Provided by: samba-vfs-modules_4.16.4+dfsg-2ubuntu1_amd64 
NAME
vfs_shadow_copy2 - Expose snapshots to Windows clients as shadow copies.
SYNOPSIS
vfs objects = shadow_copy2
DESCRIPTION
This VFS module is part of the samba(7) suite.
The vfs_shadow_copy2 VFS module offers a functionality similar to Microsoft Shadow Copy
services. When set up properly, this module allows Microsoft Shadow Copy clients to browse
through file system snapshots as "shadow copies" on Samba shares.
This is a second implementation of a shadow copy module which has the following additional
features (compared to the original shadow_copy(8) module):
1. There is no need any more to populate your share's root directory with symlinks
to the snapshots if the file system stores the snapshots elsewhere. Instead,
you can flexibly configure the module where to look for the file system
snapshots. This can be very important when you have thousands of shares, or use
[homes].
2. Snapshot directories need not be in one fixed central place but can be located
anywhere in the directory tree. This mode helps to support file systems that
offer snapshotting of particular subtrees, for example the GPFS independent
file sets.
3. Vanity naming for snapshots: snapshots can be named in any format compatible
with str[fp]time conversions.
4. Timestamps can be represented in localtime rather than UTC.
5. The inode number of the files can optionally be altered to be different from
the original. This fixes the 'restore' button in the Windows GUI to work
without a sharing violation when serving from file systems, like GPFS, that
return the same device and inode number for the snapshot file and the original.
6. Shadow copy results are by default sorted before being sent to the client. This
is beneficial for filesystems that don't read directories alphabetically (the
default unix). Sort ordering can be configured and sorting can be turned off
completely if the file system sorts its directory listing.
This module is stackable.
CONFIGURATION
vfs_shadow_copy2 relies on a filesystem snapshot implementation. Many common filesystems
have native support for this.
Filesystem snapshots must be available under specially named directories in order to be
recognized by vfs_shadow_copy2. These snapshot directory is typically a direct
subdirectory of the share root's mountpoint but there are other modes that can be
configured with the parameters described in detail below.
The snapshot at a given point in time is expected in a subdirectory of the snapshot
directory where the snapshot's directory is expected to be a formatted version of the
snapshot time. The default format which can be changed with the shadow:format option is
@GMT-YYYY.MM.DD-hh.mm.ss, where:
• YYYY is the 4 digit year
• MM is the 2 digit month
• DD is the 2 digit day
• hh is the 2 digit hour
• mm is the 2 digit minute
• ss is the 2 digit second.
The vfs_shadow_copy2 snapshot naming convention can be produced with the following date(1)
command:
TZ=GMT date +@GMT-%Y.%m.%d-%H.%M.%S
OPTIONS
shadow:mountpoint = MOUNTPOINT
With this parameter, one can specify the mount point of the filesystem that contains
the share path. Usually this mount point is automatically detected. But for some
constellations, in particular tests, it can be convenient to be able to specify it.
Example: shadow:mountpoint = /path/to/filesystem
Default: shadow:mountpoint = NOT SPECIFIED
shadow:snapdir = SNAPDIR
Path to the directory where the file system of the share keeps its snapshots. If an
absolute path is specified, it is used as-is. If a relative path is specified, then it
is taken relative to the mount point of the filesystem of the share root. (See
shadow:mountpoint.)
Note that shadow:snapdirseverywhere depends on this parameter and needs a relative
path. Setting an absolute path disables shadow:snapdirseverywhere.
Note that the shadow:crossmountpoints option also requires a relative snapdir. Setting
an absolute path disables shadow:crossmountpoints.
Example: shadow:snapdir = /some/absolute/path
Default: shadow:snapdir = .snapshots
shadow:basedir = BASEDIR
The basedir option allows one to specify a directory between the share's mount point
and the share root, relative to which the file system's snapshots are taken.
For example, if
• basedir = mountpoint/rel_basedir
• share_root = basedir/rel_share_root
• snapshot_path = mountpoint/snapdir
or snapshot_path = snapdir if snapdir is absolute
then the snapshot of a file = mountpoint/rel_basedir/rel_share_root/rel_file at a time
TIME will be found under snapshot_path/FS_GMT_TOKEN(TIME)/rel_share_root/rel_file,
where FS_GMT_TOKEN(TIME) is the timestamp string belonging to TIME in the format
required by the file system. (See shadow:format.)
The default for the basedir is the mount point of the file system of the share root
(see shadow:mountpoint).
Note that the shadow:snapdirseverywhere and shadow:crossmountpoints options are
incompatible with shadow:basedir and disable the basedir setting.
shadow:snapsharepath = SNAPSHAREPATH
With this parameter, one can specify the path of the share's root directory in
snapshots, relative to the snapshot's root directory. It is an alternative method to
shadow:basedir, allowing greater control.
For example, if within each snapshot the files of the share have a path/to/share/
prefix, then shadow:snapsharepath can be set to path/to/share.
With this parameter, it is no longer assumed that a snapshot represents an image of
the original file system or a portion of it. For example, a system could perform
backups of only files contained in shares, and then expose the backup files in a
logical structure:
• share1/
• share2/
• .../
Note that the shadow:snapdirseverywhere and the shadow:basedir options are
incompatible with shadow:snapsharepath and disable shadow:snapsharepath setting.
Example: shadow:snapsharepath = path/to/share
Default: shadow:snapsharepath = NOT SPECIFIED
shadow:sort = asc/desc
By default, this module sorts the shadow copy data alphabetically before sending it to
the client. With this parameter, one can specify the sort order. Possible known values
are desc (descending, the default) and asc (ascending). If the file system lists
directories alphabetically sorted, one can turn off sorting in this module by
specifying any other value.
Example: shadow:sort = asc
Example: shadow:sort = none
Default: shadow:sort = desc
shadow:localtime = yes/no
This is an optional parameter that indicates whether the snapshot names are in UTC/GMT
or in local time. If it is disabled then UTC/GMT is expected.
shadow:localtime = no
shadow:format = format specification for snapshot names
This is an optional parameter that specifies the format specification for the naming
of snapshots in the file system. The format must be compatible with the conversion
specifications recognized by str[fp]time.
Default: shadow:format = "@GMT-%Y.%m.%d-%H.%M.%S"
shadow:sscanf = yes/no
This parameter can be used to specify that the time in format string is given as an
unsigned long integer (%lu) rather than a time strptime() can parse. The result must
be a unix time_t time.
Default: shadow:sscanf = no
shadow:fixinodes = yes/no
If you enable shadow:fixinodes then this module will modify the apparent inode number
of files in the snapshot directories using a hash of the files path. This is needed
for snapshot systems where the snapshots have the same device:inode number as the
original files (such as happens with GPFS snapshots). If you don't set this option
then the 'restore' button in the shadow copy UI will fail with a sharing violation.
Default: shadow:fixinodes = no
shadow:snapdirseverywhere = yes/no
If you enable shadow:snapdirseverywhere then this module will look out for snapshot
directories in the current working directory and all parent directories, stopping at
the mount point by default. But see shadow:crossmountpoints how to change that
behaviour.
An example where this is needed are independent filesets in IBM's GPFS, but other
filesystems might support snapshotting only particular subtrees of the filesystem as
well.
Note that shadow:snapdirseverywhere depends on shadow:snapdir and needs it to be a
relative path. Setting an absolute snapdir path disables shadow:snapdirseverywhere.
Note that this option is incompatible with the shadow:basedir option and removes the
shadow:basedir setting by itself.
Example: shadow:snapdirseverywhere = yes
Default: shadow:snapdirseverywhere = no
shadow:crossmountpoints = yes/no
This option is effective in the case of shadow:snapdirseverywhere = yes. Setting this
option makes the module not stop at the first mount point encountered when looking for
snapdirs, but lets it search potentially all through the path instead.
An example where this is needed are independent filesets in IBM's GPFS, but other
filesystems might support snapshotting only particular subtrees of the filesystem as
well.
Note that shadow:crossmountpoints depends on shadow:snapdir and needs it to be a
relative path. Setting an absolute snapdir path disables shadow:crossmountpoints.
Note that this option is incompatible with the shadow:basedir option and removes the
shadow:basedir setting by itself.
Example: shadow:crossmountpoints = yes
Default: shadow:crossmountpoints = no
shadow:snapprefix
With growing number of snapshots file-systems need some mechanism to differentiate one
set of snapshots from other, e.g. monthly, weekly, manual, special events, etc.
Therefore these file-systems provide different ways to tag snapshots, e.g. provide a
configurable way to name snapshots, which is not just based on time. With only
shadow:format it is very difficult to filter these snapshots. With this optional
parameter, one can specify a variable prefix component for names of the snapshot
directories in the file-system. If this parameter is set, together with the
shadow:format and shadow:delimiter parameters it determines the possible names of
snapshot directories in the file-system. The option only supports Basic Regular
Expression (BRE).
shadow:delimiter
This optional parameter is used as a delimiter between shadow:snapprefix and
shadow:format. This parameter is used only when shadow:snapprefix is set.
Default: shadow:delimiter = "_GMT"
EXAMPLES
Add shadow copy support to user home directories:
[homes]
vfs objects = shadow_copy2
shadow:snapdir = /data/snapshots
shadow:basedir = /data/home
shadow:sort = desc
CAVEATS
This is not a backup, archival, or version control solution.
With Samba or Windows servers, vfs_shadow_copy2 is designed to be an end-user tool only.
It does not replace or enhance your backup and archival solutions and should in no way be
considered as such. Additionally, if you need version control, implement a version control
system.
VERSION
This man page is part of version 4.16.4-Ubuntu of the Samba suite.
AUTHOR
The original Samba software and related utilities were created by Andrew Tridgell. Samba
is now developed by the Samba Team as an Open Source project similar to the way the Linux
kernel is developed.