This chapter describes how to start the NetWorker programs and navigate their windows. It provides a Quick Tour using NetWorker to back up and recover files from a client system. To use NetWorker, your system must be configured as a NetWorker client. See “Requirements for NetWorker Clients”, for details on the requirements for NetWorker clients.
If your site has the optional NetWorker Archive Application, be sure to read Chapter 5, “Archiving and Retrieving Files,” for information on using the program windows.
When NetWorker is running on your system, you can see the NetWorker icons or the NetWorker Backup and NetWorker Recover windows on your screen (see Figure 2-1). The program icons include the “NetWorker knight” and a caption. If you see these, click an icon to open the program window.
If you do not see the NetWorker icons or the windows on your screen, start NetWorker from the command line on your system.
To start NetWorker from the command line, enter either the nwbackup or nwrecover command, specifying a NetWorker server name after the -s option. Use an ampersand (&) to run NetWorker in the background:
# nwbackup -s server_name & # nwrecover -s server_name & |
If you have a multi-server network and do not specify a server name, NetWorker chooses a backup server for you.
| Tip: You can start NetWorker from any directory. The directory where NetWorker starts is the location shown in the NetWorker Backup or NetWorker Recover directory display. |
If you receive an error message while starting NetWorker, there may be problems with your network configuration. Refer to “Requirements for NetWorker Clients” to confirm that your system is configured correctly as a NetWorker client. If you need further help, contact your system administrator.
NetWorker displays your files and directories using icons and windows. NetWorker windows provide an easy-to-use X Window System™ graphical user interface (GUI). This section shows you how to use NetWorker windows.
Figure 2-2 shows the NetWorker Backup window and its components.
The menu bars in the NetWorker Backup and NetWorker Recover windows contain the File, Tree, View, Change, Mark, Options, and Help pulldown menus. There are two choices for navigating NetWorker menus. You can use the point-and-drag method with a mouse, or you can use the keyboard shortcuts.
To pull down a menu using a mouse, move the mouse so its arrow points to your menu choice. Hold down the primary mouse button (usually on the left); the menu appears. With the mouse button still held down, drag the mouse arrow to the item in the menu, then release the button to make your choice.
To pull down a menu using keyboard shortcuts:
Hold down the [Alt] key.
Press the key that matches the underlined letter of the menu name.
Release both keys, then press the key that matches the underlined letter in the menu item name.
| Note: The left and right mouse button actions used in this manual are X Window System defaults. If you have problems using the mouse, your mouse buttons may be programmed differently. See your system administrator for help. |
Select the online Help menu, available in any NetWorker main window, for help on using NetWorker. Online help is available for components of the selected window, menu items, and dialog boxes.
The Help pulldown menu (see Figure 2-3) provides choices that provide help on the current window, a list of help topics to browse, directions for using Help, and information about the version of NetWorker you are using.
Select the On Topic menu item in the Help pulldown menu to open the Topics Help dialog box, as shown in Figure 2-4.
To see more information about a topic, click its title in the Topics scrolling list. Help text for the selected topic appears at the top of the dialog box. The Topics scrolling list remains available in the bottom panel for selecting other topics.
For example, clicking the topic Backup produces the dialog box shown in Figure 2-5.
To return to the NetWorker Backup window, click the Cancel button.
The five graphical buttons that appear on the speedbar (see Figure 2-6) serve as shortcuts for the following menu items:
Change Server—switches to a different NetWorker server
Mark—marks directories or files
Unmark—unmarks directories or files
Search—searches for specific directories or files
Start—starts the backup or recover operation
The speedbar is identical in the NetWorker Backup, NetWorker Recover, and NetWorker Archive windows. Clicking a speedbar button produces the same result as selecting the menu item from a pulldown menu.
The selection panels in the NetWorker Backup, NetWorker Recover, and NetWorker Archive windows show the current server and client selected. The selection panel in the NetWorker Recover window also displays the current Browse Time.
The Selection field shows the full pathname of the currently selected file or directory. Enter text in the Selection field or click a directory or file icon to select a different pathname.
