Administering Servers

To access Sierra Server Administration, the following permissions must be assigned:

  • 1003 (View Backup Log and Backup Schedule)
  • 1004 (Shutdown Server)
  • 1005 (Backup Now and Initialize tape)

See Permissions Used by Sierra for more information.

The Sierra Server Administration application enables you to run and review backups and shut down or reboot your Sierra system.

The information in this topic applies only to tape backups. If your library uses Cloud Backup, contact Innovative for help administering system backups. If your library uses Enterprise Backup, contact your IT department for assistance..

Backup

The Sierra Backup system is configured to write complete system backups to a set of backup tapes over a period of days. Although each tape contains only a portion of the backup data, Sierra Backup ensures that a complete backup exists in the set. For example, if your Sierra system is configured to create a full backup every week, the backup set will consist of seven tapes. No single tape in the set contains the full backup but all segments of the full backup exist in the backup set.

The Backup tab offers the following options:

LABEL A TAPE

Every tape that is to be used for Sierra backups must be given a unique label. Select this option to write a label to the currently-mounted tape. The label must be in the form "sierra-#", where # is a number with one or more digits. For example, sierra-1, sierra-23, sierra-1776, etc.

SHOW RECENT BACKUPS

This option displays information about past backups. The information is presented in a table like the following:

                         date LA  NM  TO  08  08  08  08  08  08  08
   host            disk       ST  L0  GO  21  22  23  24  25  26  27
   dbserver.edu    /           0   6   5   0   0   -   -   -   0   -
   dbserver.edu    /iii        0   6   5   0   0   -   -   -   0   -
   dbserver.edu    /var        0   6   5   0   0   -   -   -   0   -
   appserver.edu   /           0   6   5   0   0   -   -   -   0   -
   appserver.edu   /iii        1   1   4   1   1   -   -   -   1   -
   appserver.edu   /var        0   6   5   0   0   -   -   -   0   -
   SUCCEEDED

The columns in this table are:

host The IP names of the servers that were backed up.
disk The disk partitions that were backed up.
LAST The status of the partition's last backup.
NM L0 The number of status 0 (completed) backups for the partition.
TO GO The number of backups of the partition until the first tape in the set will be overwritten.
mm dd The backup status for that day.

CHECK ON BACKUP READINESS

This options checks that the correct tape is mounted and that the next backup can take place. The system reports in the following format:

   Amanda Tape Server Host Check
   -----------------------------
   found in slot 1: volume 'sierra-6'
   slot 1: volume 'sierra-6'
   Will write to volume 'sierra-6' in slot 1.
   NOTE: skipping tape-writable test
   Server check took 0.415 seconds

   Amanda Backup Client Hosts Check
   --------------------------------
   Client check: 2 hosts checked in 1.471 seconds.  0 problems found.

   (brought to you by Amanda 3.3.1)
   SUCCEEDED

START BACKUP NOW

This option launches the backup process. You can monitor the backup status at any time with the CHECK BACKUP STATUS option.

CHECK BACKUP STATUS

This option reports on the progress of the currently running backup process or, if a backup is not currently in progress, the status of the last backup.

Settings

The Settings option is used to maintain the list of email addresses to which backup status reports are sent.

Adding a Backup Administrator

Select add another and enter the administrator's name and email address. Click SAVE to save your changes.

Editing a Backup Administrator

Click the administrator's name or email address and enter the new information. Click SAVE to save your changes.

Deleting a Backup Administrator

Click the trashcan icon in the administrator's row. Click SAVE to save your changes.

Shutting Down a Server

Shut down a server only in case of emergency, scheduled power outage, or to move the hardware. Do not shut down a Sierra server for any other reason without explicit instructions from Innovative. Please contact Sierra Services before moving the server or if you have a scheduled power outage.

The Shutdown Server tab enables you to shut down and reboot a selected server. The tab offers two options: