NAME
afverify - verify of a previous backup
SYNOPSIS
afverify [ -lav ] [ -c <configuration-file> ] [ -<past-run-no>[.<past-
backup-no>] ] [ -h <backuphosts> ] [ -P <backup-ports> ] [ -C <root-
directory> ] [ -S <cartridge-set> ] [ -I <indexfile-part> ] [ -V <var-
directory> ] [ -k <encryption-key-file> ] [ -z <process-cmd>
<unprocess-cmd> ] [ -M <server-message-config> ]
DESCRIPTION
Without any arguments, this program runs a verify over the previously
written backup. This may either be a full or an incremental backup,
only the contents of the very previous run are used. All found
differences are reported. Though it is not considered to make too much
sense, it is also provided, that files and directories saved during a
run before the previous one can be checked. This can be done supplying
the <past-backup-specifier>. If this is a simple number, it counts back
from the previous full or incremental backup of the same total backup
number (this number is increased each run of the full_backup-command,
not by subsequent incremental backups). -1 means, that the backup
before the previous one is checked and so on. If the contents of a
previous total backup run should be checked, the following form may be
used: -<previous-run>.<previous-total-backup>, where <previous-total-
backup> counts back from the current total backup number and <previous-
run> counts back from the last backup (incremental or full) run among
the previous total. previous-run may be 0 here. E.g. verify -0.1 checks
the files saved during the last run of the previous total backup. Run
afverify with option -l, optionally -a or -<prev-total-backup> to get a
list of backups available for verify.
-a Together with -l list the available backups from all indexes and
not only the most recent one
-C <rootdir>
change to the given root-directory before verifying files
instead of the one specified in the client side configuration
file.
-c <configfile>
Use the given file for configuration information
-h <hostnames>
Use the given list of hosts as backup servers. This list is used
only, if no hostname information can be found as associated with
the current filesystem entry, that should be verified. The first
host in this list is the default server, if no hostname
information at all can be found. The hostnames in this list can
be separated by whitespace and/or commas
-I <idx-prefix>
The first part of the filename, the names of the stored files
and directories are written to. The current total backup number
is appended (that increments each start of a full backup). If
these files undergo processing, .z is appended
-l Don’t actually verify, but print summary information about
available backups, that can be verified or restored from,
prefixed with the arguments, that may be supplied as -<past-run-
no>[.<past-backup-no>]
-M <server-message-config>
The configuration to output messages from the server, that
normally are sent only via mail to a maintainer. The first word
consisting of the letters b r v and c tells, whether to output
messages during backup, restore, verify and copy-tape,
respecively. The next words must name the service name or port
number of the single stream servers, related to the option -P .
For each multi stream service configured with -P or in the
configuration file, the respective single stream service must be
given here
-k <file>
Use the contents of the given file as encryption key for
authenticating to the server
-P <portnos>
The list of port numbers for the backup servers either
configured in the parameter file or supplied with the -h option.
This list is used only, if no port number information can be
found as associated with the current filesystem entry, that
should be verified. The port numbers supplied here are asso-
ciated with the backup server names by position. The port
numbers in this list can be separated by whitespace and/or
commas
-V <var-dir>
The directory, where varying files are put
-v Verbose mode: print information records on tape and the names of
the checked files during operation
-z <proccmd> <unproccmd>
The commands to use for process and unprocess. If a command
comprises of several words, it must be put in quotes
In my opinion a verify makes only sense immediately following an
incremental or full backup with the purpose to check, whether the files
and directories did not get corrupt on the storage media. If you want
to do this (via cron or however), keep in mind, that the verify takes
at least the same time as the backup itself. If you have a huge amount
of data to save, the additional verify might consume a lot of time.
FILES
/etc/afbackup/client.conf
Client configuration file
/var/log/afbackup
The directory for logging the client backups
/var/lib/afbackup
Some internal state information of the client backups.
SEE ALSO
afclientconfig(8), xafclientconfig(8), full_backup(8), incr_backup(8),
afverify(8), afrestore(8), xafrestore(8), copy_tape(8),
afclient.conf(8), afserver(8), afmserver(8), afserver.conf(8),
update_indexes(8), tar(1)
AUTHOR
afbackup was written by Albert Fluegel (af@muc.de). This manpage was
extracted from the text docs by Christian Meder (meder@isr.uni-
stuttgart.de).