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

Provided by: amanda-common_3.3.3-2ubuntu1.1+actuallyesm2_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>/<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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

usetimestamps bool
Default: Yes. This option allows Amanda to track multiple runs per calendar day. The
only reason one might disable it is that Amanda versions before 2.5.1 can't read
logfiles written when this option was enabled.

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.

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

The template can contain some number of contiguous '%' characters, which will be
replaced with a generated number. Be sure to specify enough '%' characters that you do
not run out of tape labels. Example: "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.

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

The template should contain some number of contiguous '%' characters, which will be
replaced with a generated number. Be sure to specify enough '%' characters that you do
not run out of meta labels. Example: "DailySet1-%%%", "$o-%%%",

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.

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

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)).

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"

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.

tpchanger string
Default: not set. 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.

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.

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.

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

changerfile string
Default: "/usr/adm/amanda/log/changer-status". A tape changer configuration parameter.
Usage depends on the particular changer defined with the tpchanger option.

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.

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.

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.

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.

eject-volume int
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.

labelstr string
Default: ".*". The tape label constraint regular expression. All tape labels generated
(see amlabel(8)) and used by this configuration must match the regular 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

infofile string
Default: "/usr/adm/amanda/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 formated 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.

logdir string
Default: "/usr/adm/amanda". The directory for the amdump and log files.

indexdir string
Default "/usr/adm/amanda/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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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-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.

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 three 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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. 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. 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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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'.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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

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.

The default unit is Kbytes if it is not specified.

See also the options bumppercent, bumpmult and bumpdays.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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-decrypt-option string
Default: -d. The option that can be passed to client-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.

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

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, exclude file and exclude list. With exclude file,
the string is an exclude expression. With exclude list , 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 exclude list, then amcheck will not complain if the file
doesn't exist or is not readable.

For exclude list, 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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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:

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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-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.

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

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.

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.

Note that these sections define network interface characteristics, not the actual
interface that will be used. Nor do they 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

DEVICE SECTION

       Backend storage devices are specified in amanda.conf in the form of "device" sections,
       which look like this:
       define device name {
           commend "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.

       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, although only one will be used
       - that specified by the taperscan parameter. 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.

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 availble 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>

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

DUMP SPLITTING CONFIGURATION

SEE ALSO

AUTHORS