Backup - PostgreSQL iDataAgent

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Table of contents

Related Topics

Overview

Log Only Backups

Performing Log Backups

Managing Jobs

Restarting Jobs

Controlling Jobs

Additional Options

Job Management

Provides comprehensive information on managing jobs.

Overview

The subsequent backups of the dump based backupsets will also be performed as full backups only. For File System backupsets, you can perform either full or Log backups.

Backups can be run on demand or can be scheduled to be run at a later point of time. However, it is always recommended that you schedule your backups at frequent intervals.

The following section describe the additional backup mode and options that are available for this iDataAgent:

Log Only Backups

Log backups are useful when you want to recover database transactions that have been lost due to an operating system or disk failure. You can apply these logs to an online backup in order to recover a database.

File system backups include both data and logs.

Ensure that the PostgreSQL database is in ARCHIVE mode.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the default File system subclient, and click Backup.
  2. From the Backup Options dialog box, select Log Only backup type.
  3. Select Immediate to run the backup operation immediately. Select Schedule to schedule the backup for a specific time.
  4. Click OK.
  5. You can track the progress of the backup job from the Job Controller window. If you schedule the backup, your backup operation will execute according to the specified schedule. Once initiated, you can track the progress of the backup job from the Job Controller window. Once completed, the details of the job can be viewed in the Job History window.

 

 

Performing Log Backups

For successful log only backups, it is mandatory that the WAL segment size for PostgreSQL is 16 MB both for Windows and Unix client.

By default, all the versions of PostgreSQL have 16 MB WAL segment size except Postgres Plus Advanced Server v9.0.

Use the following steps to configure the WAL segment size for Postgres Plus Advanced Server v9.0 to 16 MB:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers node.
  2. Right-click the <Client>, and then click Properties.
  3. On the Client Computer Properties dialog box, click Advanced.
  4. Click the Additional Settings tab.
  5. Click Add.
  6. In the Name box, type sWalSegmentSize. The Category and Type details will be automatically populated.

    7. Alternatively, you can click Lookup and search for the additional setting using the Find box.

  7. In the Value box, type the WAL segment size as 16.
  8. Click OK to save the additional setting configuration.
  9. Click OK.

Managing Jobs

Once you initiate the backup operation, a backup job is generated in the Job Controller. Jobs can be managed in a number of ways. If a Job fails, the dump based backup job will not restart from the beginning, but will resume from the point of failure. However, File System based backups will restart from the beginning.

The following sections provide information on the different job management options available:

Restarting Jobs

Jobs that fail to complete successfully are automatically restarted based on the job restartability configuration set in the Control Panel. This configuration can be changed at any time; however, changes to this configuration will affect all jobs run in the entire CommCell.

It is also possible to override the default CommServe configuration for individual jobs by configuring retry settings when initiating the job. This configuration, however, will apply only to the specific job.

Backup jobs for this Agent are resumed from the point-of-failure.

Configure Job Restartability at the CommServe Level

  1. In the CommCell Console, click the Control Panel icon, then double-click Job Management.
  2. In the Job Restarts tab of the Job Management dialog box, select a job type from the Job Type list, and then select the Restartable check box.
  3. To change the maximum number of times the Job Manager will try to restart a job, select a number in the Max Restarts box.
  4. To change the time interval between attempts by the Job Manager to restart the job, select a number of minutes in the Restart Interval (Mins) box.
  5. Click OK to save your changes.

Configure Job Restartability for an Individual Job

  1. From the Backup Options dialog box, click Advanced, then select the Job Retry tab and specify the following as desired:
  2. Click OK.

Controlling Jobs

The following controls are available for running jobs in the Job Controller window:

Suspend

 Temporarily stops a job. A suspended job is not terminated; it can be restarted at a later time. Only preemptible jobs can be suspended.

Resume

 Resumes a job and returns the status to Waiting, Pending, Queued, or Running depending on the availability of resources or the state of the operation windows and activity control settings.

Backup jobs for this Agent are resumed from the point-of-failure.

Kill

 Terminates a job.

These controls can be applied to:

  1. From the Job Controller of the CommCell Console, right-click the job and select Kill, Suspend, or Resume as desired.

Additional Options

Several additional options are available to further refine your backup operations. These options are available from the Advanced Backup Options window.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, expand Client Computers by double-clicking Client Computers | PostGreSQL| <instance name>. The default backupsets are automatically created and displayed under the instance. The default subclients for the backupsets are displayed on the right-hand windowpane.
  2. To back up the default subclients or user-defined subclients (for dump based backupset only), right-click the subclient, and click Backup.
  3. From the Backup Options dialog box, click Advanced.

The following table describes the additional options:

Option Description
Startup Options The start options are accessible from the Startup tab in the Advanced Backup Options window.

These options facilitate the startup behavior of the backup job.

The Default Priority option dictates the type of job that will be used in determining how the Job Manager will allocate resources for this job.

The Change Priority option specifies the priority for the job, between 0 (highest priority) and 999 (lowest priority). The Job Manager will use the priority setting when allocating the required resources. This is useful if you have jobs that are very important and must complete, or jobs that can be moved to a lower priority.

