HP Data Protector IDB Purge, Data Protector User Manual
HP Data Protector IDB Purge best practices
Commands that purge obsolete data from the HP Data Protector
(DP) software Internal Database (IDB), to maintain the IDB in
good condition
Table of contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 2
Scope............................................................................................................................................. 2
Three step guide to use this white paper ............................................................................................. 2
How to identify if a DP IDB needs filenames purging? .............................................................................. 3
Automated discovery........................................................................................................................ 3
Manual discovery ............................................................................................................................ 4
Automated IDB purging done by the Daily Maintenance........................................................................... 5
What is the Daily Maintenance? ........................................................................................................ 5
Setting the time Daily Maintenance runs ............................................................................................. 5
Methods to confirm if, and when, Daily Maintenance is being run ......................................................... 5
If Daily Maintenance is not running .................................................................................................... 6
IDB purging done by the Daily Maintenance........................................................................................... 6
Sessions purge................................................................................................................................. 6
Messages purge .............................................................................................................................. 6
Dcbf purge...................................................................................................................................... 7
Mpos purge .................................................................................................................................... 7
Manual IDB purge operations ............................................................................................................... 8
Filenames purge .............................................................................................................................. 8
The consecutive running of a dcbf Purge followed by a fixmpos............................................................. 9
Appendix A ........................................................................................................................................ 9
What does “Requires exclusive access to the IDB” mean? ..................................................................... 9
Appendix B....................................................................................................................................... 11
Further information about the IDB Daily Maintenance: ........................................................................ 11
Appendix C ...................................................................................................................................... 12
Example update to purge.log after a completed forced filenames purge ............................................... 12
Appendix D ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Failed_copies purge ....................................................................................................................... 13
For more information.......................................................................................................................... 14
Glossary........................................................................................................................................... 14
Introduction
Growing volumes of backup data can significantly load the Data Protector (DP) Internal Database
(IDB). Regular IDB maintenance to purge obsolete data can prevent size related problems.
Purges remove obsolete data from the database, making space available within the database. The
space created by the purges can be used by new DP sessions, delaying the requirement for the IDB to
be extended.
This document presents some Data Protector commands that can help keep your Internal
Database healthy.
This white paper is complementary to the white paper HP Data Protector software cell manager
planning and sizing. Please also follow the recommendations therein to facilitate reliable Data
Protector operation.
This White Paper can be found at:
HP Data Protector V6.0 Software
http://www.hp.com/go/dataprotector --> Support Matrices -->
Scope
This document covers Cell Managers on HP-UX or Windows, but the principals apply to Cell
Managers on other platforms as well. This document covers DP versions 5.5, 6.0, and 6.1.
Three step guide to use this white paper
Note:
Before running any of the commands outlined in this document HP
recommends you make a successful backup of the DP IDB.
Step One:
How to identify if a DP IDB needs a filenames purge?
Step Two:
Automated purging done by the Daily Maintenance and making sure these tasks are taking place.
Step Three:
Manual IDB purge operations.
2
How to identify if a DP IDB needs filenames purging?
There are two ways to identify if a DP IDB needs filename purging:
Automated: Part of the daily health check combined with the DP Reporting feature
Manual: Using DP Command line interface (CLI) or running preconfigured IDB reports
Automated discovery
By default, Data Protector checks the condition of the IDB once a day as a part of the daily health
check mechanism. The start time of the check is defined by the global file parameter DailyCheckTime.
# DailyCheckTime=HH:MM
# default: 12:30
# This option is used for starting daily checks at first
# omnitrig run after the specified time each day. Valid values
# are hour:minute, using the twenty-four hour clock notation
# Specifying “None” disables starting daily checks.
The global file is located on the DP Cell Server under:
Windows (default) C:\Program Files\OmniBack\Config\Server\Options\global
HP-UX/SUN Solaris/Linux (default) /etc/opt/omni/server/options/global
The daily check triggers an “IDB Purge Required” notification if:
• The time elapsed since the last IDB filename purge exceeds Days Last Purge [days] (default, 180
days). At the same time, either the number of filename records likely to be purged exceeds Num.
