Viewing backups
You can view backups in three ways:
- vbr listbackup task: List backups on the local or remote backup host.
- DATABASE_BACKUPS system table: Query for historical information about backups.
- vbr log file: Check the status of a backup. The log file resides on the node where you ran
vbr, in the directory specified by thevbrconfiguration parameter tempDir, by default set to/tmp/vbr.
vbr listbackup
The vbr task listbackup returns a list of all backups on backup hosts, whether local or remote. If unqualified by task options, listbackup returns the list to standard output in columnar format.
The following example lists two full backups of a three-node cluster, where each node is mapped to the same backup host, bkhost. Backups are listed in reverse chronological order:
$ vbr -t listbackup -c fullbackup.ini
backup backup_type epoch objects include_patterns exclude_patterns nodes(hosts) version file_system_type
backup_snapshot_20220912_131918 full 3915 v_vmart_node0001(10.20.100.247), v_vmart_node0002(10.20.100.248), v_vmart_node0003(10.20.100.249) v12.0.2-20220911 [Linux]
backup_snapshot_20220909_122300 full 3910 v_vmart_node0001(10.20.100.247), v_vmart_node0002(10.20.100.248), v_vmart_node0003(10.20.100.249) v12.0.2-20220911 [Linux]
The following table contains information about output columns that are returned from a vbr listbackup task:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
backup |
Identifies a backup by concatenating the configured snapshot name with the backup timestamp:
For example, the following identifier identifies a backup generated by the configuration file that sets snapshotName to
Use the timestamp portion of this identifier— |
backup_type |
Type of backup, full or object. |
epoch |
Epoch when the backup was created. |
objects |
Objects that were backed up, blank if a full backup. |
include_patterns |
Wildcard patterns included in object backup tasks using the includeObjects parameter in your configuration file, blank for full backups. |
exclude_patterns |
Wildcard patterns included in your object backup tasks using the excludeObjects parameter in your configuration file, blank for full backups. |
nodes (hosts) |
(Enterprise Mode only) Names of database nodes and hosts that received the backup. |
version |
Version of Vertica used to create the backup. |
file_system_type |
Storage location file system of the Vertica hosts that comprise this backup—for example, Linux or GCS. |
communal_storage |
(Eon Mode only) Communal storage location for the backup. |
Important
If you try to list backups on a local cluster with no database, the backup configuration node-host mappings must provide full paths. If the configuration maps to local hosts using the [] shortcut, thelistbackup task fails.
Listbackup options
You can qualify the listbackup task with one or more options:
vbr --task listbackup [--list-all] [--json] [--list-output-file filepath] --config-file filepath
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
--list-all |
Generate a list of all snapshots stored on the hosts and paths listed in the specified configuration file. |
--json |
Use JSON delimited format. |
--list-output-file |
Redirect output to the specified file. |
The following example qualifies the listbackup task with the --list-all option. The output shows three nightly backups from nodes vmart_1, vmart_2, and v_mart3, which the configuration file nightly.ini maps to their respective hosts doca01, doca02, and doca03. The listbackup output shows that these locations contain not only object backups that were generated with nightly.ini, but also full backups created with a second configuration file, weekly.ini, which maps to the same nodes and host:
$ vbr --task listbackup --list-all --config-file /home/dbadmin/nightly.ini
backup backup_type epoch objects include_patterns exclude_patterns nodes(hosts) version file_system_type
weekly_20220508_183249 full 1720 vmart_1(doca01), vmart_2(doca02), vmart_3(doca03) v11.0.1 [Linux]
weekly_20220501_182816 full 1403 vmart_1(doca01), vmart_2(doca02), vmart_3(doca03) v11.0.1 [Linux]
weekly_20220424_192754 full 1109 vmart_1(doca01), vmart_2(doca02), vmart_3(doca03) v11.0.1 [Linux]
nightly_20220507_183034 object 1705 sales_schema vmart_1(doca01), vmart_2(doca02), vmart_3(doca03) v11.0.1 [Linux]
nightly_20220506_181808 object 1692 sales_schema vmart_1(doca01), vmart_2(doca02), vmart_3(doca03) v11.0.1 [Linux]
nightly_20220505_193906 object 1632 sales_schema vmart_1(doca01), vmart_2(doca02), vmart_3(doca03) v11.0.1 [Linux]
Query backup history
You can query the system table DATABASE_BACKUPS to get historical information about backups. The objects column lists which objects were included in object-level backups.
Important
Do not use thebackup_timestamp value to restore an archive. Instead, use the values provided by vbr listbackup task.
=> SELECT * FROM v_monitor.database_backups;
-[ RECORD 1 ]----+------------------------------
backup_timestamp | 2013-05-10 14:41:12.673381-04
node_name | v_vmart_node0003
snapshot_name | schemabak
backup_epoch | 174
node_count | 3
file_system_type | [Linux]
objects | public, store, online_sales
-[ RECORD 2 ]----+------------------------------
backup_timestamp | 2013-05-13 11:17:30.913176-04
node_name | v_vmart_node0003
snapshot_name | kantibak
backup_epoch | 175
node_count | 3
file_system_type | [Linux]
objects |
-[ RECORD 13 ]---+------------------------------
backup_timestamp | 2013-05-16 07:02:23.721657-04
node_name | v_vmart_node0003
snapshot_name | objectbak
backup_epoch | 180
node_count | 3
file_system_type | [Linux]
objects | test, test2
-[ RECORD 14 ]---+------------------------------
backup_timestamp | 2013-05-16 07:19:44.952884-04
node_name | v_vmart_node0003
snapshot_name | table1bak
backup_epoch | 180
node_count | 3
file_system_type | [Linux]
objects | test
-[ RECORD 15 ]---+------------------------------
backup_timestamp | 2013-05-16 07:20:18.585076-04
node_name | v_vmart_node0003
snapshot_name | table2bak
backup_epoch | 180
node_count | 3
file_system_type | [Linux]
objects | test2