Re: How to handle archival runs (again)?

[Toralf]

I use a separate config for Archives. I find it easy to maintain and
easy to think about. The disklist looks the same for both. And the
amanda.conf looks the same for both (with the exception of the config
name). 

I do monthly archives. So I set up the amanda.conf for two years worth
of tapes (24 tapes). When it's time for me to make an archive, I do the
following:
- find a new tape and label it with amlabel
- force a full dump of all filesystems with "amadmin force" command
 

Surely you don't need that, as long as the dumpcycle is correctly 
configured?

- run the amdump
- verify I can restore from the tape by grabbing random files and
directories off the archive and comparing them to what's on the
filesystem (for static files at least)
 

BTW, I was thinking that a separate config might be a bit of a hassle as 
it isn't practically possible to run a normal dump *and* the archive one 
on the same day. Then it struck me that I might schedule the archival 
for the weekend, now that we have a tape changer...

- Toralf