Ubuntu Manpage: amanda.conf - Main configuration file for Amanda, the Advanced Maryland Automatic Network Disk Archiver

Provided by: amanda-common_3.5.1-11.1build6_amd64

NAME

       amanda.conf - Main configuration file for Amanda, the Advanced Maryland Automatic Network Disk Archiver

DESCRIPTION

       amanda.conf(5) is the main configuration file for Amanda. This manpage lists the relevant sections and
       parameters of this file for quick reference.

       The file <CONFIG_DIR>/amanda.conf is loaded if it exists then the files <CONFIG_DIR>/<config>/amanda.conf
       is loaded.

SYNTAX

There are a number of configuration parameters that control the behavior of the Amanda programs. All have
default values, so you need not specify the parameter in amanda.conf if the default is suitable.

COMMENTS
Lines starting with # are ignored, as are blank lines. Comments may be placed on a line with a directive
by starting the comment with a #. The remainder of the line is ignored.

KEYWORDS AND IDENTIFIERS
Keywords are case insensitive, i.e. mailto and MailTo are treated the same. Also, the characters '-' and
'_' are interchangeable in all predefined Amanda keywords: device_property and device-property have the
same meaning. This manpage uses the dashed versions, but the underscored versions will be accepted for
backward compatibility

Identifiers are names which are defined in the configuration itself, such as dumptypes or interfaces.
Identifiers are are case-insensitive, but sensitive to '-' vs. '_'. Identifiers should be quoted in the
configuration file, although For historical reasons, the quotes are optional.

Strings are always quoted with double quotes ("), and any double quotes or backslashes within the string
are escaped with a backslash:

tapelist "/path/to/tapelist"
property "escaped-string" "escaping: \\ (backslash) and \" (double-quote)"

To summarize, then:

# QUOTES CASE -/_
logdir "logs" # required sensitive sensitive
send-amreport-on strange # prohibited insensitive insensitive
tapetype "EXABYTE" # optional insensitive sensitive

define dumptype "dt" { # optional insensitive sensitive
"dumptype-common" # optional insensitive sensitive
strategy noinc # prohibited insensitive insensitive
}

VALUE SUFFIXES
Integer arguments may have one of the following (case insensitive) suffixes, some of which have a
multiplier effect:

b byte bytes
Some number of bytes.

bps
Some number of bytes per second.

k kb kbyte kbytes kilobyte kilobytes
Some number of kilobytes (bytes*1024).

kps kbps
Some number of kilobytes per second (bytes*1024).

It is the default multiplier for all size options.

m mb meg mbyte mbytes megabyte megabytes
Some number of megabytes (bytes*1024*1024).

mps mbps
Some number of megabytes per second (bytes*1024*1024).

g gb gbyte gbytes gigabyte gigabytes
Some number of gigabytes (bytes*1024*1024*1024).

t tb tbyte tbytes terabyte terabytes
Some number of terabytes (bytes*1024*1024*1024*1024).

tape tapes
Some number of tapes.

day days
Some number of days.

week weeks
Some number of weeks (days*7).

Note
The value inf may be used in most places where an integer is expected to mean an infinite amount.

Boolean arguments may have any of the values 1, y, yes, t, true or on to indicate a true state,
or 0, n, no, f, false or off to indicate a false state. If no argument is given, true is assumed.

PARAMETER ORDER
In general, the order in which parameters occur in the configuration file does not matter, with the
exception of subsection inheritance. For example, if dumptype "normal-encrypt" which inherits from
dumptype "normal", then "normal" must appear first in the configuration file.

STRINGS
Quoted strings in Amanda follow a common, C-like syntax. Printable characters and whitespace are kept
as-is, except that the backslash character (\) is used as an escape character, and a double-quote ends
the string. The allowed escape sequences are

ESCAPE SEQUENCE BECOMES
\\ \
\" "
\n (newline)
\t (tab)
\r (carriage return)
\f (form-feed)
\1 - \7
\01 - \77
\001 - \377 (character specified in octal)
Illegally quoted strings are handled on a "best-effort" basis, which may lead to unexpected results.

Examples:

finserver "/data/finance/XYZ Corp's \"real\" finances" finance-high eth0 -1
property "syspath" "C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM"

SUBSECTIONS AND INHERITANCE
Amanda configuration files may include various subsections, each defining a set of configuration
directives. Each type of subsection is described below. Note that all types of subsections can inherit
from other subsections of the same type by naming the "parent" section in the "child" subsection. For
example:

define dumptype global {
record yes
index yes
}

define dumptype nocomp {
global # inherit the parameters in dumptype 'global'
compress none
}

Note that multiple inheritance is also supported by simply naming multiple parent sections in a child.
Parents are implicitly expanded in place in a child, and the last occurrence of each parameter takes
precedence. For example,

define tapetype par1 {
comment "Parent 1"
filemark 8k
speed 300bps
length 200M
}
define tapetype par2 {
comment "Parent 2"
filemark 16k
speed 400bps
}
define tapetype child {
par1
par2
filemark 32k
}
In this example, 'child' will have a filemark of 32k, a speed of 400bps, and a length of 200M.

GLOBAL PARAMETERS

amrecover-changer string
Default: not set. Amrecover will use the changer if you use 'settape <string>' and that string is the
same as the amrecover-changer setting.

amrecover-check-label bool
Deprecated; amrecover always checks the label, and does not invoke amrestore.

Default: on. Amrecover will call amrestore with the -l flag to check the label.

amrecover-do-fsf bool
Deprecated; amrecover always uses fsf, and does not invoke amrestore.

Default: on. Amrecover will call amrestore with the -f flag for faster positioning of the tape.

autoflush no|yes|all
Default: no. Whether an amdump run will flush the dumps from holding disk to tape. With yes, only
dump matching the command line argument are flushed. With all, all dump are flushed.

autolabel string [any] [other-config] [non-amanda] [volume-error] [empty]
Default: not set. When set, this directive will cause Amanda to automatically write an Amanda tape
label to most volume she encounters. This option is DANGEROUS because when set, Amanda may erase
near-failing tapes or tapes accidentally loaded in the wrong slot.

When using this directive, specify the template for new tape labels. The template can contains many
variables that are substituted by their values:

$c : config name
$o : org configuration
$b : barcode of the volume
$s : slot number, can specify a minimun number of digit:
$3s to get '001'
$m : meta label
$r : storage name

The template can contain some number of contiguous '%' characters, which will be replaced with a
generated number (000-999), or some number of contiguous '!', which will be replaced with a generated
letter sequence (AAA-ZZZ). Be sure to specify enough '%' or '!' characters that you do not run out of
tape labels. Example: "DailySet1-%%%", "DailySet1-!!!", "$c-%%%", "$m-%%%", "$m-$b"

The generared label can be used only if it match the labelstr setting. The volume will not be used if
the generated label doesn't match the labelstr setting.

Note that many devices cannot distinguish an empty tape from an error condition, so it may is often
necessary to include volume-error as an autolabel condition.

any
equivalent to 'other-config non-amanda volume-error empty'

other-config
Label volumes with a valid Amanda label that do not match our labelstr. Danger: this may erase
volumes from other Amanda configurations without warning!

non-amanda
Label volumes which do not start with data that resembles an Amanda header. Danger: this may
erase volumes from other backup applications without warning!

volume-error
Label volumes where an error occurs while trying to read the label. Danger: this may erase
arbitrary volumes due to transient errors.

empty
Label volumes where a read returns 0 bytes.

bumpdays int
Default: 2 days. To insure redundancy in the dumps, Amanda keeps filesystems at the same incremental
level for at least bumpdays days, even if the other bump threshold criteria are met.

