How To:Verify backups
This article is a part of the How Tos collection.
XXX | User:Dustin: Update to talk about amcheckdump |
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The first line of defense in verifying backups is amverify, which simply reads all dumps off a tape and, where possible, runs them through a restore program to make sure they are sensible. Amverify does not, however, verify the integrity of the data which was backed up -- if the restore operation is successful, amverify considers the dump verified.
Many users, especially new ones, want to verify that a run has been successful by performing a restore. This is also a good way to ensure that the you know how to do a restore, so you'll be prepared when the time comes.
You can use amrecover for this. You can run amrecover from either the original client or a different client, as long as you specify the correct backup server/configuration name. Please remember if you restore to the original client, amrecover will restore the data to the directory you are running amrecover from by default. So you can create a directory called /restore and cd into that directory and run amrecover from there. Be sure to setup amanda-client.conf (on the client side) as described in amrecover.