path: root/doc/kdat/index.docbook

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<book lang="&language;">
<bookinfo>
<title>&kdat; Documentation</title>

<authorgroup>

<author>
<firstname>Sean</firstname>
<surname>Vyain</surname>
<affiliation><address><email>svyain@mail.tds.net</email></address></affiliation>
</author>

<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->

</authorgroup>

<copyright>
<year>2000</year>
<holder>Sean Vyain</holder>
</copyright>

<date>2000-10-03</date>
<releaseinfo>2.00.00</releaseinfo>

<abstract><para>This documentation describes &kdat; 
2.0</para></abstract>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>KDat</keyword>
<keyword>tape</keyword>
<keyword>tape management</keyword>
</keywordset>

</bookinfo>

<chapter id="Introduction">
<title>Introduction</title>

<para>&kdat; is a tar-based tape archiver. It is designed to work with
multiple archives on a single tape. &kdat; was inspired by two separate 
goals.
The first, was to provide a nice, <abbrev>GUI</abbrev> front-end to tar 
that
supported the fast selective extraction features of the
<application>dds2tar</application> program. The second goal was to 
answer my wife's
question, <quote>How much longer is it going to be backing 
up?!?</quote></para>

<!-- //////// -->
<sect1 id="features">
<title>Features</title>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Simple graphical interface to local filesystem and tape
contents.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Multiple archives on the same physical tape.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Complete index of archives and files is stored on local 
hard
disk.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Selective restore of files from an archive.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Backup profiles for frequently used backups.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect1>
</chapter>

<chapter id="using-kdat">
<title>Using &kdat;</title>

<sect1 id="mount">
<title>Mounting/unmounting a tape</title>

<para>Before a tape can be used, it must be mounted by &kdat;. There are 




three
ways to mount a tape:</para>

<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Select <guimenuitem>Mount Tape</guimenuitem> from the
<guimenu>File</guimenu> menu.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Click on the <guiicon>tape drive</guiicon> icon on the
toolbar.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>&RMB; click on the tape drive tree node, and select
<guimenuitem>Mount Tape</guimenuitem>.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>

<para>&kdat; will rewind the tape, and read the header information from  
the tape. If &kdat; does not recognize the header on the tape, you will  
be prompted to <link linkend="formatting">format</link> the tape.</para>

<para>If &kdat; recognizes the header it will look for the corresponding
tape index on your local disk. If the tape index cannot be found you  
will be prompted to <link linkend="indexing">recreate the index from  
tape</link>.</para>

<para>If all goes well, the tape drive icon will change to indicate that
the tape has been mounted, and a message will appear in the status bar.  
The contents of the tape can be explored under the tape drive tree  
node.</para>

<para>Before ejecting a tape, you must unmount the tape. There are three
ways to unmount the tape:</para>

<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Select <guimenuitem>Unmount Tape</guimenuitem> from the
<guimenu>File</guimenu> menu.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Click on the <guiicon>tape drive</guiicon> icon on the
toolbar.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>&RMB; click on the tape drive tree node, and select
<guimenuitem>Unmount Tape</guimenuitem>.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>

<para>&kdat; will acknowledge that the tape has been unmounted by 
changing the
tape drive icon, and displaying a message in the status bar. The tape 
may now
be safely ejected.</para>

</sect1>

<!-- //////// -->
<sect1 id="formatting">
<title>Formatting a tape</title>

<para>Before a tape can be used by &kdat;, it must be formatted by
&kdat;.</para>

<para>Some types of tapes must be formatted before they can be used to
store data. <emphasis>This is not what &kdat; does when formatting a
tape.</emphasis> If your tape drive requires that the tapes be formatted 




before
using them, then they must be formatted before they can be 
<quote>formatted</quote>
by &kdat;. Typically floppy tape drives require that their media be 
formatted, but
DAT drives do not.</para>

<para>There are two ways to format a tape:</para>

<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Select <guimenuitem>Format Tape...</guimenuitem> from 
the
<guimenu>File</guimenu> menu.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>&RMB; click on the tape drive tree node, and select
<guimenuitem>Format Tape...</guimenuitem>.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>

<para>You will be prompted for a name for the tape, and the stated
capacity of the tape. Both of these parameters can be changed
after the tape has been formatted. The tape name is only used
to identify the tape to the user; it is not used to identify the
tape index associated with the tape. Instead, a unique tape
identifier is automatically generated and written to the tape.
The stated capacity of the tape is used by &kdat; to warn the user
if there will not be enough space to complete a backup.</para>

<para>After entering the tape name and capacity, &kdat; will proceed to
format the tape. <emphasis>ALL DATA ON THE TAPE WILL BE LOST</emphasis>.
Once &kdat; has finished formatting the tape, the tape will be 
automatically
mounted and is ready for use.</para>

</sect1>

<!-- //////// -->
<sect1 id="backing-up">
<title>Backing up files to tape</title>

<para>Before initiating a backup, you must select some files to archive. 