Estimated Filenames [mio] (default, 6 millions) or the estimated time needed for the purge exceeds
Estimated Time Purge [min] (default, 120 minutes).
• The number of filenames in the IDB exceeds Num. Filenames [mio] (default, 100 millions).s
The filenames purge check carried out as part of Daily Check can be system resource intensive.
Therefore, under some circumstances, it might be useful to deactivate this part of the daily health
check. It can be switched off by setting the (undocumented in DP 5.5/6.0) global parameter
DbPurgeCheck = 0:
# DbPurgeCheck = 0 or 1
# default: 1
# If this option is set (=1), IDB purge check will be included
# when daily check is started. If this option is not set (=0),
# IDB purge check will be skipped. DbPurgeCheck=0
If the purge check is switched off as part of the daily health check it needs to be executed manually
on a regular basis.
3
Manual discovery
A filenames purge preview status report can be manually created either using the DP command line
interface (CLI) or the GUI.
• DP CLI:
omnirpt –report db_purge_preview
• DP GUI:
Reporting context, right click on “Reports” and select “Add Reporting Group.” Choose a name
and click on “Finish.” Right click on the newly created Report group, and select “Add Report.” In
the right pane select the icon to the left of “Reports on the Internal Database.” Choose a name
and in the “Type:” field select “IDB Purge Preview Report.” Click “Next.” For “Send method:”
select “Log”, for “Log to file:” select a temp directory and for “Format:” select “ASCII.” Click on
“Add” and then “Finish.” To run the report right click on it and select “Preview.”
Both the preceding points will give an output similar to:
Client # Filename # Est. Obs Est. Durat
________________________________________________________________
alpha.xxxx.com 110 30 23
beta.xxxx.com 481 87 100
delta.xxxx.com 80 0 16
gamma.xxxx.com 0 0 0
zeta.xxxx.com 122 42 25
eta.xxxx.com 17 0 3
theta.xxxx.com 506 134 105
Note:
You either have to be added to the Admin user group or granted the
Reporting, notifications, and Event Log user right.
4
Automated IDB purging done by the Daily Maintenance
What is the Daily Maintenance?
Daily Maintenance runs a series of commands that purge obsolete data from many sections of the DP
IDB. By default, the Daily Maintenance takes place at midday (12:00 Hrs.) each day. It does not
purge all parts of the IDB, just the parts that can be done without exclusive access to the IDB. (For
more information about this, see the Appendix A.)
Setting the time Daily Maintenance runs
The time the Daily Maintenance runs can be changed by the setting Daily Maintenance Time in the
global file.
The Daily Maintenance can be disabled by setting Daily Maintenance Time = 99:99 or None in the
global file.
Note:
Disabling daily maintenance is not recommended by Hewlett Packard,
unless alternative arrangements to maintain the DP IDB have been made.
Methods to confirm if, and when, Daily Maintenance is being run
Method 1
Look at the global file for the values of Daily Maintenance Time:
On Windows the file is (default) C:\Program Files\OmniBack\Config\Server\Options\global
On HP-UX the file is /etc/opt/omni/server/options/global
For example if you only see
# DailyMaintenanceTime=HH:MM daily maintenance is running at 12:00
If you see
DailyMaintenanceTime=99:99 daily maintenance is disabled
DailyMaintenanceTime=None daily maintenance is disabled
DailyMaintenanceTime=08:30 daily maintenance is running at 08:30
Method 2
Run the command omnicc -debug 20 CHECK.txt, and look at the output debug file which will:
• Be in (default)/tmp on HP-UX
• Be in (default) C:\Program Files\OmniBack\tmp on Windows
• Have file name ending with CHECK.txt.
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