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System Administration Guide: Devices and File Systems     Oracle Solaris 10 8/11 Information Library
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Document Information

About This Book

1.  Managing Removable Media (Overview)

2.  Managing Removable Media (Tasks)

3.  Accessing Removable Media (Tasks)

4.  Writing CDs and DVDs (Tasks)

5.  Managing Devices (Overview/Tasks)

6.  Dynamically Configuring Devices (Tasks)

7.  Using USB Devices (Overview)

8.  Using USB Devices (Tasks)

9.  Using InfiniBand Devices (Overview/Tasks)

10.  Managing Disks (Overview)

11.  Administering Disks (Tasks)

12.  SPARC: Setting Up Disks (Tasks)

13.  x86: Setting Up Disks (Tasks)

14.  Configuring Oracle Solaris iSCSI Targets and Initiators (Tasks)

15.  The format Utility (Reference)

16.  Managing File Systems (Overview)

17.  Creating and Mounting File Systems (Tasks)

18.  Using The CacheFS File System (Tasks)

19.  Configuring Additional Swap Space (Tasks)

20.  Checking UFS File System Consistency (Tasks)

21.  UFS File System (Reference)

22.  Backing Up and Restoring UFS File Systems (Overview)

23.  Backing Up UFS Files and File Systems (Tasks)

24.  Using UFS Snapshots (Tasks)

25.  Restoring UFS Files and File Systems (Tasks)

26.  UFS Backup and Restore Commands (Reference)

27.  Copying Files and File Systems (Tasks)

Commands for Copying File Systems

Copying File Systems Between Disks

Making a Literal File System Copy

How to Copy a Disk (dd)

Copying Directories Between File Systems (cpio Command)

How to Copy Directories Between File Systems (cpio)

Copying Files and File Systems to Tape

Copying Files to Tape (tar Command)

How to Copy Files to a Tape (tar)

How to List the Files on a Tape (tar)

How to Retrieve Files From a Tape (tar)

Copying Files to a Tape With the pax Command

How to Copy Files to a Tape (pax)

Copying Files to Tape With the cpio Command

How to Copy All Files in a Directory to a Tape (cpio)

How to List the Files on a Tape (cpio)

How to Retrieve All Files From a Tape (cpio)

How to Retrieve Specific Files From a Tape (cpio)

Copying Files to a Remote Tape Device

How to Copy Files to a Remote Tape Device (tar and dd)

How to Extract Files From a Remote Tape Device

Copying Files and File Systems to Diskette

What You Should Know When Copying Files to Diskettes

How to Copy Files to a Single Formatted Diskette (tar)

How to List the Files on a Diskette (tar)

How to Retrieve Files From a Diskette (tar)

Archiving Files to Multiple Diskettes

28.  Managing Tape Drives (Tasks)

Index

Commands for Copying File Systems

When you need to back up and restore complete UFS file systems, use the ufsdump and ufsrestore commands described in Chapter 26, UFS Backup and Restore Commands (Reference). When you want to copy or move individual files, portions of file systems, or complete file systems, you can use the procedures described in this chapter instead of the ufsdump and ufsrestore commands.

The following table describes when to use the various backup commands.

Table 27-1 When to Use Various Backup Commands

Task
Command
For More Information
Back up UFS file systems to tape.
ufsdump
Create a file system snapshot.
fssnap
Restore UFS file systems from tape.
ufsrestore
Transport files to other systems.
pax, tar, or cpio
Copy files or file systems between disks.
dd
Copy files to diskette.
tar

The following table describes various backup and restore commands.

Table 27-2 Summary of Various Backup Commands

Command Name
Aware of File System Boundaries?
Supports Multiple Volume Backups?
Physical or Logical Copy?
volcopy
Yes
Yes
Physical
tar
No
No
Logical
cpio
No
Yes
Logical
pax
Yes
Yes
Logical
dd
Yes
No
Physical
ufsdump/ufsrestore
Yes
Yes
Logical
fssnap
N/A
N/A
Logical

The following table describes the advantages and disadvantages of some of these commands.

Table 27-3 Advantages and Disadvantages of tar, pax, and cpio Commands

Command
Function
Advantages
Disadvantages
tar
Use to copy files and directory subtrees to a single tape.
  • Available on most UNIX operating systems
  • Public domain versions are readily available

  • Is not aware of file system boundaries
  • Length of full path name cannot exceed 255 characters

  • Cannot be used to create multiple tape volumes

pax
Use to copy files, special files, or file systems that require multiple tape volumes. Or, use when you want to copy files to and from POSIX-compliant systems.
  • Better portability than the tar or cpio commands for POSIX-compliant systems
  • Multiple vendor support

Same disadvantages as the tar command, except that the pax command can create multiple tape volumes.
cpio
Use to copy files, special files, or file systems that require multiple tape volumes. Or, use when you want to copy files from systems running current Oracle Solaris releases systems to systems running older Solaris releases.
  • Packs data onto tape more efficiently than the tar command
  • Skips over any bad spots in a tape when restoring

  • Provides options for writing files with different header formats, such as ( tar, ustar, crc, odc, bar), for portability between different system types

  • Creates multiple tape volumes

The command syntax is more difficult than the tar or pax commands.

The following sections describes step-by-step instructions and examples of how to use these commands.