There
are three ways to select files for backup:</para>

<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Highlight a file or folder in the local file tree. 
Only the
selected file or subfolder will be archived.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Highlight a <link linkend="profile">backup 
profile</link> in the
tree. Only the files in the backup profile will be archived.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Checkmark selected files in the local file tree. Only 
the
checked files and/or subfolders will be archived.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>

<para>There are four ways to initiate a backup:</para>

<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Select <guimenuitem>Backup...</guimenuitem> from the
<guimenu>File</guimenu> menu.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Click on the <guiicon>backup</guiicon> icon in the
toolbar.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>&RMB; click on a file or folder in the local file 
tree, and
select <guimenuitem>Backup...</guimenuitem>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>&RMB; click on a <link linkend="profile">backup 
profile</link>,
and select <guimenuitem>Backup...</guimenuitem>.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>

<para>Once the backup has been initiated, the <guilabel>Backup
Options</guilabel> dialog will appear. This dialog gives you a chance to
review the selected files, and change the backup options.</para>

<para>After accepting the backup options, the 
<guilabel>Backup</guilabel>
dialog will  appear. This dialog shows the progress of the backup 
including
throughput and time remaining.</para>

</sect1>

<!-- //////// -->
<sect1 id="verifying">
<title>Verifying tape files against local files</title>

<para>Before initiating a verify, you must select some files to 
verify.</para>

<para>There are two ways to select files for verification:</para>

<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Highlight a file or folder in one of the archives 
under the
tape drive tree node. Only the selected file or subfolder will be
verified.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Checkmark selected files in one of the archives under 
the tape
drive tree node. Only the checked files and/or subfolders will be
verified.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>

<para>There are three ways to initiate a verify:</para>

<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Select <guimenuitem>Verify...</guimenuitem> from the
<guimenu>File</guimenu> menu.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Click on the <guiicon>verify</guiicon> icon in the
toolbar.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>&RMB; click on a file or folder in one of the
archives, and select <guimenuitem>Verify...</guimenuitem>.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>


<para>Once the verify has been initiated, the <guilabel>Verify
Options</guilabel> dialog will appear. This dialog gives you a chance to
review the selected files, and change the working folder for the
verification.</para>

<para>After accepting the verify options, the 
<guilabel>Verify</guilabel>
dialog will appear. This dialog shows the progress of the verification
including throughput and time remaining.</para>

</sect1>

<!-- //////// -->
<sect1 id="restoring">
<title>Restoring files from tape</title>

<para>Before initiating a restore, you must select some files to
restore. There are two ways to select files for restoring:</para>

<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Highlight a file or folder in one of the archives 
under the
tape drive tree node. Only the selected file or subfolder will be
restored.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Checkmark selected files in one of the archives under 
the tape
drive tree node. Only the checked files and/or subfolders will be
restored.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>

<para>There are three ways to initiate a restore:</para>

<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Select <guimenuitem>Restore...</guimenuitem> from the
<guimenu>File</guimenu> menu.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Click on the <guiicon>restore</guiicon> icon in the
toolbar.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>&RMB; click on a file or folder in one of the 
archives, and select
<guimenuitem>Restore...</guimenuitem>.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>

<para>Once the restore has been initiated, the <guilabel>Restore
Options</guilabel> dialog will appear. This dialog gives you a chance to
review the selected files, and change the working folder for the
restore.</para>

<para>After accepting the restore options, the 
<guilabel>Restore</guilabel>
dialog will appear.  This dialog shows the progress of the restore 
including
throughput and time remaining.</para>

</sect1>

<!-- //////// -->
<sect1 id="indexing">
<title>Recreating an index from tape</title>