The window is divided into two display areas: a directory display on the left side and a file display on the right side. Both display areas contain vertical and horizontal scrollbars that allow you to view complete directory and file information. You can adjust the window to fit more information in the display areas. The display areas contain icons that represent the files and directories in the path you select.
Navigate vertically or horizontally in the directory and file displays by clicking the triangular endpoints on the scrollbars, or by dragging the slider.
Use the checkbox next to an icon to mark and unmark files and directories for backup or recover. The icons you see in the window are described below. (Some of the icons represent terms common to UNIX.)
Folder icons represent directories (see Figure 2-7).
Open folder icons indicate that the tree structure of the directory, if any exists, appears in the directory display (see Figure 2-8).
A check mark in the checkbox next to a folder icon for a subdirectory indicates that it is marked for backup or recover (see Figure 2-9).
Shaded folder icons indicate a directory selected for menu actions. The folder contents appear in the file display (see Figure 2-10).
Folder icons with the red root-system represent mount points (see Figure 2-11).
In the file display, sheet icons represent files, while folder icons represent directories (see Figure 2-12).
Shaded sheets indicate selected files, and chain icons represent symbolic links (see Figure 2-13).
Brick icons represent block devices, while three-box icons represent character devices (see Figure 2-14).
The clock or watch icon replaces the cursor when NetWorker is busy performing a task.
The Exit menu item is in the File menu of all NetWorker windows (see Figure 2-15). Selecting the Exit item closes the current window, without backing up or recovering files, and quits the current window.
Follow the instructions in this section to become familiar with how NetWorker functions. The “Quick Tour” shows how to back up your current directory and recover a file using NetWorker. Chapters 3 and 4 provide detailed information about using NetWorker. Chapter 5 provides detailed information about using the optional NetWorker Archive Application.
The NetWorker Backup window displays a graphical representation of the path with the current directory highlighted. The NetWorker Backup window lets you browse the filesystem to examine your directories and decide which files to mark for backup.
The Quick Tour takes you through the following steps to practice backing up a file:
opening the NetWorker Backup window
expanding the current directory
marking an entire subdirectory for backup
excluding a file from the backup
starting the backup
Click the nwbackup icon (shown in Figure 2-16) to open the NetWorker Backup window, or type the nwbackup command at the system prompt.
The NetWorker Backup window appears, as shown in Figure 2-17.
The Selection field displays the pathname of the directory where you originally started NetWorker. The directory display shows a graphical representation of the path with the current directory highlighted. A highlighted directory is represented as a shaded folder icon in the display. The file display shows the contents of the current directory. A highlighted file is displayed as a shaded sheet icon.
Expand the current directory one level to find a subdirectory to mark for backup. Select Expand One Level from the Tree menu (see Figure 2-18).
The directory display changes to show the expanded directory, one level below, as shown in Figure 2-19.
To mark a subdirectory, click the checkbox next to the folder representing the subdirectory you want to back up. A check mark (3) appears in the checkboxes, as shown in Figure 2-20.
Click the folder to display its files. In the file display, the files and subdirectories contained in the marked subdirectory also appear marked, as shown.
When you mark a directory, its nested files and subdirectories are marked as well. The checkboxes of the parent directories are shaded to indicate that a subdirectory has been marked.
| Tip: You can also mark a directory by clicking its folder in the directory display and clicking the Mark speedbar button. The effect is the same as clicking the checkbox next to its folder. |
You can exclude a file from backup by unmarking it. Click the checkbox next to a file to unmark it in the file display. The check mark disappears, excluding the file from backup, as shown in Figure 2-21.
| Tip: You can also unmark a file by clicking its folder in the file display and clicking the Unmark speedbar button. The effect is the same as clicking the checkbox next to its folder. |
After you finish marking files, you are ready to start the backup. Click the Start speedbar button to start the backup.
Before the backup starts, the Backup Options dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 2-22.
| Tip: You can exclude groups of files by entering UNIX shell pattern matching characters in the Backup Options dialog box. For information on excluding patterns, see Chapter 4, “Backing Up and Recovering Files.” |
Use the Backup Options dialog box to tell NetWorker whether or not to compress the files during backup. The default choice for Do you want to compress this backup? is already highlighted, as shown. Click the Ok button to continue the backup with file compression.