The global setting of this parameter can be overwritten inside of a dumptype-definition.

bumpmult float
Default: 1.5. The bump size multiplier. Amanda multiplies bumpsize by this factor for each level.
This prevents active filesystems from bumping too much by making it harder to bump to the next level.
For example, with the default bumpsize and bumpmult set to 2.0, the bump threshold will be 10 Mbytes
for level one, 20 Mbytes for level two, 40 Mbytes for level three, and so on.

The global setting of this parameter can be overwritten inside of a dumptype-definition.

bumppercent int
Default: 0. The minimum savings required to trigger an automatic bump from one incremental level to
the next, expressed as percentage of the current size of the DLE (size of current level 0). If Amanda
determines that the next higher backup level will be this much smaller than the current level, it
will do the next level.

If this parameter is set to 0, the value of the parameter bumpsize is used to trigger bumping.

The global setting of this parameter can be overwritten inside of a dumptype-definition.

See also the options bumpsize, bumpmult and bumpdays.

bumpsize int
Default: 10 Mbytes. The minimum savings required to trigger an automatic bump from one incremental
level to the next, expressed as size. If Amanda determines that the next higher backup level will be
this much smaller than the current level, it will do the next level. The value of this parameter is
used only if the parameter bumppercent is set to 0.

The default unit is Kbytes if it is not specified.

The global setting of this parameter can be overwritten inside of a dumptype-definition.

See also the options bumppercent, bumpmult and bumpdays.

changerdev string
Default: "dev/null". A tape changer configuration parameter. Usage depends on the particular changer
defined with the tpchanger option.

changerfile string
Default: "changer". This option is deprecated; use the changerfile in the changer section. Only
chg-multi use it. A file where the changer store its state.

columnspec string
default:
"HostName=0:-12:12,Disk=1:-11:11,Level=1:-1:1,OrigKB=1:-7:0,OutKB=1:-7:0,Compress=1:-6:1,DumpTime=1:-7:7,Dumprate=1:-6:1,TapeTime=1:-6:6,TapeRate=1:-6:1"

Defines the width of columns amreport should use. String is a comma (',') separated list of triples.
Each triple consists of four parts which are separated by a equal sign ('=') and a colon (':') (see
the example). These four parts specify:

1. the name of the column, which may be:

Compress (compression ratio)
Disk (client disk name)
DumpRate (dump rate in KBytes/sec)
DumpTime (total dump time in hours:minutes)
HostName (client host name)
Level (dump level)
OrigKB (original image size in KBytes)
OutKB (output image size in KBytes)
TapeRate (tape writing rate in KBytes/sec)
TapeTime (total tape time in hours:minutes)

2. the amount of space to display before the column (used to get whitespace between columns).

3. the width of the column itself. If set to a negative value, the width will be calculated on
demand to fit the largest entry in this column.

4. the precision of the column, number of digit after the decimal point for number.

Parts may be omitted, and will adopt a default value; trailing colons may also be omitted.

Here is an example:

columnspec "Disk=1:18,HostName=0:10,OrigKB=::2,OutKB=1:7"

The above will display the disk information in 18 characters and put one space before it. The
hostname column will be 10 characters wide with no space to the left. The Original KBytes print 2
decimal digit. The output KBytes column is seven characters wide with one space before it.

command-file string
Default: command_file. A file where amanda store information about running job.

See amanda-command-file(5).

compress-index boolean
Default: yes. Compress all index files, this is useful to save space in the indexdir but require more
processing.

The compression ratio is generaly above 20x, it is faster to read compressed index files because
there is 20 times less data to read from disk.

Changing this setting will uncompress/compress all index files.

connect-tries int
Default: 3. How many times the server will try a connection.

ctimeout int
Default: 30 seconds. Maximum amount of time that amcheck will wait for each client host.

debug-auth int
Default: 0. Debug level of the auth module

debug-chunker int
Default: 0. Debug level of the chunker process

debug-days int
Default: 3. The number of days the debug files are kept.

debug-driver int
Default: 0. Debug level of the driver process

debug-dumper int
Default: 0. Debug level of the dumper process

debug-event int
Default: 0. Debug level of the event module

debug-holding int
Default: 0. Debug level of the holdingdisk module

debug-planner int
Default: 0. Debug level of the planner process

debug-protocol int
Default: 0. Debug level of the protocol module

debug-recovery int
Default: 1. Debug level of all recovery process

debug-taper int
Default: 0. Debug level of the taper process

device-output-buffer-size int
Default: 1280k. Controls the amount of memory used by Amanda to hold data as it is read from the
network or disk before it is written to the output device. Higher values may be useful on fast tape
drives and optical media.

The default unit is bytes if it is not specified.

device-property string string
These options can set various device properties. See amanda-devices(7) for more information on device
properties and their syntax. Both strings are always quoted; the first string contains the name of
the property to set, and the second contains its value. For example, to set a fixed block size of
128k, write:
device-property "BLOCK_SIZE" "128k"

diskfile string
Default: "disklist". The file name for the disklist file holding client hosts, disks and other client
dumping information.

displayunit "k|m|g|t"
Default: "k". The unit used to print many numbers, k=kilo, m=mega, g=giga, t=tera.

dtimeout int
Default: 1800 seconds. Amount of idle time per disk on a given client that a dumper running from
within amdump will wait before it fails with a data timeout error.

dumpcycle int
Default: 10 days. The number of days in the backup cycle. Each disk will get a full backup at least
this often. Setting this to zero tries to do a full backup each run.

Note
This parameter may also be set in a specific dumptype (see below). This value sets the default
for all dumptypes so must appear in amanda.conf before any dumptypes are defined.

dumporder string
Default: "tttTTTTTTT". The priority order of each dumper:

s: smallest size
S: largest size
t: smallest time
T: largest time
b: smallest bandwidth
B: largest bandwidth

dumpuser string
Default: "amanda". The login name Amanda uses to run the backups. The backup client hosts must allow
access from the tape server host as this user via .rhosts or .amandahosts, depending on how the
Amanda software was built.

eject-volume bool
Default: no. Set to yes if you want the volume to be ejected after Amanda wrote data to it. It works
only with some changer and device.

etimeout int
Default: 300 seconds. Amount of time per estimate on a given client that the planner step of amdump
will wait to get the dump size estimates (note: Amanda runs up to 3 estimates for each DLE). For
instance, with the default of 300 seconds and four DLE's, each estimating level 0 and level 1 on
client A, planner will wait up to 40 minutes for that machine. A negative value will be interpreted
as a total amount of time to wait per client instead of per disk.

flush-threshold-dumped int
Default: 0. Amanda will not begin writing data to a new volume until the amount of data on the
holding disk is at least this percentage of the volume size and the criterion for
flush-threshold-scheduled is also met. In other words, Amanda will not begin until the amount of data
on the holding disk is greater than the tape length times this parameter. This parameter may be
larger than 100%, for example to keep more recent dumps on the holding disk for faster recovery.

Needless to say, your holding disk must be big enough that this criterion could be satisfied. If the
holding disk cannot be used for a particular dump (because, for example, there is no remaining
holding space) then Amanda will disregard the constraint specified by this setting and start a new
volume anyway. Once writing to a volume has begun, this constraint is not applied unless and until a
new volume is needed.

The value of this parameter may not exceed than that of the flush-threshold-scheduled parameter.

flush-threshold-scheduled int
Default: 0. Amanda will not begin writing data to a new volume until the sum of the amount of data on
the holding disk and the estimated amount of data remaining to be dumped during this run is at least
this percentage of the volume size and the criterion for flush-threshold-dumped is also met. In other
words, Amanda will not begin until the inequality h + s > t × d is satisfied, where h is the amount
of data on the holding disk, s is the total amount of data scheduled for this run but not dumped yet,
t is the capacity of a volume, and d is this parameter, expressed as a percentage. This parameter may
be larger than 100%.

