Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Data Management:
Database Administration

Using the PROREST utility to restore a database

Use the PROREST utility to restore a full or incremental backup of a database:

prorest dbname device-name {-list | -vp | -vf}

dbname

Specifies the name of the database where you want to restore the backups.

device-name

Identifies the directory pathname of the input device or standard file from which you are restoring the data.

-list

Provides a description of all application data storage areas contained within a database backup. Use the information to create a new structure description file and database so you can restore the backup. For additional information, see the "Obtaining storage area descriptions using PROREST" section.

-vp

Specifies that the restore utility reads the backup volumes and computes and compares the backup block cyclical redundancy checks (CRCs) with those in the block headers.

To recover any data from a bad block, you must have specified a redundancy factor when you performed the database backup. See the "Error-correction blocks" section for more information about error-correction blocks and data recovery.

-vf

Specifies that the restore utility compares the backup to the database block-for-block. Do not compare the backup to a database that is in use.

Note: When you specify the -vp or -vf parameter, PROREST does not actually restore the database. You must restore the database in a separate step.

The first time you start the database after restoring an online backup, normal crash recovery runs and any transactions that were incomplete at the time of the backup are discarded.

When you restore a full database backup, consider restoring the backup to a new database. This allows you access to the corrupted database, if necessary. You must restore an incremental database backup to a restored database.

If PROREST encounters corrupted backup blocks that it is unable to recover, you lose the data in the corrupted blocks. The amount of lost data is approximately equal to the number of bad blocks multiplied by the blocking factor.

As you begin the restore procedure for a database, a report appears that indicates the date of the backup and the number of blocks required to restore the database.