find the
+details elsewhere in the manual. The order is more or less the order you
+would use in setting up a production system (if you already are in
+production, use the checklist anyway).
+
+\begin{itemize}
+\item Test your tape drive for compatibility with Bacula by using the test
+ command in the \ilink{btape}{btape} program.
+\item Better than doing the above is to walk through the nine steps in the
+ \ilink{Tape Testing}{TapeTestingChapter} chapter of the manual. It
+ may take you a bit of time, but it will eliminate surprises.
+\item Test the end of tape handling of your tape drive by using the
+ fill command in the \ilink{btape}{btape} program.
+\item If you are using a Linux 2.4 kernel, make sure that /lib/tls is disabled. Bacula
+ does not work with this library. See the second point under
+ \ilink{ Supported Operating Systems.}{SupportedOSes}
+\item Do at least one restore of files. If you backup multiple OS types
+ (Linux, Solaris, HP, MacOS, FreeBSD, Win32, ...),
+ restore files from each system type. The
+ \ilink{Restoring Files}{RestoreChapter} chapter shows you how.
+\item Write a bootstrap file to a separate system for each backup job. The
+ Write Bootstrap directive is described in the
+ \ilink{Director Configuration}{writebootstrap} chapter of the
+ manual, and more details are available in the
+ \ilink{Bootstrap File}{BootstrapChapter} chapter. Also, the default
+ bacula-dir.conf comes with a Write Bootstrap directive defined. This allows
+ you to recover the state of your system as of the last backup.
+\item Backup your catalog. An example of this is found in the default
+ bacula-dir.conf file. The backup script is installed by default and
+ should handle any database, though you may want to make your own local
+ modifications. See also \ilink{Backing Up Your Bacula Database -
+ Security Considerations }{BackingUpBaculaSecurityConsiderations} for more
+ information.
+\item Write a bootstrap file for the catalog. An example of this is found in
+ the default bacula-dir.conf file. This will allow you to quickly restore your
+ catalog in the event it is wiped out -- otherwise it is many excruciating
+ hours of work.
+\item Make a copy of the bacula-dir.conf, bacula-sd.conf, and
+ bacula-fd.conf files that you are using on your server. Put it in a safe
+ place (on another machine) as these files can be difficult to
+ reconstruct if your server dies.
+\item Make a Bacula Rescue CDROM! See the
+ \ilink{Disaster Recovery Using a Bacula Rescue
+ CDROM}{RescueChapter} chapter. It is trivial to make such a CDROM,
+ and it can make system recovery in the event of a lost hard disk infinitely
+ easier.
+\item Bacula assumes all filenames are in UTF-8 format. This is important
+ when saving the filenames to the catalog. For Win32 machine, Bacula will
+ automatically convert from Unicode to UTF-8, but on Unix, Linux, *BSD,
+ and MacOS X machines, you must explicitly ensure that your locale is set
+ properly. Typically this means that the {bf LANG} environment variable
+ must end in {\bf .UTF-8}. An full example is {\bf en\_US.UTF-8}. The
+ exact syntax may vary a bit from OS to OS, and exactly how you define it
+ will also vary.
+
+ On most modern Win32 machines, you can edit the conf files with {\bf
+ notepad} and choose output encoding UTF-8.
+\end{itemize}
+
+\section{Recommended Items}
+\index[general]{Items!Recommended }
+\index[general]{Recommended Items }
+
+Although these items may not be critical, they are recommended and will help
+you avoid problems.
+
+\begin{itemize}
+\item Read the \ilink{Quick Start Guide to Bacula}{QuickStartChapter}
+\item After installing and experimenting with Bacula, read and work carefully
+ through the examples in the
+ \ilink{Tutorial}{TutorialChapter} chapter of this manual.
+\item Learn what each of the \ilink{Bacula Utility Programs}{_UtilityChapter}
+ does.
+\item Set up reasonable retention periods so that your catalog does not grow
+ to be too big. See the following three chapters:\\
+ \ilink{Recycling your Volumes}{RecyclingChapter},\\
+ \ilink{Basic Volume Management}{DiskChapter},\\
+ \ilink{Using Pools to Manage Volumes}{PoolsChapter}.
+\item Perform a bare metal recovery using the Bacula Rescue CDROM. See the
+ \ilink{Disaster Recovery Using a Bacula Rescue CDROM}{RescueChapter}
+ chapter.
+\end{itemize}
+
+If you absolutely must implement a system where you write a different
+tape each night and take it offsite in the morning. We recommend that you do
+several things:
+\begin{itemize}
+\item Write a bootstrap file of your backed up data and a bootstrap file
+ of your catalog backup to a floppy disk or a CDROM, and take that with
+ the tape. If this is not possible, try to write those files to another
+ computer or offsite computer, or send them as email to a friend. If none
+ of that is possible, at least print the bootstrap files and take that
+ offsite with the tape. Having the bootstrap files will make recovery
+ much easier.
+\item It is better not to force Bacula to load a particular tape each day.
+ Instead, let Bacula choose the tape. If you need to know what tape to
+ mount, you can print a list of recycled and appendable tapes daily, and
+ select any tape from that list. Bacula may propose a particular tape
+ for use that it considers optimal, but it will accept any valid tape
+ from the correct pool.
+\end{itemize}
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