<para>Sometimes it may be necessary to recreate the tape index file from 




the tape
contents. <emphasis>This process will overwrite any existing index
file for the tape</emphasis>. There are two way to recreate an index 
from
tape:</para>

<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Select <guimenuitem>Recreate Tape Index</guimenuitem> 
from the
<guimenu>File</guimenu> menu.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>&RMB; click on the tape drive tree node, and select
<guimenuitem>Recreate Tape Index</guimenuitem>.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>

<para>The <guilabel>Index</guilabel> dialog will appear. This dialog 
shows
&kdat;'s progress as it creates the index file.</para>

</sect1>

<!-- //////// -->
<sect1 id="profile">
<title>Creating a backup profile</title>

<para>There are two ways to create a backup profile:</para>

<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Select <guimenuitem>Create Backup Profile</guimenuitem> 
from
the <guimenu>File</guimenu> menu.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>&RMB; click on the <guilabel>Backup Profiles</guilabel>
tree node, and select <guimenuitem>Create Backup 
Profile</guimenuitem>.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>

<para>This should create a new backup profile using the currently 
checked files
and the default backup options. The following options can be set for the 




backup
profile:</para>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>
<term>Archive name</term>
<listitem><para>The symbolic name for the archive. It can be changed
later.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Working folder</term>
<listitem><para>The current working folder to perform the backup in. 
The
list of files to backup is automatically updated to reflect the selected 




working
folder.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Stay on one filesystem</term>
<listitem><para>For each folder that is listed under
<guilabel>Backup files</guilabel>, only the files under that folder 
that are
on the same filesystem as the folder will be archived. Folders on 




different
filesystems can be listed under <guilabel>Backup files</guilabel>, and 
each will
be treated independently of the others, by tar.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>GNU listed incremental</term>
<listitem><para>Perform an incremental backup. A snapshot file is used 
to
determine which files have changed since the last incremental backup. 
Only the
files that have changed will be archived.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Snapshot file</term>
<listitem><para>The name of the file that is used to determine which 
files have
changed since the last incremental backup.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Remove snapshot file before backup.</term>
<listitem><para>Remove the snapshot file before invoking
<application>tar</application>. This has the effect of backing up all of 




the
files, and creating the snapshot file for use next time.</para> 
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

<note><para>The <guibutton>Files &gt;&gt;</guibutton> and 
<guibutton>&lt;&lt;
Files</guibutton> buttons were not fully implemented at the time this 
documentation was
written...</para></note>

<para>You must press the <guibutton>Apply</guibutton> button to commit 
any
changes made to the backup profile.</para>

</sect1>

<!-- //////// -->
<sect1 id="prefs">
<title>Configuring user preferences</title>

<para>User preferences can be configured by selecting
<guimenuitem>Preferences...</guimenuitem> from the 
<guimenu>Edit</guimenu>
menu. The following preferences can be configured:</para>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Default tape size</guilabel>
</term>
<listitem><para>This value will be used as the default tape size when 
formatting
a tape.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Tape block size</guilabel>
</term>
<listitem><para>The hardware block size for the tape drive. For floppy 
tape
drives this value should be 10240 bytes.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Tape device</guilabel>
</term>
<listitem><para>The full path to your tape device (usually 
<filename>/dev/tape</filename>).
This path must point to the <emphasis>non-rewind</emphasis> version of 
your tape device.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Tar command</guilabel>
</term>
<listitem><para>The full path to the <command>tar</command> command on 
your
system.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Load tape on mount</guilabel>
</term>
<listitem><para>If enabled, before trying to mount a tape &kdat; will 
issue an
<userinput><command>mt<option>load</option></command></userinput> 
command to the
tape drive. Some drives may require this before reading and writing the
tape.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Lock tape drive on mount</guilabel>
</term>
<listitem><para>If enabled, whenever a tape is mounted by &kdat;, the 
tape drive
will be asked to disable the eject button. This option may not work with 




all
tape drives.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Eject tape on unmount</guilabel>
</term>
<listitem><para>If enabled, whenever a tape is unmounted by &kdat;, the 
tape
will automatically be ejected from the drive. Do not use this option 
with floppy tape
drives.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Variable block size</guilabel>
</term>
<listitem><para>If enabled, &kdat; will attempt to change the hardware 
block
size used by the tape drive. Not all drives support variable block size.
Whether this feature is enabled or not, you must tell &kdat; the block 
size that
your tape drive uses (&ie; 10240 for ftape users).</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</sect1>