The value of this parameter may not be less than that of the flush-threshold-dumped or taperflush
parameters.

includefile string
Default: no default. The name of an Amanda configuration file to include within the current file.
Useful for sharing dumptypes, tapetypes and interface definitions among several configurations.
Relative pathnames are relative to the configuration directory.

indexdir string
Default "<CONFIG_DIR>/index". The directory where index files (backup image catalogues) are stored.
Index files are only generated for filesystems whose dumptype has the index option enabled.

infofile string
Default: "<CONFIG_DIR>/curinfo". The file or directory name for the historical information database.
If Amanda was configured to use DBM databases, this is the base file name for them. If it was
configured to use text formatted databases (the default), this is the base directory and within here
will be a directory per client, then a directory per disk, then a text file of data.

inparallel int
Default: 10. The maximum number of backups that Amanda will attempt to run in parallel. Amanda will
stay within the constraints of network bandwidth and holding disk space available, so it doesn't hurt
to set this number a bit high. Some contention can occur with larger numbers of backups, but this
effect is relatively small on most systems.

interactivity string
Default: not set. The interactivity module Amanda should use to interact with the user. See amanda-
interactivity(7) for a list of modules.

labelstr string | MATCH-AUTOLABEL
Default: MATCH-AUTOLABEL. The tape label constraint regular expression. All tape labels generated
(see amlabel(8)) and used by this configuration must match the regular expression. All autolabel
variable can be used. The keywork MATCH-AUTOLABEL use the autolabel template as expression.

If multiple configurations are run from the same tape server host, it is helpful to set their labels
to different strings (for example, "DAILY[0-9][0-9]*" vs. "ARCHIVE[0-9][0-9]*") to avoid overwriting
each other's tapes.

label-new-tapes string
Deprecated, use autolabel option with options volume-error empty to get equivalent behavior.

Default: not set. When set, this directive will cause Amanda to automatically write an Amanda tape
label to any blank tape she encounters.

logdir string
Default: "<CONFIG_DIR>". The directory for the amdump and log files.

mailer string
Default found by configure. A mail program that can send mail with 'MAILER -s "subject" user <
message_file'.

mailto string
Default: none. A space separated list of recipients for mail reports. If not specified, amdump will
not send any mail.

maxdumps int
Default: 1. The maximum number of backups from a single host that Amanda will attempt to run in
parallel. See also the inparallel option.

Note that this parameter may also be set in a specific dumptype (see below). This value sets the
default for all dumptypes so must appear in amanda.conf before any dumptypes are defined.

maxdumpsize int
Default: runtapes*tape-length. Maximum number of bytes the planner will schedule for a run.

The default unit is Kbytes if it is not specified.

max-dle-by-volume int
Default: 1000000000. The maximum number of dle written to a single volume.

meta-autolabel string
Default: not set. When set and if the changer support meta-label, this directive will cause Amanda to
automatically add a meta-label to a meta-volume.

A meta-volume is a containers that contains many volumes, eg. a removable hard-disk for use with
chg-disk, each hard disk have many slots (volume). The meta-label is the label to put on the
meta-volume.

When using this directive, specify the template for new meta labels. The template can contains many
variables that are substituted by their values:

$c : config name
$o : org configuration
$r : storage name

The template can contain some number of contiguous '%' characters, which will be replaced with a
generated number (000-999), or some number of contiguous '!', which will be replaced with a generated
letter sequence (AAA-ZZZ). Be sure to specify enough '%' characters that you do not run out of meta
labels. Example: "DailySet1-%%%", "DailySet1-!!!", "$o-%%%", "$o-!!!", "$c-!!!",

netusage int
Default: 80000 Kbps. The maximum network bandwidth allocated to Amanda, in Kbytes per second. See
also the interface section.

org string
Default: "daily". A descriptive name for the configuration. This string appears in the Subject line
of mail reports. Each Amanda configuration should have a different string to keep mail reports
distinct.

printer string
Printer to use when doing tape labels. See the lbl-templ tapetype option.

property [append] string string+
These options can set various properties, they can be used by third party software to store
information in the configuration file. Both strings are quoted; the first string contains the name of
the property to set, and the others contains its values. append keyword append the values to the
list of values for that property.

recovery-limit [ string | same-host | server]
Default: none (no limitations). This parameter limits the hosts that may do recoveries. Hosts are
identified by their authenticated peer name, as described in amanda-auth(7); if this is not available
and the recovery-limit parameter is present, recovery will be denied. The arguments to the parameter
are strings giving host match expressions (see amanda-match(7)) or the special keywords same-host or
server. The same-host keyword requires an exact match to the hostname of the DLE being recovered. The
server keyword require the connection come from the fqdn of the server. Specifying no arguments at
all will disable all recoveries from any host.

Note that match expressions can be constructed to be forgiving of e.g., fully-qualified vs.
unqualified hostnames, but same-host requires an exact match.

The error messages that appear in amrecover are intentionally vague to avoid information leakage.
Consult the amindexd debug log for more details on the reasons a recovery was rejected.

Recovery limits can be refined on a per-DLE basis using the dumptype parameter of the same name. Note
that the default value will apply to any dumpfiles for disks which no longer appear in the disklist;
thus leaving the global parameter at its default value but setting it for all DLEs is not sufficient
to maintain secure backups.

report-format [append] string+
Default: Not set. The formats amdump, amflush and amvault use when invoking amreport.

report-next-media boolean
Default: True if max-dle-by-volume is not set, False if it is set. If the reporter must print the
list of media expected for the next run.

report-use-media boolean
Default: True if max-dle-by-volume is not set, False if it is set. If the reporter must print the
list of media used in the run.

req-tries int
Default: 3. How many times the server will resend a REQ packet if it doesn't get the ACK packet.

reserve int
Default: 100. The part of holding-disk space that should be reserved for incremental backups if no
tape is available, expressed as a percentage of the available holding-disk space (0-100). By default,
when there is no tape to write to, degraded mode (incremental) backups will be performed to the
holding disk. If full backups should also be allowed in this case, the amount of holding disk space
reserved for incrementals should be lowered.

reserved-tcp-port int,int
Default: --with-low-tcpportrange or 512,1023. Reserved tcp port that will be used (bsdtcp). Range is
inclusive.

reserved-udp-port int,int
Default: --with-udpportrange or 512,1023. Reserved udp port that will be used (bsd, bsdudp). Range is
inclusive.

runspercycle int
Default: same as dumpcycle. The number of amdump runs in dumpcycle days. A value of 0 means the same
value as dumpcycle. A value of -1 means guess the number of runs from the tapelist(5) file, which is
the number of tapes used in the last dumpcycle days / runtapes.

runtapes int
Default: 1. The maximum number of tapes used in a single run. If a tape changer is not configured,
this option is not used and should be commented out of the configuration file.

If a tape changer is configured, this may be set larger than one to let Amanda write to more than one
tape.

Note that this is an upper bound on the number of tapes, and Amanda may use less.

send-amreport-on [ all | strange | error | never ]
Default: all. Specify which types of messages will trigger an email from amreport. amreport is used
by amdump and amflush.

all
Send an email on any message.

strange
Send an email on strange or error message. A strange message occurs when the dump succeeded, but
returned one or more errors unknown to Amanda.

error
Send an email only on error messages.

never
Never send an email.

sort-index boolean
Default: no. Sort all index files, this make amrecover start faster on big filesystem but it require
more processing at backup time. Changing this setting can sort all index files.

storage string+
Default: Same as the config name. The list of storages to use, the dump will go to theses storages.

active-storage string+
Default: Same as the configured storage setting and the -ostorage= command line setting. The list of
storages where a dump can be put. amdump keep the dump in holding disk if the storage is not also
listed in storage

tapebufs int
Default: 20. This option is deprecated; use the device-output-buffer-size directive instead.
tapebufs works the same way, but the number specified is multiplied by the device blocksize prior to
use.

tapecycle int
Default: 15 tapes. Specifies the number of "active" volumes - volumes that Amanda will not overwrite.
While Amanda is always willing to write to a new volume, it refuses to overwrite a volume unless at
least 'tapecycle -1' volumes have been written since.

