How to verify Vertica backups

Products

• CA Performance Management - Usage and Administration
• DX NetOps

Issue/Introduction

How do you validate the integrity of the Vertica backup to ensure it can save us in the event of a failure or disaster?

Environment

Release : Dx Netops 22.2.x

 

Resolution

Checking Backup Integrity

Vertica can confirm the integrity of your backup files and the manifest that identifies them. By default, backup integrity checks output their results to the command line. You can include the optional --report-file parameter to output results to a delimited JSON file.

vbr -t quick-check -c configfile.ini

A full check verifies all objects listed in the backup manifest against file system metadata. A full check includes the same steps as a quick check. This task outputs an exceptions list that identifies the following inconsistencies:

• Incomplete restore points
• Damaged restore points
• Missing backup files
• Unreferenced files

Use the following form to perform a full check task:

vbr -t full-check -c configfile.ini --report-file=path/filename



For example:

        vbr -t full-check -c backupconfig.ini --report-file=logging/fullintegritycheck.json

Performing a Quick Repair:

 

The quick-repair task rebuilds the backup manifest based on the manifests contained in the backup location.

Use the following form to perform a quick repair task:

        vbr -t quick-repair -c configfile.ini --report-file=path/filename       

For example:

        vbr -t quick-repair -c backupconfig.ini --report-file=logging/quickrepair.json

Additional Information

Performing Garbage Collection:

 

The collect-garbage task rebuilds your backup manifest and deletes any backup objects that do not appear in the manifest.

Use the following form to perform a garbage collection task:

        vbr -t collect-garbage -c configfile.ini --report-file=path/filename       

For example:

        vbr -t collect-garbage -c backupconfig.ini --report-file=logging/garbagecheck.json       

After completion, the collect garbage task outputs a list of any deleted files.

Proceed with the backup of the database.