Topics | How To | Full System Restore | Related Topics
Restore Considerations for this Agent
The following page describes the agent-specific restore options. Additional restore options are accessible from the Related Topics menu.
The Informix iDataAgent supports the following types of restores:
Additionally, the Informix iDataAgent supports:
The dialog box that provides the first three options in the previous list also provides an option that allows you to view restore-related information in the time zone that you require.
Log Only option in Informix Restore Options Dialog box, allow you to apply the transaction logs that were backed up on a primary system after a full database backup, to the secondary machine. After a full backup on a primary system, you must perform a cross machine full instance database restore by selecting Physical option and unselecting the Logical option in Informix Restore Options Dialog box. This will recover all committed data and keep Informix database in Fast Recovery state. If you wish to switch over from primary to the secondary machine, perform the Log Only restore job to restore all the collected logs from primary machine to the secondary.
For the Informix iDataAgent, restore operations can be performed from the client and instance levels in the CommCell Browser.
When there is a problem with the Informix database or the client system (operating system, hardware, hard drives, etc.), full system restores may be required. See Restore Data - Informix iDataAgent - Full System Restore for more information.
If the database is upgraded, the next backup that is run detects the new version. The version is refreshed and displayed in the instance Properties dialog box and for the SQL Server iDataAgent, it is displayed during a browse operation. For more information, see Browse Databases.
Informix iDataAgent restore jobs cannot be suspended unless they are in a pending state.
If you set up INFORMIX HOME on the local disk for each node in a clustered environment instead of on the shared directory (disk), and if a failover occurs during a backup, an additional restore step is required when (and before) you restore the data to the node to which the failover occurred. For example, suppose that while you are backing up the Informix data from Node 1, a failover to Node 2 occurs. Thereafter, suppose you want to restore the Informix data to Node 2. In such a case, you must first restore the CONFIG files (i.e., ixbar.1 and onconfig) originating from Node 1 to Node 2 before you restore the Informix data.
The additional restore is required under this scenario because the Informix application (including $INFORMIX_DIR/etc) is not shared when you run the backup on Node 1, and the ixbar.1 file on NODE 2 is not updated as the backup completes. This means that the ixbar.1 file on each node now has different contents. However, the contents of the ixbar.1 file on Node 1 are required to complete the restore of the Informix data, therefore necessitating the additional restore discussed in this section.
For information on clustered environments, see Clustering Support.
By default, the Informix iDataAgent restores data to the client computer from which it originated; this is referred to as an in-place restore. You can also restore the data to another Client computer in the CommCell. Keep in mind the following considerations when performing such restores:
The following section enumerates the types of restore destinations that are supported by the Informix iDataAgent. See Restore/Recover/Retrieve Destinations - Support for a list of Agents supporting each restore destination type.
Keep in mind that out-of-place restore operations are also subject to the conditions described in Cross-Platform Restores.
You should restore Informix database data to a different host (or out of place) if the original (source) host is damaged. This is sometimes called a cross-machine restore.
Whenever you perform this type of restore, the source machine and destination machine must have the same operating system, Informix version, and database dbspace directory structure. In addition, the database server name, database server number, root path and all dbspace physical paths for the destination host must be the same as those for the source host. Also, the destination machine must have sufficient disk space to accommodate the restored database.
Finally, it is recommended that the following instance-related parameters be identical on the source host and the destination host: Informix directory, Informix instance, server number, and ONCONFIG file.