It is considered good administrative practice to set the tapecycle parameter slightly lower than the
actual number of tapes in use. This allows the administrator to more easily cope with damaged or
misplaced tapes or schedule adjustments that call for slight adjustments in the rotation order.

Note: Amanda is commonly misconfigured with tapecycle equal to the number of tapes per dumpcycle. In
this misconfiguration, amanda may erase a full dump before a new one is completed. Recovery is then
impossible. The tapecycle must be at least one tape larger than the number of tapes per dumpcycle.

The number of tapes per dumpcycle is calculated by multiplying the number of amdump runs per dump
cycle runspercycle (the number of amdump runs per dump cycle) and runtapes (the number of tapes used
per run). Typically tapecycle is set to two or four times the tapes per dumpcycle.

tapedev string
Default: "null:". This parameter can either specify a device (explicitly or by referencing a device
definition - see amanda-devices(7)) or a tape changer (explicitly or by referencing a device
definition - see amanda-changers(7)).

tapelist string
Default: "tapelist". The file name for the active tapelist(5). Amanda maintains this file with
information about the active set of tapes.

first
First in, first out.

firstfit
The first dump image that will fit on the current tape.

largest
The largest dump image.

largestfit
The largest dump image that will fit on the current tape.

smallest
The smallest dump image.

last
Last in, first out.

taperflush int
Default: 0. At the end of a run, Amanda will start a new tape to flush remaining data if there is
more data on the holding disk at the end of a run than this setting allows; the amount is specified
as a percentage of the capacity of a single volume. In other words, at the end of a run, Amanda will
begin a new tape if the inequality h > t × f is satisfied, where h is the amount of data remaining on
the holding disk from this or previous runs, t is the capacity of a volume, and f is this parameter,
expressed as a percentage. This parameter may be greater than 100%.

The value of this parameter may not exceed that of the flush-threshold-scheduled parameter.;
autoflush must be set to 'yes' if taperflush is greater than 0.

taperscan string
Default: traditional. The taperscan module amanda should use to find a tape to write to. See amanda-
taperscan(7) for a list of modules.

taper-parallel-write int
Default: 1. Amanda can write simultaneously up to that number of volume at any given time. The
changer must have as many drives.

tapetype string
Default: no default. The type of tape drive associated with tapedev or tpchanger. This refers to one
of the defined tapetypes in the config file (see below), which specify various tape parameters, like
the length, filemark size, and speed of the tape media and device.

tmpdir string
Default: none (system default). Set it to a directory with lots of free space if sort in amindexd
fail with 'No space left on device'.

tpchanger string
Default: not set. (deprecated) The tape changer to use. In most cases, only one of tpchanger or
tapedev is specified, although for backward compatibility both may be specified if tpchanger gives
the name of an old changer script. See amanda-changers(7) for more information on configuring
changers.

unreserved-tcp-port int,int
Default: --with-tcpportrange or 1024,65535. Unreserved tcp port that will be used (bsd, bsdudp).
Range is inclusive.

usetimestamps bool
Default: Yes. Deprecated, the value is always Yes. This option allows Amanda to track multiple runs
per calendar day.

vault-storage string+
Default: not set. The list of storages to vault to.

After writing to the storages listed in the storage parameter, amdump will automatically write all
pending dumps to the vault storage(s). (These dumps are queued for vaulting based on the vault option
specified in the definition section for the primary storage and the dump-selection option specified
on the vault storage.)

(amvault also uses the first storage in the vault-storage list as its default destination storage.)

HOLDINGDISK SECTION

The amanda.conf file may define one or more holding disks used as buffers to hold backup images before
they are written to tape. The syntax is:
define holdingdisk name {
holdingdisk-option holdingdisk-value
...
}

The { must appear at the end of a line, and the } on its own line.

Name is a logical name for this holding disk.

The options and values are:

comment string
Default: not set. A comment string describing this holding disk.

chunksize int
Default: 1 Gb. Holding disk chunk size. Dumps larger than the specified size will be stored in
multiple holding disk files. The size of each chunk will not exceed the specified value. However,
even though dump images are split in the holding disk, they are concatenated as they are written to
tape, so each dump image still corresponds to a single continuous tape section.

The default unit is Kbytes if it is not specified.

If 0 is specified, Amanda will create holding disk chunks as large as ((INT_MAX/1024)-64) Kbytes.

Each holding disk chunk includes a 32 Kbyte header, so the minimum chunk size is 64 Kbytes (but that
would be really silly).

Operating systems that are limited to a maximum file size of 2 Gbytes actually cannot handle files
that large. They must be at least one byte less than 2 Gbytes. Since Amanda works with 32 Kbyte
blocks, and to handle the final read at the end of the chunk, the chunk size should be at least 64
Kbytes (2 * 32 Kbytes) smaller than the maximum file size, e.g. 2047 Mbytes.

directory string
Default: "/dumps/amanda". The path to this holding area.

use int
Default: 0 Gb. Amount of space that can be used in this holding disk area. If the value is zero, all
available space on the file system is used. If the value is negative, Amanda will use all available
space minus that value.

The default unit is Kbytes if it is not specified.

If 0 is specified, Amanda will create holding disk chunks as large as ((INT_MAX/1024)-64) Kbytes.

Each holding disk chunk includes a 32 Kbyte header, so the minimum chunk size is 64 Kbytes (but that
would be really silly).

DUMPTYPE SECTION

The amanda.conf(5) file may define multiple sets of backup options and refer to them by name from the
disklist(5) file. For instance, one set of options might be defined for file systems that can benefit
from high compression, another set that does not compress well, another set for file systems that should
always get a full backup and so on.

A set of backup options are entered in a dumptype section, which looks like this:
define dumptype "name" {
dumptype-option dumptype-value
...
}

The { must appear at the end of a line, and the } on its own line.

Name is the name of this set of backup options. It is referenced from the disklist(5) file.

Some of the options in a dumptype section are the same as those in the main part of amanda.conf(5). The
main option value is used to set the default for all dumptype sections. For instance, setting dumpcycle
to 50 in the main part of the config file causes all following dumptype sections to start with that
value, but the value may be changed on a section by section basis. Changes to variables in the main part
of the config file must be done before (earlier in the file) any dumptypes are defined.

The dumptype options and values are:

allow-split bool
Default: true. If true, then dumps with this dumptype can be split on the storage media. If false,
then the dump will be written in a single file on the media. See "Dump Splitting Configuration"
below.

application string
No default. Must be the name of an application if program is set to APPLICATION. See APPLICATION
SECTION below.

auth string
Default: "bsdtcp". Type of authorization to perform between tape server and backup client hosts. See
amanda-auth(7) for more detail.

amandad-path string
Default: "$libexec/amandad". Specify the amandad path of the client, only use with rsh/ssh
authentification.

bumpdays int
Default: 2 days. To insure redundancy in the dumps, Amanda keeps filesystems at the same incremental
level for at least bumpdays days, even if the other bump threshold criteria are met.

If this parameter is set to 0, the value of the parameter bumpsize is used to trigger bumping.

See also the options bumpsize, bumpmult and bumpdays.

The default unit is Kbytes if it is not specified.