The Backup Status window appears, as shown in Figure 2-23, so you can monitor the backup process.
| Tip: If you do not see files scrolling in the display, or if an error message appears, contact your system administrator. The server may be busy, or could have a configuration problem, or a backup volume might not be mounted in the device. |
When your backup is complete, you see a message similar to the following in the Backup Status dialog box:
Backup Completion Time: Fri Nov 3 14:20:42 1995 |
NetWorker backs up marked files to the volume mounted in the server backup device. NetWorker also creates an entry in the index for each file it backs up, so you can find them for quick recovery.
Click the Cancel button to close the Backup Status window. Click the minimize button in the window header to reduce the NetWorker Backup window and display the nwbackup icon. If you want to exit NetWorker (stop the program), select Exit from the File menu.
The NetWorker Recover window displays the index entries NetWorker creates when it backs up the data on your system. Index entries are organized exactly like the filesystem displayed in the NetWorker Backup window, so you can easily navigate through your directories and files.
The Quick Tour takes you through the following steps to practice recovering a file:
Click the nwrecover icon (shown in Figure 2-24) to open the NetWorker Recover window, or type the nwrecover command at the system prompt.
The NetWorker Recover window appears, as shown in Figure 2-25.
You can browse the index to locate a file you want to recover.
Notice that the current directory is highlighted.
Select Expand One Level from the Tree pulldown menu.
The subdirectories are displayed in a tree structure in the directory display, as shown in Figure 2-26.
| Tip: Double-clicking a closed directory folder expands it one level. Double-clicking an open directory folder collapses it. |
To mark a file or directory for a recover:
Click the directory folder that contains the file you want to recover. The file display shows the most recently backed-up version of the files contained in the directory.
Click the checkbox in the file display next to the file you want to recover, as shown in Figure 2-27. If you want to recover an entire directory, mark its checkbox in the directory display.
So far, you have browsed the index and marked files for recovery. The next step is to start the recover.
Click the Start speedbar button to start the recover. The Conflict Resolution dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 2-28.
Use the Conflict Resolution dialog box to resolve naming conflicts that might occur during recovery. Naming conflicts occur when the requested recover file has the same name as an existing file.
Click No for Do you want to be prompted when conflict occurs?, so that NetWorker does not prompt you for each naming conflict.
Click one of the When conflict occurs, NetWorker should? choices. The default choice, Rename the recover file, is already selected. This option adds a .R extension after the name of the recovered file when a naming conflict occurs.
| Tip: We recommend you select the default choice, Rename the recover file, to ensure that existing files are not accidentally overwritten. |
Click Ok to close the Conflict Resolution dialog box and continue the recover.
The Recover Status window appears, as shown in Figure 2-29, so you can monitor the recover process.
Confirm your file recover by listing the contents of the directory from a UNIX® command prompt. Since Rename the recover file was selected in the Conflict Resolution dialog box, the recovered file shown in the example has a .R file extension.
The Recover Status dialog box provides the following information:
Click the Cancel button to cancel the recover or close the Recover Status dialog box when the recover is finished.
A message similar to the following appears when the file recover completes:
Recover completion time: Wed Apr 17 15:21:17 1996 |
During the Quick Tour of NetWorker, you learned how to perform the following tasks:
Use the NetWorker GUI.
Use the NetWorker Backup window to back up a subdirectory to the NetWorker server.
Exclude a file from the backup.
Monitor the status of the backup.
Use the NetWorker Recover window to browse the index for your backed-up files.
Mark a file for recover in the Recover window.
Recover a file.
Use the Conflict Resolution dialog box to resolve naming conflicts during recover.
Monitor the status of the recover.
The Quick Tour is meant to familiarize you with the NetWorker Backup and NetWorker Recover windows. Chapter 3 shows how to view and mark your files and directories. Chapter 4 provides detailed information on performing backups and recovers.
If you have the optional NetWorker Archive Application, see Chapter 5, “Archiving and Retrieving Files” for information specific to the NetWorker Archive and NetWorker Retrieve windows.