<!-- //////// -->
<sect1 id="tapeformat">
<title>&kdat; tape format</title>

<para>When &kdat; formats a tape it writes a single file at the 
beginning of the
tape. This file should only occupy a single tape block. The contents of 
the
file are:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>(9 bytes) The string literal 
<literal>KDatMAGIC</literal></para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>(4 bytes) The file format version number (currently 
1).</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>(4 bytes) The length in bytes of the tape ID 
string.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>(n bytes) The tape ID string. The format of this string 
is
<replaceable>hostname</replaceable>:<replaceable>seconds</replaceable>, 
where
<replaceable>hostname</replaceable> is the full name of the machine that 




the tape was
formatted on and <replaceable>seconds</replaceable> is the number of 
seconds since
the epoch when the tape was formatted.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>The tape ID is used to locate a file, with the same name, in the
<filename>$<envar>HOME</envar>/.kdat</filename> folder.</para>

<para>Each of the remaining files on the tape are plain-old
<application>tar</application> archives. You should be able to 
manipulate them
directly with <acronym>GNU</acronym> <application>tar</application>. 
Even
non-<acronym>GNU</acronym> <application>tar</application> should work 
for
non-incremental backups.</para>

</sect1>
</chapter>

<!-- 
********************************************************************** 
-->
<chapter id="menu-reference">
<title>Menu and Toolbar Reference</title>

<sect1 id="menus">
<title>&kdat; menus</title>

<para>&kdat; has three menus:
<link linkend="menu-file"><guimenu>File</guimenu></link>,
<link linkend="menu-edit"><guimenu>Edit</guimenu></link>, and
<link linkend="menu-help"><guimenu>Help</guimenu></link>.</para>

<!-- //////// -->
<sect2 id="menu-file">
<title>The <guimenu>File</guimenu> Menu</title>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Backup</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Begin a backup.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Restore</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Restore a backup from 
tape.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Verify</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Verify a backup.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Mount Tape</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Mount a tape.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Recreate Tape Index</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Recreate an index on the currently mounted
tape.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Create Backup Profile</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Opens the dialog box that allows you to create a 




Backup
Profile.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Delete Archive</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Delete an archive from the 
tape.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Delete Index</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Delete the &kdat; index from a 
tape.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Delete Backup Profile</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Delete a Backup 
Profile.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Format Tape</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Format a tape for use with 
&kdat;.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<shortcut><keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>Q</keycap>
</keycombo></shortcut><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Exit &kdat;.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</sect2>

<!-- //////// -->
<sect2 id="menu-edit">
<title>The <guimenu>Edit</guimenu> Menu</title>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Preferences</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Opens the <guilabel>Preferences</guilabel> dialog, where
you can configure &kdat; for your needs.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</sect2>

<!-- //////// -->
<sect2 id="menu-help">
<title>The <guimenu>Help</guimenu> Menu</title>

&help.menu.documentation;

</sect2>

<!-- //////// -->
<sect2 id="icon-reference">
<title>The &kdat; toolbar</title>

<para>The &kdat; toolbar contains 6 icons, as follows:</para>

<variablelist>

<varlistentry>
<term><guiicon>Mount/unmount Tape</guiicon>
</term>
<listitem><para>Mount or unmount a tape.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guiicon>Backup</guiicon>
</term>
<listitem><para>Begin a backup. This item is unavailable unless a tape 
is
mounted.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guiicon>Restore</guiicon>
</term>
<listitem><para>Restore a backup from tape. This item is unavailable 
unless a
tape is mounted.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guiicon>Verify</guiicon>
</term>
<listitem><para>Verify the contents of a backup tape. This item is 
unavailable unless
a tape is mounted.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guiicon>Help</guiicon>
</term>
<listitem><para>Opens the &kdat; help files (this 
document)</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guiicon>Quit</guiicon>
</term>
<listitem><para>Quits &kdat;</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</sect2>

</sect1>

</chapter>

<!-- 
*********************************************************************** 
-->
<chapter id="Copyright">
<title>Copyright</title>
<para>&kdat;</para>

<para>Program and Documentation copyright 1998-2000 Sean
Vyain<email>svyain@mail.tds.net</email></para>

<!-- TRANS:CREDIT_FOR_TRANSLATORS -->

&underFDL;
&underGPL;

</chapter>
</book>

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