See also the options bumppercent, bumpmult and bumpdays.

client-port [ int | string ]
Default: "amanda". Specifies the port to connect to on the client. It can be a service name or a
numeric port number.

client-custom-compress string
Default: none. The program to use to perform compression/decompression on the client; used with
"compress client custom". Must not contain whitespace. Must accept -d to uncompress.

client-decrypt-option string
Default: -d. The option that can be passed to client-encrypt to make it decrypt instead. Must not
contain whitespace.

client-encrypt string
Default: none. The program to use to perform encryption/decryption on the client; used with "encrypt
client". Must not contain whitespace.

client-username string
Default: CLIENT_LOGIN. Specify the username to connect on the client, only use with rsh/ssh
authentification.

comment string
Default: not set. A comment string describing this set of backup options.

comprate float [, float ]
Default: 0.50, 0.50. The expected full and incremental compression factor for dumps. It is only used
if Amanda does not have any history information on compression rates for a filesystem, so should not
usually need to be set. However, it may be useful for the first time a very large filesystem that
compresses very little is backed up.

compress [ none | client | server ] [ best | fast | custom ]
Default: client fast. If Amanda does compression of the backup images, it can do so either on the
backup client host before it crosses the network or on the tape server host as it goes from the
network into the holding disk or to tape. Which place to do compression (if at all) depends on how
well the dump image usually compresses, the speed and load on the client or server, network capacity,
holding disk capacity, availability of tape hardware compression, etc.

For either type of compression, Amanda also allows the selection of three styles of compression.
best is the best compression available, often at the expense of CPU overhead. fast is often not as
good a compression as best, but usually less CPU overhead. Or to specify custom to use your own
compression method. (See dumptype custom-compress in example/amanda.conf for reference)

So the compress options line may be one of:

compress none

compress client fast

compress client best

compress client custom
Specify client-custom-compress "PROG"

PROG must not contain white space and it must accept -d for uncompress.

compress server fast

compress server best

compress server custom
Specify server-custom-compress "PROG"

PROG must not contain white space and it must accept -d for uncompress.

Note that some tape devices do compression and this option has nothing to do with whether that is
used. If hardware compression is used (usually via a particular tape device name or mt option),
Amanda (software) compression should be disabled.

dumpcycle int
Default: 10 days. The number of days in the backup cycle. Each disk using this set of options will
get a full backup at least this of ten. Setting this to zero tries to do a full backup each run.

dump-limit [ server | same-host ]*
Default: server. Specify which host can initiate a backup of the dle. With server, the server can
initiate a backup with the amdump command. With same-host, the client can initiate a backup with the
amdump_client command.

encrypt [ none | client | server ]
Default: not set. To encrypt backup images, it can do so either on the backup client host before it
crosses the network or on the tape server host as it goes from the network into the holding disk or
to tape.

So the encrypt options line may be one of:

encrypt none

encrypt client
Specify client-encrypt "PROG"

PROG must not contain white space.

Specify client-decrypt-option "decryption-parameter" Default: "-d"

decryption-parameter must not contain white space.

(See dumptype client-encrypt-nocomp in example/amanda.conf for reference)

encrypt server
Specify server-encrypt "PROG"

PROG must not contain white space.

Specify server-decrypt-option "decryption-parameter" Default: "-d"

decryption-parameter must not contain white space.

(See dumptype server-encrypt-fast in example/amanda.conf for reference)

Note that current logic assumes compression then encryption during backup(thus decrypt then
uncompress during restore). So specifying client-encryption AND server-compression is not supported.
amcrypt which is a wrapper of aespipe is provided as a reference symmetric encryption program.

estimate [ client | calcsize | server ]+
Default: client. Determine the way Amanda estimates the size of each DLE before beginning a backup.
This is a list of acceptable estimate methods, and Amanda applies the first method supported by the
application. The methods are:

client
Use the same program as the dumping program. This is the most accurate method to do estimates,
but it can take a long time.

calcsize
Use a faster program to do estimates, but the result is less accurate.

server
Use only statistics from the previous few runs to give an estimate. This very quick, but the
result is not accurate if your disk usage changes from day to day. If this method is specified,
but the server does not have enough data to make an estimate, then the option is internally moved
to the end of the list, thereby preferring 'client' or 'calcsize' in this case.

exclude [ list | file ][[optional][append][ string ]+]
Default: file. Exclude is the opposite of include and specifies files that will be excluded from the
backup. The format of the exclude expressions depends on the application, and some applications do
not support excluding files at all.

There are two exclude parameters, excludefile and excludelist. With excludefile, the string is an
exclude expression. With excludelist , the string is a file name on the client containing GNU-tar
exclude expressions. The path to the specified exclude list file, if present (see description of
'optional' below), must be readable by the Amanda user.

All exclude expressions are concatenated in one file and passed to the application as an
--exclude-from argument.

For GNU-tar, exclude expressions must always be specified as relative to the top-level directory of
the DLE, and must start with "./". See the manpages for individual applications for more information
on supported exclude expressions.

With the append keyword, the string is appended to the current list, without it, the string
overwrites the list.

If optional is specified for excludelist, then amcheck will not complain if the file doesn't exist or
is not readable.

For excludelist, if the file name is relative, the disk name being backed up is prepended. So if this
is entered:
exclude list ".amanda.excludes"
the actual file used would be /var/.amanda.excludes for a backup of /var, /usr/local/.amanda.excludes
for a backup of /usr/local, and so on.

fallback-splitsize int
Deprecated. See "Dump Splitting Configuration" below.

Default: 10M. This specifies the part size used when no split-diskbuffer is specified, or when it is
too small or does not exist, and thus the maximum amount of memory consumed for in-memory splitting.
The default unit is Kbytes if it is not specified.

holdingdisk [ never | auto | required ]
Default: auto. Whether a holding disk should be used for these backups or whether they should go
directly to tape. If the holding disk is a portion of another file system that Amanda is backing up,
that file system should refer to a dumptype with holdingdisk set to never to avoid backing up the
holding disk into itself.

never|no|false|off
Never use a holdingdisk, the dump will always go directly to tape. There will be no dump if you
have a tape error.

auto|yes|true|on
Use the holding disk, unless there is a problem with the holding disk, the dump won't fit there
or the medium doesn't require spooling (e.g., VFS device)

required
Always dump to holdingdisk, never directly to tape. There will be no dump if it doesn't fit on
holdingdisk

ignore boolean
Default: no. Whether disks associated with this backup type should be backed up or not. This option
is useful when the disklist file is shared among several configurations, some of which should not
back up all the listed file systems.

include [ list | file ][[optional][append][ string ]+]
Default: file ".". There are two include lists, include file and include list. With include file ,
the string is a glob expression. With include list , the string is a file name on the client
containing glob expressions.

All include expressions are expanded by Amanda, concatenated in one file and passed to GNU-tar as a
--files-from argument. They must start with "./" and contain no other "/".

Include expressions must always be specified as relative to the head directory of the DLE.

Note
For globbing to work at all, even the limited single level, the top level directory of the DLE
must be readable by the Amanda user.
With the append keyword, the string is appended to the current list, without it, the string
overwrites the list.

If optional is specified for include list, then amcheck will not complain if the file doesn't exist
or is not readable.

For include list, If the file name is relative, the disk name being backed up is prepended.

index boolean
Default: no. Whether an index (catalogue) of the backup should be generated and saved in indexdir.
These catalogues are used by the amrecover utility.

kencrypt boolean
Default: no. Whether the backup image should be encrypted by Kerberos as it is sent across the
network from the backup client host to the tape server host.

maxdumps int
Default: 1. The maximum number of backups from a single host that Amanda will attempt to run in
parallel. See also the main section parameter inparallel.

maxpromoteday int
Default: 10000. The maximum number of day for a promotion, set it 0 if you don't want promotion, set
it to 1 or 2 if your disks get overpromoted.

max-warnings int
Default: 20. The maximum number of error lines in the report for a dle. A value of '0' means
unlimited. This is useful to reduce the size of the log file and the size of the report. All errors
are put in separate files if a dle have more errors.

priority [ low | medium | high ]
Default: medium. When there is no tape to write to, Amanda will do incremental backups in priority
order to the holding disk. The priority may be high (2), medium (1), low (0) or a number of your
choice.

program [ "DUMP" | "GNUTAR" | "APPLICATION" ]
Default: "DUMP". The type of backup to perform. Valid values are:

"DUMP"
The native operating system backup program.

