1. Introduction

This section will first provide an introduction to manually backing up a Unix client using the TSM GUI interface and then describe how to restore files back to the local machine. The screen shots and descriptions that follow refer to a TSM client running on Solaris v5.9 but the interface is generic to most flavours of Unix ( and Linux ) with only minor differences. The setting up of automatic scheduled backups on Unix clients is dealt with in the section Setting up Automatic Scheduled Backups.

2. Using the Unix TSM GUI Interface

Start the Unix TSM GUI by running dsmj from the shell prompt. You should see a screen similar to below.

The following sections assume familiarity with using the TSM GUI interface in selecting and expanding folders and file objects. If you are unfamiliar with this interface there is a usefully concise help guide within the TSM GUI that can be reviewed quickly.

From the TSM GUI front screen select the Getting Started item from the help menu. It is worth a little time to explore the different items.

3. Backing up your local disks

To backup one or more local file systems, open the TSM GUI and click the Backup files and directories button. The screen will look similar to below.

Expand the view of file systems by clicking the + symbol adjacent to the Local entry.

Individual file systems can be toggled as selected/deselected by clicking the grey tick boxes to the left of the file systems.

Having selected the file systems ensure the backup type is selected - default is Incremental (complete) - and click the Backup button. The Task List screen will next display as the TSM client constructs a list of local files and inspects them against a list on the server. Files will then be backed up as illustrated below.

The backup can be halted at any time by clicking the red circle button in the Task List window. A Detailed Status Report, as illustrated below, can be displayed by clicking the centre button in the Task List window.

Closing the Detailed Status Report while the backup is running returns focus to the Task List window above. Closing it when the backup is complete returns focus to the front window of the TSM GUI.

4. Backing up selected files & directories

To backup one or more local files or directories, start the TSM GUI, click the Backup files and directories button and expand the view of local drives by clicking the adjacent + symbol. Files in the root directory of the file system will be displayed in the right-hand window by clicking the grey icon immediately left of the file system mount point in the left-hand window. Directories immediately under the file system mount point can be expanded by clicking the + symbol. Sub-directories can be similarly expanded. File contents of sub-directories can be displayed by clicking the grey icon immediately to the left of the directory name. Individual directories and files can be selected in both left and right-hand windows by clicking the grey selector boxes, as displayed below.

On Clicking the Backup button the backup of the selected objects will proceed in the same way as if backing up an entire partition - see 3. Backing up your local disks.

5. Backup options

Start the TSM GUI and click the Backup files and directories button. Clicking the button between the Estimate button and the backup-type dropdown list will display the current options for Backup. The default options are illustrated below but can be changed for the duration of the current backup session. Clicking the [Compress objects] check box will considerably slow the backup and is not recommended. If your machine is memory-constrained and gives Out of Memory errors when running a backup, then checking [Use less memory] may help. If this works for one session then you can add the line

MemoryEfficientBackup   Yes

6. Restoring selected files and directories

The interface for Restore is very similar to that for Backup. Start the TSM GUI and click the Restore files and directories button. Expand the view of local file systems by clicking the + symbol adjacent to the File Level entry.

Files in the root directory of the file systems will be displayed in the right-hand window by clicking the grey icon immediately left of the file systems name in the left-hand window. Directories immediately under the file system mount point can be expanded by clicking the + symbol. Sub-directories can be similarly expanded. File contents of sub-directories can be displayed by clicking the grey icon immediately to the left of the directory name. Individual directories and files can be selected and deselected in both left and right-hand windows by clicking the grey selector boxes, as displayed below.

On Clicking the Restore button the following screen displays.

By default, files will be restored to their original location. This may not be what you want, particularly when restoring an older / inactive version of a file that still exists on the local machine.

If you wish to store the restored files in a location other than their original, click the Following location radio button and then the Select button to select a destination folder to which you wish to have the files restored. The path options control what directory structure to use for restored files and directories. The default is Restore partial path. Clicking for help on these options will give worked examples of how they effect the restore path. Remember when restoring an entire volume, or a large number of large files, to ensure that there is enough space to hold the restored files.

Clicking the Restore button will execute the restoral process. A Task List Window will display which may be expanded to a Detailed Status Report window. These windows share the same appearance and functionality as in 3. Backing up your local disks.

7. Restoring to a point in time

If you wish to restore your data to a point in time before the occurrence of some corruption, for example, virus infection or disk failure, then you can use a Point in Time Restore.

Start the TSM GUI and click the Restore files and directories button. Click the Point In Time button and enter the date and time in the screen as displayed below before making your selection of files and directories to restore. Now proceed as with a normal restore as in the previous section, 6. Restoring selected files and directories.

Note that, because the HFS retains a maximum of only two copies of a file, point in time restores are of limited use. If you attempt to restore back to a date prior to the earlier copy of a certain file, then you will not see that file in the restore list. Similarly, if a folder holding a file is backed up twice since that file was backed up, TSM cannot determine the correct permissions for the folder holding the file and thus does not offer to restore either the folder or the file within it. A far more reliable way to search all restorable files held is to click View > [Display active/inactive files] on the standard restore window - with the option to 'Use a Point in Time date during Restore' left unticked. See further ??.

8. Restoring local file systems

Start the TSM GUI and click the Restore files and directories button. Expand the view of local file systems by clicking the + symbol adjacent to the File Level entry and select the file system to be restored by clicking the grey selector box to the left of the + symbol and the file system name. Now proceed as with a normal restore as in 6. Restoring selected files and directories.

9. Restoring old and deleted files

By default the TSM GUI does not list files and directories backed up and then deleted from the local machine, once a subsequent full incremental backup has been run. This includes files that have been renamed and files that have been overwritten by a newer version.

To display and restore old, renamed or deleted files Start the TSM GUI and click the Restore files and directories button. Before expanding the directory and file tree choose the View Menu and select the [Display active/inactive files] option. Now expand the directory and file tree to list all files held in backup for your machine. Inactive files; that is renamed or deleted files and versions of files previous to the last overwrite and backup are marked by a cross icon, as illustrated in the screen shot below. To select an inactive file for restore, click the grey selector box. When restoring a previous version of a file, you will probably want to restore it to a destination other than its original location to prevent overwriting the current version of the file on the local machine.

10. Restoring your data to another machine

Please note that the Unix GUI no longer supports the virtualnodename option. In order to restore data to another machine, you will need to use the command-line interface, as documented under command-line interface: restoring your data to another machine.

11. Restore options

Start the TSM GUI and click the Restore files and directories button. Clicking the button between the Estimate and Point in time buttons will display the current options for Restore. The default options are illustrated below but can be changed for the duration of the current restore session.