How to Create an Incremental Backup of a UFS Snapshot (ufsdump)

If you want to back up a UFS snapshot incrementally, which means only the files that have been modified since the last snapshot are backed up, use the ufsdump command with the new N option. This option specifies the file system device name to be inserted into the /etc/dumpdates file for tracking incremental dumps.

The following ufsdump command specifies an embedded fssnap command to create an incremental backup of a file system.

1. Become superuser or assume an equivalent role.

2. Create an incremental backup of a UFS snapshot.

   For example:

   # ufsdump 1ufN /dev/rmt/0 /dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s0 `fssnap -F ufs -o raw,bs= /export/scratch,unlink /dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s0`

   The -o raw option is used in the example to display the name of the raw device instead of the block device. By using this option, you make it easier to embed the fssnap command in commands that require the raw device instead, such as the ufsdump command.

3. Verify that the snapshot is backed up.

   # ufsrestore ta /dev/rmt/0