"GNUTAR"
To use GNU-tar or to do PC backups using Samba.

"APPLICATION"
To use an application, see the application option.

property [append] [ hidden | visible ] string string+
These options can set various properties, they can be used by third party software to store
information in the configuration file. Both strings are quoted; the first string contains the name of
the property to set, and the others contains its values. append keyword append the values to the
list of values for that property.

With hidden (the default), the property are not put in the amanda dump header and in the log/debug
files. With visible, they are put in the amanda dump header and in the log/debug files. Use hidden if
the property must be kept secret.

record boolean
Default: yes. Whether to ask the backup program to update its database (e.g. /var/lib/dumpdates for
DUMP or /usr/local/var/amanda/gnutar-lists for GNUTAR) of time stamps. This is normally enabled for
daily backups and turned off for periodic archival runs.

recovery-limit [ server | same-host | string ]*
Default: global value. This parameter overrides the global recovery-limit parameter for DLEs of this
dumptype.

retry-dump int
Default: 2. The number of times a backup is tried in case of failure.

script string
No default. Must be the name of a script. You can have many script. See SCRIPT SECTION below.

server-custom-compress string
Default: none. The program to use to perform compression/decompression on the server; used with
"compress server custom". Must not contain whitespace. Must accept -d to uncompress.

server-decrypt-option string
Default: -d. The option that can be passed to server-encrypt to make it decrypt instead. Must not
contain whitespace.

server-encrypt string
Default: none. The program to use to perform encryption/decryption on the server; used with "encrypt
server". Must not contain whitespace.

skip-full boolean
Default: no. If true and planner has scheduled a full backup, these disks will be skipped, and full
backups should be run off-line on these days. It was reported that Amanda only schedules level 1
incrementals in this configuration; this is probably a bug.

skip-incr boolean
Default: no. If true and planner has scheduled an incremental backup, these disks will be skipped.

split-diskbuffer string

Deprecated. See "Dump Splitting Configuration" below. Default: not set. When dumping a split dump in
PORT-WRITE mode (usually meaning "no holding disk"), buffer the split chunks to a file in the
directory specified by this option.

ssh-keys string
Default: not set. The key file the ssh auth will use, it must be the private key. If this parameter
is not specified, then the default ssh key will be used.

starttime int
Default: not set. Backup of these disks will not start until after this time of day. The value should
be hh*100+mm, e.g. 6:30PM (18:30) would be entered as 1830.

strategy [ standard | nofull | noinc | skip | incronly ]
Default: standard. Strategy to use when planning what level of backup to run next. Values are:

standard
The standard Amanda schedule.

nofull
Never do full backups, only level 1 incrementals.

noinc
Never do incremental backups, only full dumps.

skip
Treat this DLE as if it doesn't exist (useful to disable DLEs when sharing the disklist file
between multiple configurations). Skipped DLEs will not be checked or dumped, and will not be
matched by disklist expressions.

incronly
Only do incremental dumps. amadmin force should be used to tell Amanda that a full dump has been
performed off-line, so that it resets to level 1.

tag [append] string*
Default: no default. Specify the tags that match the dump-selection of a storage.

tape-splitsize int
Deprecated. See "Dump Splitting Configuration" below.

Default: not set. Split dump file on tape into pieces of a specified size. The default unit is Kbytes
if it is not specified.

The following dumptype entries are predefined by Amanda:
define dumptype "no-compress" {
compress none
}
define dumptype "compress-fast" {
compress client fast
}
define dumptype "compress-best" {
compress client best
}
define dumptype "srvcompress" {
compress server fast
}
define dumptype "bsd-auth" {
auth "bsd"
}
define dumptype "bsdtcp-auth" {
auth "bsdtcp"
}
define dumptype "no-record" {
record no
}
define dumptype "no-hold" {
holdingdisk no
}
define dumptype "no-full" {
skip-full yes
}

In addition to options in a dumptype section, one or more other dumptype names may be supplied as
identifiers, which make this dumptype inherit options from other previously defined dumptypes. For
instance, two sections might be the same except for the record option:
define dumptype "normal" {
comment "Normal backup, no compression, do indexing"
no-compress
index yes
maxdumps 2
}
define dumptype "testing" {
comment "Test backup, no compression, do indexing, no recording"
"normal"
record no
}

Amanda provides a dumptype named global in the sample amanda.conf file that all dumptypes should
reference. This provides an easy place to make changes that will affect every dumptype, although you must
be careful that every dumptype explicitly inherits from the global dumptype - Amanda does not do so
automatically.

TAPETYPE SECTION

The amanda.conf file may define multiple types of tape media and devices. The information is entered in a
tapetype section, which looks like this in the config file:
define tapetype "name" {
tapetype-option tapetype-value
...
}

The { must appear at the end of a line, and the } on its own line.

Name is the name of this type of tape medium/device. It is referenced from the tapetype option in the
main part of the config file.

The tapetype options and values are:

blocksize int
Default: 32 kbytes. How much data will be written in each tape record, expressed in kbytes. This is
similar to the BLOCK_SIZE device property, but if the blocksize is not a multiple of 1024 bytes, then
this parameter cannot be used to specify it, and the property must be used instead.

comment string
Default: not set. A comment string describing this set of tape information.

filemark int
Default: 1 kbytes. How large a file mark (tape mark) is, measured in kbytes. If the size is only
known in some linear measurement (e.g. inches), convert it to kbytes using the device density.

lbl-templ string
Default: not set. A PostScript template file used by amreport to generate labels. Several sample
files are provided with the Amanda sources in the example directory. See the amreport(8) man page for
more information.

length int
Default: 2000 kbytes. How much data will fit on a tape, expressed in kbytes.

Note that this value is only used by Amanda to schedule which backups will be run. Once the backups
start, Amanda will continue to write to a tape until it gets an error, regardless of what value is
entered for length (but see amanda-devices(7) for exceptions).

part-cache-dir string
Default: none. The directory in which part-cache files can be written when caching on disk. See "Dump
Splitting Configuration" below.

part-cache-max-size int
Default: none. The maximum part size to use when caching is in effect. This is used to limit the part
size when disk or memory space for caching is constrained. This value must be greater than zero.

part-cache-type [ none | disk | memory ]
Default: none. When part caching is required, this parameter specifies the type of caching that will
be used. The options include no caching (none), in which case a failed part will cause the entire
dump to fail; on-disk caching (disk), for which part-cache-dir must be set properly; and in-memory
caching (memory), which on most systems severely restrains the size of the part that can be written.
See "Dump Splitting Configuration" below.

part-size int
If this is set to zero (default), then no splitting will take place, and the entire dump will fail,
if end-of-medium is encountered before the dump is complete, unless the device property LEOM is true,
and the device can detect EOM. See "Dump Splitting Configuration" below.

readblocksize int
Default: 32 kytes How much data will be read in each tape record. This can be used to override a
device's block size for reads only. This may be useful, for example, in reading a tape written with a
256k block size when Amanda is configured to use 128k blocks. This unusual feature is not supported
by all operating systems and tape devices.

The default unit is Kbytes if it is not specified.

speed int
Default: 200 bps. How fast the drive will accept data, in bytes per second. This parameter is NOT
currently used by Amanda.

