Options Statement

Options control how DPX behaves during various operations.

The options are listed alphabetically below. Options that require a number are followed by an n. For options that require a numeric value, the default is in the explanation. Options that require a specific value such as "n" or "y" have a list of valid values in the explanation. The default is the first item in the list. Options that require a variable string are followed by string.

Format

Description

APPENDING

Applies to the backup operation.

Determines whether DPX accepts a tape with data on it.

Y	Accepts a backup tape from the selected media pool with data on it and writes to the unused portion of the tape. The appended data can have a retention period that differs from the data preceding it on the tape.
N	Requires a blank tape from the selected media pool.

CATALOGOPENFILES

Applies to the backup operation.

Tells DPX whether to back up open files. DPX acks up the file and then checks to see if it has been modified while the backup transpired. If it has, the file is considered open. Saving open files is not generally recommended. However, you may find this option useful for large files that are constantly open.

N	Does not save the backed up file if it detects that the file has been modified during the backup process and the number specified in the Open File Retry field has been reached.
Y	Saves the backed up file if it detects that the file has been modified during the backup process and the number specified in the Open File Retry field has been reached. In other words, DPX saves its last attempt to back up an open file if it finds the file is still open. Note that saving a file that has been modified during the backup could compromise the integrity of the file.

CHECKSUM

Applies to the backup operation.

Generates a checksum value for each file that is backed up.

N	Turns off checksum generation. If you turn checksum generation off, level 3 verification cannot be performed. See “VERIFYLEVEL” on page 44.17.
Y	Generates a checksum value for backed up files.

DATACOMPRESS

Applies to the backup operation.

Provides data compression strategies.

N	Recommended when CPU time is a concern and tape usage and transmission time are not.
Y	Recommended if you want to minimize tape usage. Data is compressed prior to writing to the media volume unless the data was compressed prior to transmission. It is recommended that if you set NETCOMPRESS to Y, you should also set DATACOMPRESS to Y.

DEST_PATH

Applies to the restore operation.

Determines whether DPX retains the original tree structure when you restore to a new location.

A	Retains the original tree structure. For example, if you are restoring a file named "/green" that was originally located in directory "/white" to a new location in directory "/red," the path would be "/red/white/green."
R	Removes the parent directories and puts the file in the new directory. For example, if you are restoring a file named "/green" that was originally located in directory "/white" to a new location in directory "/red," the path would be "/red/green."

ENCRYPTION

Applies to the backup, restore, and duplicate operations.

Encrypts transmitted data.

N	Turns network encryption off.
Y	Encrypts data being transmitted through the network so that it cannot be read by others. Encryption has performance implications.

EOJ_ACTION

Applies to the backup, restore, and duplicate operations.

Tells DPX what to do with the tape when the job is complete.

R	Rewinds the tape and leaves it in the drive.
U	Rewinds the tape and ejects it from the drive.
L	Leaves the tape wound at the point where the job ended and leaves it in the drive.

FILERETRYCOUNT n

Applies to the backup operation.

Controls how many times DPX attempts to back up an open file. If you enter zero, skips open files. If you enter a number, DPX waits until all the files on the node have been backed up then tries again to save the open files. DPX attempts this the number of times you enter here. The default is 5.

LABELNEWTAPE

Applies to the backup and duplicate operations.

Determines how DPX behaves when it finds an unlabeled tape in the tape drive.

Y	Tells DPX to label the unlabeled tape with a free label from the default media pool. This saves the step of labeling a tape beforehand.
N	Tells DPX not to use the unlabeled tape.

MAILADDR string

Applies to the backup, restore, and duplicate operations.

Specifies the email address to which reports are sent. The email address may not contain spaces. The default is a null or empty string.

MAXDRIVES n

Applies to the backup and restore operations.

Limits the number of storage devices in any device cluster that DPX can use for this job. You may want to stop DPX from using all the drives in the selected device cluster so that some drives will be available for other purposes. The default is 9.

MAXTASKS n

Applies to the backup operation.

Sets the maximum number of nodes that can have files backed up to a single device. The default is 3.

MIGRRETN

Applies to the migrate operation.

Used before the RETENTION command. Determines how the RETENTION value is applied:

Y	The retention value entered will replace the current retention value of the backup job.
N	The retention value entered will be added to the current value of the backup job.

MULTFS

Applies to the backup operation.

Backs up partitions concurrently. Use this option when backing up multiple partitions and there is no device or memory limitations. It is recommended that each node being backed up by this method has at least 32 MB of memory.

Note. MULTFS and MULTITHREAD are mutually exclusive. If you specify Y here, you cannot use the MULTITHREAD option.

Y	Backs up partitions concurrently.
N	Does not back up partitions concurrently.

MULTITHREAD

Applies to the backup operation.

Indicates desired performance option. DPX provides several different ways in which you can implement concurrency to improve performance. All the options require multiple storage devices. Use the following selections to tell DPX how to back up data concurrently among storage devices.

Note. The selections behave the same when backing up raw partitions.

Note. MULTFS and MULTITHREAD are mutually exclusive. If you specify S or E here, you cannot use the MULTFS option.

N	Backs up nodes concurrently. Use this option when memory is limited or when you will not derive benefit from any of the other choices.
S	Backs up files concurrently. Use this option when backing up single partitions and there is no device or memory limitations. It is recommended that each node being backed up with this method has at least 32 MB of memory.
E	Backs up files concurrently and splits files that exceed the Split Size threshold. Each part of the split file is backed up concurrently. Use this with large raw partition backups or when you are backing up very large files and the number of files or partitions is less than or equal to the number of devices.

