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Creating a Snapshot Copy of a File System

The File System Snapshot procedure prepares VxFS for online backup by creating a snapshot copy of the file system. This is done by creating a new volume, mounting a snapshot file system on the new volume, and copying the contents of the original file system to the snapshot file system. The snapshot file system is a consistent copy of the original file system at the time the snapshot was made. You can use the snapshot file system to make a backup of the original file system at a convenient time. After the backup is made, you can remove the snapshot file system by removing the underlying snapshot volume.

 
   To create a snapshot copy of file system data

  1. Select the file system to be backed up.
  2. Choose Actions > Snapshot > Create...
  3. Complete the Snapshot File System dialog box as follows:

    New Volume Name:

    By default, the new volume name displayed is composed of the name of the file system to be backed up and the suffix _vxfssnap (for example, Vol5_vxfssnap). You can replace the default name with the volume name of your choice.


    Snapshot Mount Point:

    By default, the new snapshot mount point displayed is composed of the mount point of the file system to be backed up and the suffix _vxfssnap (for example, /Vol5_vxfssnap). You can replace the default name with the mount point of your choice.


    Snapshot Size:

    Enter the size of the snapshot copy of the file system.


    Select disks to use for the volume:

    Select the disks for Volume screen.

    The default setting is for Volume Manager to assign the disks for you. To manually select the disks, click the “Manually select which disks to use for volume” radio button. The disks that you select should be in the right pane when you click Apply.


    Cluster node (displayed only if your node is part of a cluster):

    If your node is part of a cluster, you can now select the node in the cluster to contain the file system.

    If the node you select is not displayed in the current window, then it resides on a remote node. In order to remove this snapshot, you will have to open the remote node and display the created file system before removing it.


  4. After you have provided all necessary information in the dialog box, click OK.

    Notes:





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