In addition to options, another tapetype name may be supplied as an identifier, which makes this tapetype
inherit options from another tapetype. For instance, the only difference between a DLT4000 tape drive
using Compact-III tapes and one using Compact-IV tapes is the length of the tape. So they could be
entered as:
define tapetype "DLT4000-III" {
comment "DLT4000 tape drives with Compact-III tapes"
length 12500 mbytes # 10 Gig tapes with some compression
filemark 2000 kbytes
speed 1536 kps
}
define tapetype "DLT4000-IV" {
"DLT4000-III"
comment "DLT4000 tape drives with Compact-IV tapes"
length 25000 mbytes # 20 Gig tapes with some compression
}

INTERFACE SECTION

The amanda.conf file may define multiple types of network interfaces. The information is entered in an
interface section, which looks like this:
define interface "name" {
interface-option interface-value
...
}

The { must appear at the end of a line, and the } on its own line.

name is the name of this type of network interface. It is referenced from the disklist file.

If a src-ip is specified, then the connection should be from an interface with that IP. The system decide
which interface to use if src-ip is not specified. You can add route at the system level to do more
specific routing.

The section do not impose limits on the bandwidth that will actually be taken up by Amanda. Amanda
computes the estimated bandwidth each file system backup will take based on the estimated size and time,
then compares that plus any other running backups with the limit as another of the criteria when deciding
whether to start the backup. Once a backup starts, Amanda will use as much of the network as it can
leaving throttling up to the operating system and network hardware.

The interface options and values are:

comment string
Default: not set. A comment string describing this set of network information.

src-ip string
The IP address to use when sending a request to an amanda client.

use int
Default: 80000 Kbps. The speed of the interface in Kbytes per second.

In addition to options, another interface name may be supplied as an identifier, which makes this
interface inherit options from another interface. At the moment, this is of little use.

APPLICATION SECTION

The amanda.conf file may define multiple types of application. The information is entered in a
application section, which looks like this:
define application "name" {
application-option application-value
...
}

The { must appear at the end of a line, and the } on its own line.

name is the name of this type of application. It is referenced from the dumptype

The application options and values are:

client-name string
No default, specifies an application name that is in the amanda-client.conf on the client. The
setting from that application will be merged with the current application. If client-name is set then
it is an error if that application is not defined on the client.

If client-name is not set then the merge is done with the application that have the name equal to the
plugin. eg. if the plugin is 'amgtar', then the setting from the application 'amgtar' is used if it
is defined.

comment string
Default: not set. A comment string describing this application.

plugin string
No default. Must be set to the name of the program. This program must be in the
$libexecdir/amanda/application directory on the client.

property [append] [priority] string string+
No default. You can set property for the application, each application have a different set of
property. Both strings are quoted; the first string contains the name of the property to set, and the
others contains its values. append keyword append the values to the list of values for that
property. priority keyword disallow the setting of that property on the client.

SCRIPT SECTION

The amanda.conf file may define multiple types of script. The information is entered in a script section,
which looks like this:
define script "name" {
script-option script-value
...
}

The { must appear at the end of a line, and the } on its own line.

name is the name of this type of script. It is referenced from the dumptype

The script options and values are:

client-name string
No default, specifies a script name that is in the amanda-client.conf on the client. The setting from
that script will be merged with the currect script. If client-name is set then it is an error if that
script is not defined on the client.

If client-name is not set then the merge is done with the script that have the name equal to the
plugin. eg. if the plugin is 'amlog-script', then the setting from the script 'amlog-script' is used.

comment string
Default: not set. A comment string describing this script.

execute-on execute_on [,execute_on]*
No default. When the script must be executed, you can specify many of them:

pre-amcheck
Execute before the amcheck command for all dle. Can only be run on server.

pre-dle-amcheck
Execute before the amcheck command for the dle.

pre-host-amcheck
Execute before the amcheck command for all dle for the client.

post-amcheck
Execute after the amcheck command for all dle. Can only be run on server.

post-dle-amcheck
Execute after the amcheck command for the dle.

post-host-amcheck
Execute after the amcheck command for all dle for the client.

pre-estimate
Execute before the estimate command for all dle. Can only be run on server.

pre-dle-estimate
Execute before the estimate command for the dle.

pre-host-estimate
Execute before the estimate command for all dle for the client.

post-estimate
Execute after the estimate command for all dle. Can only be run on server.

post-dle-estimate
Execute after the estimate command for the dle.

post-host-estimate
Execute after the estimate command for all dle for the client.

pre-backup
Execute before the backup command for all dle. Can only be run on server.

pre-dle-backup
Execute before the backup command for the dle.

pre-host-backup
Execute before the backup command for all dle for the client. It can't be run on client, it must
be run on server

post-backup
Execute after the backup command for all dle. Can only be run on server.

post-dle-backup
Execute after the backup command for the dle.

post-host-backup
Execute after the backup command for all dle for the client. It can't be run on client, it must
be run on server

pre-recover
Execute before any level is recovered.

post-recover
Execute after all levels are recovered.

pre-level-recover
Execute before each level recovery.

post-level-recover
Execute after each level recovery.

inter-level-recover
Execute between two levels of recovery.

If you recover level 0 and 2 of the disk /usr with amrecover, it will execute:
script --pre-recover
script --pre-level-recover --level 0
#recovering level 0
script --post-level-recover --level 0
script --inter-level-recover --level 0 --level 2
script --pre-level-recover --level 2
#recovering level 2
script --post-level-recover --level 2
script --post-recover

execute-where [ client | server ]
Default: client. Where the script must be executed, on the client or server.

order int
Default: 5000. Scripts are executed in that order, it is useful if you have many scripts and they
must be executed in a spefific order.

plugin string
No default. Must be set to the name of the program. This program must be in the
$libexecdir/amanda/application directory on the client and/or server.

property [append] [priority] string string+
No default. You can set property for the script, each script have a different set of property. Both
strings are quoted; the first string contains the name of the property to set, and the others
contains its values. append keyword append the values to the list of values for that property.
priority keyword disallow the setting of that property on the client.

single-execution boolean
Default: no. The script is executed for each dle. If yes, the script is executed one time only.

DEVICE SECTION

       Backend storage devices are specified in amanda.conf in the form of "device" sections, which look like
       this:
       define device name {
           comment "comment (optional)"
           tapedev "device-specifier"
           device-property "prop-name" "prop-value"
           ...
       }

       The { must appear at the end of a line, and the } on its own line.

       name is the user-specified name of this device. It is referenced from the global tapedev parameter. The
       device-specifier specifies the device name to use; see amanda-devices(7). As with most sections, the
       comment parmeter is optional and only for the user's convenience.

       An arbitrary number of device-property parameters can be specified. Again, see amanda-devices(7) for
       information on device properties.

CHANGER SECTION

       Changers are described in amanda.conf in the form of "changer" sections, which look like this:
       define changer name {
           comment "comment (optional)"
           tpchanger "changer-spec"
           changerdev "device-name"
           changerfile "state-file"
           ...
       }

       The { must appear at the end of a line, and the } on its own line.

       name is the user-specified name of this device. The remaining parameters are specific to the changer type
       selected.

       The tpchanger and changerfile can use '$t' to substitute the name of the changer.

       See amanda-changers(7) for more information on configuring changers.

INTERACTIVITY SECTION

       The amanda.conf file may define multiple interactivyt methods, although only one will be used - that
       specified by the interactivity parameter. The information is entered in a interactivity section, which
       looks like this:
       define interactivity name {
           interactivity-option interactivity-value
           ...
       }

       The { must appear at the end of a line, and the } on its own line.

       name is the user-specified name of this interactivity. The remaining parameters are specific to the
       interactivity type selected.

