Red Hat SummitChapter 12. Restoring an XFS file system from backup
As a system administrator, you can use the xfsrestore utility to restore XFS backup created with the xfsdump utility and stored in a file or on a tape.
12.1. Features of restoring XFS from backup
The xfsrestore utility restores file systems from backups produced by xfsdump. The xfsrestore utility has two modes:
- The simple mode enables users to restore an entire file system from a level 0 dump. This is the default mode.
- The cumulative mode enables file system restoration from an incremental backup: that is, level 1 to level 9.
A unique session ID or session label identifies each backup. Restoring a backup from a tape containing multiple backups requires its corresponding session ID or label.
To extract, add, or delete specific files from a backup, enter the xfsrestore interactive mode. The interactive mode provides a set of commands to manipulate the backup files.
12.2. Restoring an XFS file system from backup with xfsrestore
This procedure describes how to restore the content of an XFS file system from a file or tape backup.
Prerequisites
- A file or tape backup of XFS file systems, as described in Backing up an XFS file system.
- A storage device where you can restore the backup.
Procedure
The command to restore the backup varies depending on whether you are restoring from a full backup or an incremental one, or are restoring multiple backups from a single tape device:
xfsrestore [-r] [-S session-id] [-L session-label] [-i] -f backup-location restoration-path
# xfsrestore [-r] [-S session-id] [-L session-label] [-i] -f backup-location restoration-pathCopy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow -
Replace backup-location with the location of the backup. This can be a regular file, a tape drive, or a remote tape device. For example,
/backup-files/Data.xfsdumpfor a file or/dev/st0for a tape drive. -
Replace restoration-path with the path to the directory where you want to restore the file system. For example,
/mnt/data/. -
To restore a file system from an incremental (level 1 to level 9) backup, add the
-roption. To restore a backup from a tape device that contains multiple backups, specify the backup using the
-Sor-Loptions.The
-Soption lets you choose a backup by its session ID, while the-Loption lets you choose by the session label. To obtain the session ID and session labels, use thexfsrestore -Icommand.Replace session-id with the session ID of the backup. For example,
b74a3586-e52e-4a4a-8775-c3334fa8ea2c. Replace session-label with the session label of the backup. For example,my_backup_session_label.To use
xfsrestoreinteractively, use the-ioption.The interactive dialog begins after
xfsrestorefinishes reading the specified device. Available commands in the interactivexfsrestoreshell includecd,ls,add,delete, andextract; for a complete list of commands, use thehelpcommand.
-
Replace backup-location with the location of the backup. This can be a regular file, a tape drive, or a remote tape device. For example,
Example 12.1. Restoring Multiple XFS File Systems
To restore the XFS backup files and save their content into directories under
/mnt/:xfsrestore -f /backup-files/boot.xfsdump /mnt/boot/ xfsrestore -f /backup-files/data.xfsdump /mnt/data/
# xfsrestore -f /backup-files/boot.xfsdump /mnt/boot/ # xfsrestore -f /backup-files/data.xfsdump /mnt/data/Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow To restore from a tape device containing multiple backups, specify each backup by its session label or session ID:
xfsrestore -L "backup_boot" -f /dev/st0 /mnt/boot/ xfsrestore -S "45e9af35-efd2-4244-87bc-4762e476cbab" \ -f /dev/st0 /mnt/data/
# xfsrestore -L "backup_boot" -f /dev/st0 /mnt/boot/ # xfsrestore -S "45e9af35-efd2-4244-87bc-4762e476cbab" \ -f /dev/st0 /mnt/data/Copy to Clipboard Copied! Toggle word wrap Toggle overflow
12.3. Informational messages when restoring an XFS backup from a tape
When restoring a backup from a tape with backups from multiple file systems, the xfsrestore utility might issue messages. The messages inform you whether a match of the requested backup has been found when xfsrestore examines each backup on the tape in sequential order. For example:
The informational messages keep appearing until the matching backup is found.
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