Commands for Copying File Systems

When you need to back up and restore complete file systems, use the ufsdump and ufsrestore commands described in Chapter 49, 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 50–1 When to Use Various Backup Commands

Task	Command	For More Information
Back up file systems to tape	ufsdump	How to Backup a File System to Tape
Create a file system snapshot	fssnap	Chapter 47, Using UFS Snapshots (Tasks)
Restore file systems from tape	ufsrestore	How to Restore a Complete File System
Transport files to other systems	pax, tar, or cpio	Copying Files and File Systems to Tape
Copy files or file systems between disks	dd	How to Copy a Disk (dd)
Copy files to diskette	tar	How to Copy Files to a Single Formatted Diskette (tar)

The following table describes various backup and restore commands.

Table 50–2 Summary of Various Backup Commands

Command Name	Aware of File System Boundaries?	Support Multi 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

The following sections describe the advantages and disadvantages of each method, and provide step-by-step instructions and examples of how to use the commands.