NETCOMPRESS

Applies to the backup, restore, and **duplicate*8 operations.

Compresses data prior to network transmission.

N

Turns data compression off.

Y

Compresses data prior to transmission at the node being backed up. The data is decompressed by the tape drive node unless DATACOMPRESS is set to Y. This setting is recommended if there is processing power available on the data nodes and bandwidth is limited. This setting minimizes the impact of data transmission on data lines. It is recommended that if you set NETCOMPRESS to Y, you should also set DATACOMPRESS to Y.

ORIGTAPEOFFSITE

Applies to the backup operation.

Determines if a backup tape is stored offsite. If twinning is on, this option applies to the first tape.

Y	Indicates in the Catalog the tape is stored offsite.
N	Indicates in the Catalog that the tape is stored onsite.

OPERATORMAILADDR string

Applies to the backup, restore, and duplicate operations.

Specifies the email address of the individual that you want DPX to notify of failed tape mounts. The email address may not contain spaces. The default is a null or empty string.

PARENTPRIVILEGE

Applies to the restore operation.

Controls how DPX behaves if it tries to restore a file to a directory and discovers that the directory does not exist.

Y	The directory is created with the same privileges as its parent directory.
N	The directory is created with the default root privileges.

REMOVENONBACKUPJOBS

Applies to the restore operation.

Lets you delete a restore job after it has completed successfully.

N	Does not delete a job after it completes successfully.
Y	Automatically deletes a job after it completes successfully.

REPLACE

Applies to the restore operation.

Tells DPX how to behave if it finds a file at the destination with the same name as the file that it is restoring.

D	For existing directories, restores directory characteristics only such as date, time, and owner. For existing files, restores the file to a temporary file, ensures that the restore is successful, then writes over the existing file with the like-named file being restored.
E	Deletes the existing file before restoring the like-named file. Use this option when disk space limitations prohibit using F.
F	Restores the file to a temporary file, ensures that the restore is successful, then writes over the existing file with the like-named file being restored.
N	Does not write over the existing file or directory if it has the same name as the one being restored.
R	Renames the file being restored to a name derived from the existing file. On NTFS and UNIX, DPX appends .R01 to the filename. If filename.R01 exists, DPX uses .R02 and so on. On FAT, a file extension of .R01 is used. For example, file ABCD.TXT is restored as ABCD.R01. If ABCD.R01 exists, ABCD.R02 is used and so on.

RETENTION n

Applies to the backup operation.

Determines both how long the location of the backed up data is saved in the Catalog and how long before a tape expires (frees for use). DPX stamps the tape with the retention period and will not overwrite the data on that tape until the retention period expires.

DPX checks for retention period expiration as part of the Catalog condense operation. If you do not perform a Catalog condense, then tapes will not expire. It is recommended that you perform Catalog condense on a regular basis.

If you have elected to append data to a tape, then the appended data can have a different retention period than the rest of the tape. Moreover, the data preceding the appended data can expire first. In this case, to preserve the integrity of the unexpired data, DPX does not use the expired portion of the tape. The default is 90. The unit of measure is days.

For migration operations, the RETENTION statement should follow the MIGRRETN statement.

SKIPNFS

Applies to the backup operation.

Controls how behaves when it encounters an NFS volume during a backup operation. NFS volumes are remotely mounted volumes owned by another node.

N	Backs up NFS volumes.
Y	Does not back up NFS volumes.

SPLITTHRESHOLD n

Applies to the backup operation.

Sets a threshold for file splitting. If MULTITHREAD is set to E and the file exceeds the size entered here, DPX automatically splits the file onto different tapes. If the file does not exceed the size entered here, does not split the file. Keep the threshold large enough so that file splitting is reserved for truly large files such as 2 GB. The unit of measure is bytes.

File splitting is the ability of DPX to split a file into smaller pieces and to backup those pieces simultaneously. File splitting is designed for large files or raw partitions.

TAPEMOUNTRETRY n

Applies to the backup, restore, and duplicate operations.

Tells DPX how many times to check a tape drive for a tape.

TAPEWAITINTERVAL n

Applies to the backup, restore, and duplicate operations.

Tells DPX how many seconds to wait between attempts.

TASKRETRYCOUNT n

Applies to the backup operation.

Controls how DPX behaves when it cannot establish contact with a node during a backup operation. If you enter zero, DPX skips unreachable nodes. If you enter a number, DPX waits until all the nodes have been backed up and then tries to back up the nodes that it could not back up on its first attempt. The number you enter determines how many times DPX tries to reach unreachable nodes. The default is 5.

TWIN

Applies to the backup operation.

Enables the twinning option.

N	Disables twinning.
Y	Backs up data simultaneously to two tapes.

TWINTAPEOFFSITE

Applies to the backup and duplicate operations.

Indicates in the Catalog the location of the twinned tapes (if twinning is on).

N	Indicates in the Catalog that the tape is stored onsite.
Y	Indicates that the twinned tape (second tape) is stored offsite.

VERIFYLEVEL

Applies to the backup operation.

Controls the data verification technique DPX uses when writing data to a media volume. The higher the verification level the greater the safety and the longer backup takes. Each verification level builds upon the preceding level. For example, level 3 performs level 1 and level 2 verification as well.

0	Writes data to the media volume without verification. This is the fastest option.
1	Reads the tape to ensure that it is readable.
2	Reads the tape and ensures that the SIDF headers are present and contain the correct information. Performs level 1 verification as well.
3	Ensures that each file on the tape generates a checksum value that matches the one contained in the SIDF header. This verification is only performed if the checksum feature is set to ON in Destination Options. Performs level 1 and level 2 verifications as well.