       The interactivity options and values are:

       comment string
           Default: not set. A comment string describing this interactivity.

       plugin string
           No default. Must be set to the name of the interactivity module, as described in amanda-
           interactivity(7).

       property [append] string string+
           No default. You can set arbitrary properties for the interactivity. Each interactivity module has a
           different set of properties. The first string contains the name of the property to set, and the
           others contains its values. All strings should be quoted. The append keyword appends the given values
           to an existing list of values for that property.

       See amanda-interactivity(7) for more information on configuring interactivity methods.

TAPERSCAN SECTION

       The amanda.conf file may define multiple taperscan methods, it is set with the global taperscan parameter
       or in the storage section. The information is entered in a taperscan section, which looks like this:
       define taperscan name {
           taperscan-option taperscan-value
           ...
       }

       The { must appear at the end of a line, and the } on its own line.

       name is the user-specified name of this taperscan. The remaining parameters are specific to the taperscan
       type selected.

       The taperscan options and values are:

       comment string
           Default: not set. A comment string describing this taperscan.

       plugin string
           No default. Must be set to the name of the taperscan module. See amanda-taperscan(7) for a list of
           defined taperscan modules.

       property [append] string string+
           No default. Operates just like properties for interactivity methods, above.

       See amanda-taperscan(7) for more information on configuring taperscan.

POLICY SECTION

       The amanda.conf file may define multiple policy, it is set with the policy parameter of the storage
       section. A policy name CONFIG_NAME is automaticaly created. The information is entered in a policy
       section, which looks like this:
       define policy name {
           policy-option policy-value
           ...
       }

       The { must appear at the end of a line, and the } on its own line.

       name is the user-specified name of this policy. The remaining parameters are specific to the policy type
       selected.

       The policy options and values are:

       comment string
           Default: not set. A comment string describing this policy.

       retention-days int
           Default: 0. A volume is kept for that number of days before it can be reused.

       retention-full int
           Default: 0. A volume is kept if it contains a FULL not older then retention-full days.

       retention-recover int
           Default: 0. Keep all volumes needed to recover all files up to retention-recover days ago, if it was
           a level 2, also keep previous level 1 and level 0.

       retention-tapes int
           Default: global tapecycle-1. The latest used retention-tapes volume can't be reused. You must have
           more than retention-tapes volumes before a volume can be re-used.

STORAGE SECTION

The amanda.conf file may define multiple storage, the default storages are set with the storage
parameter. The vaulting storage are set with the the vault-storage parameter. A storage name CONFIG_NAME
is created if the global storage is not set. The information is entered in a storage section, which looks
like this:
define storage name {
storage-option storage-value
...
}

The { must appear at the end of a line, and the } on its own line.

name is the user-specified name of this storage. The remaining parameters are specific to the storage
type selected.

The storage options and values are:

autoflush no|yes|all
Default: value of the global autoflush.

autolabel string [any] [other-config] [non-amanda] [volume-error] [empty]
Default: value of the global autolabel.

comment string
Default: not set. A comment string describing this storage.

device-output-buffer-size int
Default: value of the global device-output-buffer-size.

dump-selection [string | ALL] [ ALL | FULL | INCR ]
Default: no default. The dump-selection specify which dump will be written to the storage. The first
field is the tag, either it is ALL and all DLEs matches or it is a tag string and a dle match only if
it have that tag. The second field is the level, it can be ALL for all level, FULL for level 0 only
or INCR for level > 0 only.

eject-volume bool
Default: value of the global eject-volume.

erase-on-failure bool
Default: NO. Automatically erase a volume if nothing useful was written to it. This is useful to
reuse the volume sooner.

erase-on-full bool
Default: NO. Automatically erase a no-retention volume if the vtape area become full.

erase-volume bool
Default: NO. Automatically erase the volume when the policy expire. This is useful to free space on
vtape or s3 devices or to allow another storage to use that volume.

flush-threshold-dumped int
Default: value of the global flush-threshold-dumped.

flush-threshold-scheduled int
Default: value of the global flush-threshold-scheduled.

interactivity string
Default: value of the global interactivity.

labelstr string
Default: value of the global labelstr.

max-dle-by-volume int
Default: value of the global max-dle-by-volume.

meta-autolabel string
Default: value of the global meta-autolabel.

policy string
Default: CONFIG_NAME. Define the policy to use.

report-next-media boolean
Default: value of the global report-next-media.

report-use-media boolean
Default: value of the global report-use-media.

runtapes int
Default: value of the global runtapes.

set-no-reuse bool
Default: no. If set to yes, a volume is marked as no-reuse after it is written.

tapedev string
Default: value of the global tapedev.

This parameter can either specify a device (explicitly or by referencing a device definition - see
amanda-devices(7)) or a tape changer (explicitly or by referencing a device definition - see amanda-
changers(7)).

tapepool string
Default: CONFIG_NAME. Some characters are substituted:

$o : org configuration
$c : config name
$r : storage name

taperflush int
Default: value of the global taperflush.

taperscan string
Default: value of the global taperscan.

taper-parallel-write int
Default: value of the global taper-parallel-write.

tapetype string
Default: value of the global tapetype.

tpchanger string
Default: value of the global tpchanger.

vault storage int
Will vault all dumps from this storage to the new storage X days after the dumps. You can have
multiple vault entry.

DUMP SPLITTING CONFIGURATION

Amanda can "split" dumps into parts while writing them to storage media. This allows Amanda to recover
gracefully from a failure while writing a part to a volume, by simply selecting a new volume and
re-writing the dump from the beginning of the failed part. Parts also allow Amanda to seek directly to
the required data, although this functionality is not yet used.

In order to support re-writing from the beginning of a failed part, Amanda must have access to the
contents of the part after it has been partially written. If the dump is being read from holding disk,
then the part contents are available there. Otherwise, the part must be cached, and this can be done
memory or on disk. In either of the latter cases, the cache must have enough space to hold an entire
part.

Because it is common for a single Amanda configuration to use both holding-disk (FILE-WRITE) and direct
(known as PORT-WRITE) dumps, Amanda allows the configuration of different split sizes for the two cases.
This allows, for example, for a part size appropriate to large tapes when performing FILE-WRITE dumps,
with a part size limited by available disk or memory when performing PORT-WRITE dumps.

Selecting a proper split size is a delicate matter. If the parts are too large, substantial storage space
may be wasted in failed parts. If too small, large dumps will be split into innumerable tiny dumpfiles,
adding to restoration complexity; furthermore, an excess of filemarks will cause slower tape drive
operation and reduce the usable space on tape. A good rule of thumb is 1/10 of the size of a volume of
storage media.

In versions of Amanda through 3.1.*, splitting was controlled by the dumptype parameters tape-splitsize,
split-diskbuffer, and fallback-splitsize. These keywords had confusing and non-intuitive interactions,
and have since been deprecated.

If the deprecated keywords are not present, subsequent versions of Amanda use the dumptype parameter
allow-split to control whether a DLE can be split, and the tapetype parameters part-size,
part-cache-type, part-cache-dir, and part-cache-max-size. The part-size specifies the "normal" part size,
while the part-cache-* parameters describe how to behave when caching is required (on PORT-WRITE). Full
details on these parameters are given above.

AUTHORS

       James da Silva <jds@amanda.org>

       Stefan G. Weichinger <sgw@amanda.org>

Amanda 3.5.1                                       12/01/2017                                     AMANDA.CONF(5)

NAME

DESCRIPTION

SYNTAX

GLOBAL PARAMETERS

HOLDINGDISK SECTION

DUMPTYPE SECTION

TAPETYPE SECTION

INTERFACE SECTION

APPLICATION SECTION

SCRIPT SECTION

DEVICE SECTION

CHANGER SECTION

INTERACTIVITY SECTION

TAPERSCAN SECTION

POLICY SECTION

STORAGE SECTION

DUMP SPLITTING CONFIGURATION

SEE ALSO

AUTHORS