The Start up in Suspended State specifies that this job will start in the Job Controller in a suspended state and cannot run until the job is manually resumed using the Resume option. This option can be used to add a level of manual control when a job is started. For example, you could schedule jobs to start in the suspended state and then choose which scheduled jobs complete by resuming the operation started in the suspended state.

Refer to the Job Priority and Priority Precedence documentation for a comprehensive overview prior to using these options.
Job Retry Options The job retry options are accessible from the Job Retry tab in the Advanced Backup Options window.

These options enable you to configure the retry behavior of the backup jobs.

  • Total Running Time - The maximum elapsed time, in hours and minutes, from the time that the job is created. When the specified maximum elapsed time is reached, as long as the job is in the "Running" state, it will continue; if the job is not in the "Running" state when the specified time is reached, Job Manager will kill the job.
  • Number of Retries - The number of times that Job Manager will attempt to restart the job. Once the maximum number of retry attempts has been reached, if the job has still not restarted successfully, Job Manager will kill the job. Note that this job-based setting will not be valid if restartability has been turned off in the Job Management Control Panel.
  • Kill Running Jobs When Total Running Time Expires - Option to kill the job when the specified Total Running Time has elapsed, even if its state is "Running". This option is available only if you have specified a Total Running Time.

Refer to the Job Management documentation for a comprehensive overview prior to using these features.
Start New Media This option is accessible from the Media tab in the Advanced Backup Options window.

This option starts the backup/archive operation on a new media, which causes the following to occur:

  • If removable media is used, the current active media is marked as Appendable and a new media is used for the backup/archive.
  • If disk media is used, a new volume folder is created for the backup/archive.

If cleared, the operation automatically uses the current active media or volume.

This media management feature provides a degree of control over where the data physically resides, for example helping you to meet security or performance goals. This feature is useful in situations where you would like the data to reside on a new media, not appended to a media already containing backup/archive data.

Refer to the Creating an Exportable Media Set section of the Export Media documentation for a comprehensive overview prior to using this feature. 

Another form of the Start New Media option is available from the library properties. Refer to the Start New Media section of the Library Properties documentation for a comprehensive overview.
Mark Media Full This option is accessible from the Media tab in the Advanced Backup Options window.

This option marks media full, 2 minutes after the completion of the backup/archive operation. If any jobs are initiated within the 2 minutes, they are allowed to write to the media. If the job was associated with the prior media, new media (such as a new tape) will be used for subsequent jobs. (Applies to all backup/archive types.)

This media management feature provides a degree of control over where the data physically resides, for example helping you to meet security or performance goals. This  feature prevents any other data from being written to the media. If the job was associated with the prior media, new media (such as a new tape) will be used for subsequent jobs. (Applies to all backup/archive types.)

Refer to the Create an Exportable Media Set section of the Export Media documentation for a comprehensive overview prior to using this feature.

Refer to the Export Media documentation for a comprehensive overview prior to using this feature.
Allow other Schedules to use Media Set This option is accessible from the Media tab in the Advanced Backup Options window.

This option allows jobs that are part of a schedule policy or schedule and using a specific storage policy to start a new media and also prevent other jobs from writing to the set of media. It is available only when the Start New Media and Mark Media Full options are enabled, and can be used in the following situations:

  • When one scheduled job initiates several jobs and you only want to start new media on the first job.
  • When you want to target specific backups to a media, or a set of media if multiple streams are used.

Refer to the Creating an Exportable Media Set section of the Export Media documentation for a comprehensive overview prior to using this feature.
Data Path Options The data path options can be accessed from the Data Path tab in the Advanced Backup Options window.

Data can be backed up to any compatible library and drive type in the CommCell. By default the system automatically identifies the data path for backup operations as configured in the CommCell. You can change this data path at the backup level by selecting a specific MediaAgent, library or drive pool in the Advanced Backup Options dialog. The data path change can be specified at the backup, schedule and the schedule policy levels. Note that the data path changes specified are only applicable only for the specific backup job/backup schedule.

Ensure that the specified MediaAgent and the library or drive pool are available and accessible, failing which the job will go into Pending state; failover protection does not apply here. Also, note that this setting overrides all other settings, including the data path settings at the Storage Policy, Subclient and the alternate data path (Gridstor).

The change data path options are useful in the following situations:

  • The preferred MediaAgent, library or drive pool is not available during the backup.
  • You wish to use a different MediaAgent, library or drive pool for load balancing purposes.
  • You wish to direct that backup to a particular location for compliance purposes.

Refer to Change Data Path documentation for a comprehensive overview prior to using this feature.
Vault Tracker You can access the vault tracking options from the Vault Tracker tab in the Advanced Backup Options window.

Several Vault Tracking options are available to export and track media. These options are available only when a Vault Tracker license is available in the CommServe, and are only applicable for data protection operations using a storage policy associated with a library containing removable media (e.g., tape, optical or stand-alone.)

Refer to the following documentation for a comprehensive overview prior to using this feature:
Alerts You can configure alerts for the specific backup job from the Alert tab in the Advanced Backup Options window.

Refer to Alerts documentation for comprehensive overview prior to using this feature.

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