Performing an offline backup

You can perform both full and incremental backups offline. You must perform a full backup before performing an incremental backup. Following the first full backup, you can perform any number of incremental backups. However, you should perform a full backup at least once a week.

To perform either a full or incremental offline backup:

  1. Verify that the database is not in use.

    If you are performing an offline backup, the database must not be in use. The server must be shut down and no single-user session can be active. PROBKUP does not allow access to the database during a full offline backup.

    On UNIX systems that support file locking and where backup utilities (for example, cpio) honor file locks, an attempt to back up a database in use causes the utility to hang, waiting for the OpenEdge session to end. On all other systems, there is no way to prevent you from backing up a database in use.

    Use the following PROUTIL BUSY utility to determine if the database is in use:

     proutil db-name -C busy

    The BUSY qualifier returns a code indicating whether the database is in use. You can use the codes returned by the BUSY qualifier in scripts, files, or procedures. For more information see PROUTIL BUSY qualifier.

  2. Shut down the database server.

    Before you back up the database, you must shut down the database server. See Starting Up and Shutting Down for information about shutting down the database server.

  3. Perform the offline backup.

    Use PROBKUP to perform either a full or incremental offline backup. Run PROBKUP from the operating system prompt, as shown:

    probkup db-name device-name [parameters]

    By default, PROBKUP performs a full backup. To perform an incremental backup, specify the incremental qualifier.

    As you begin the full backup of a database, a report appears on your terminal that indicates:

    • How many bytes are required on the backup media
    • How many active data blocks are written to the backup media
    • How many blocks are dumped
    • How many blocks are required to restore the database

    When the backup successfully completes, the report displays the total number of bytes on the backup media and how long it took to complete the backup.

    Note: If a system failure occurs while you are performing the full backup, perform the backup again.