path: root/documentation/bbackupquery.xml

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<refentry>
  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>bbackupquery</refentrytitle>

    <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv>
    <refname>bbackupquery</refname>

    <refpurpose>Box Backup store query and retrieval</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>bbackupquery [-q] [-c configfile] [commands ...]</command>
    </cmdsynopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>

  <refsection>
    <title>Description</title>

    <para><literal>bbackupquery</literal> is the main way of interacting with
    the backup store from a Box Backup client machine. It supports both
    interactive and batch modes of operation.</para>

    <para>It can be used to reviewing the status of a client machine's backup
    store, getting status from the store server. The main use is to retrieve
    files and directories when needed.</para>

    <para><literal>bbackupquery</literal> supports interactive and batch modes
    of operation. Interactive mode allows for interaction with the server much
    like an interactive FTP client.</para>

    <para>Batch mode is invoked by putting commands into the invocation of
    bbackupquery. Example:</para>

    <programlisting>bbackupquery "list home-dirs" quit</programlisting>

    <para>Note that commands that contain spaces are enclosed in double
    quotes. If the <literal>quit</literal> command is ommitted, after the
    preceding commands are completed, <literal>bbackupquery</literal> will
    enter interactive mode.</para>

    <para><emphasis role="bold">Options</emphasis></para>

    <para><emphasis>-q: Quiet. Suppresses status output while
    running.</emphasis></para>

    <para><emphasis>-c configfile: Use config file, instead of the default
    bbackupd.conf file. Can be a relative or full path.</emphasis></para>

    <refsection>
      <title>Commands</title>

      <para>The commands that can be used in <literal>bbackupquery</literal>
      are listed below.</para>

      <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
          <para><literal>help</literal></para>

          <para>Displays the basic help message, which gives information about
          the commands available in bbackupquery. Use the form <literal>help
          command</literal>, to get help on a specific command.</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><literal>quit</literal></para>

          <para>End the session with the store server, and quit
          <literal>bbackupquery</literal>.</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><literal>cd [options] &lt;directory-name&gt;</literal></para>

          <para>Change directory. Options:</para>

          <itemizedlist>
            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-d</literal> -- consider deleted directories for
              traversal</para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-o</literal> -- consider old versions of
              directories for traversal. This option should never be useful in
              a correctly formed store.</para>
            </listitem>
          </itemizedlist>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><literal>lcd &lt;local-directory-name&gt;</literal></para>

          <para>Change directory on the client machine. To list the contents
          of the local directory, type <literal>sh ls</literal> (on unix-like
          machines). TODO: Does <literal>sh dir</literal> work on
          Windows?</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><literal>list [options] [directory-name]</literal></para>

          <para>The <literal>list</literal> (or its synonym
          <literal>ls</literal>) command lists the content of the current, or
          specified, directory. The options are as follows:</para>

          <itemizedlist>
            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-r</literal> -- recursively list all files</para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-d</literal> -- list deleted files and
              directories</para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-o</literal> -- list old versions of files and
              directories</para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-I</literal> -- don't display object IDs</para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-F</literal> -- don't display flags</para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-t</literal> -- show file modification time (and
              attr mod time, if the object has attributes.</para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-s</literal> -- show file size in blocks used on
              server. Note that this is only a very approximate indication of
              local file size.</para>
            </listitem>
          </itemizedlist>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><literal>ls [options] [directory-name]</literal></para>

          <para>Synonym for <literal>list</literal>.</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><literal><literal>pwd</literal></literal></para>

          <para>Print current directory, always relative to the backup store
          root.</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><literal>sh &lt;shell command&gt;</literal></para>

          <para>Everything after the sh is passed to a shell and run. All
          output from the command is displayed in the client.</para>

          <para>Example: to list the contents of the current directory on the
          client machine type <literal>sh ls</literal>.</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><literal>compare -a</literal></para>

          <para><literal>compare -l &lt;location-name&gt;</literal></para>

          <para><literal>compare &lt;store-dir-name&gt;
          &lt;local-dir-name&gt;</literal></para>

          <para>Compare the current data in the store with the data on the
          disc. Please note that all the data will be downloaded from the
          store, so this can be a very lengthy process depending on the size
          of the store, and the size of the part you are comparing.</para>

          <para>Options:</para>

          <itemizedlist>
            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-a</literal> -- compare all locations. </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-l</literal> -- compare one backup location as
              specified in the configuration file. This compares one of the
              top level store directories.</para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-c</literal> -- set return code. The return code
              is set to the following values, if <literal>quit</literal> is
              the next command. So, if another command is run after the
              <literal>compare</literal>, the return code will not refer to
              the <literal>compare</literal>. This option is very useful for
              automating compares. Return code values:</para>

              <itemizedlist>
                <listitem>
                  <para>1 -- no differences were found</para>
                </listitem>

                <listitem>
                  <para>2 -- differences were found</para>
                </listitem>

                <listitem>
                  <para>3 -- an error occured</para>
                </listitem>
              </itemizedlist>
            </listitem>
          </itemizedlist>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><literal>get &lt;object-filename&gt;
          [&lt;local-filename&gt;]</literal></para>

          <para><literal>get -i &lt;object-id&gt;
          &lt;local-filename&gt;</literal></para>

          <para>Gets a file from the store. Object is specified as the
          filename within the current directory. Local filename is optional.
          Ignores old and deleted files when searching the directory for the
          file to retrieve.</para>

          <para>To get an old or deleted file, use the <literal>-i</literal>
          option and select the object as a hex object ID (first column in
          listing). The local filename must be specified.</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><literal>getobject &lt;object-id&gt;
          &lt;local-filename&gt;</literal></para>

          <para>Gets the object specified by the object id (in hex) and stores
          the raw contents in the local file specified. <emphasis
          role="bold">Note</emphasis>: This is only useful for debugging as it
          does not decode files from the stored format, which is encrypted and
          compressed.</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para><literal>restore [-d] &lt;directory-name&gt;
          &lt;local-directory-name&gt;</literal></para>

          <para><literal>restore -r</literal></para>

          <para>Restores a directory to the local disc. The local directory
          specified must not exist (unless a previous restore is being
          restarted). The root cannot be restored -- restore locations
          individually. </para>

          <para>Options:</para>

          <itemizedlist>
            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-d</literal> -- restore a deleted
              directory</para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><literal>-r</literal> -- resume an interrupted
              restore</para>
            </listitem>
          </itemizedlist>

          <para> If a restore operation is interrupted for any reason, it can
          be restarted using the <literal>-r</literal> switch. Restore
          progress information is saved in a file at regular intervals during
          the restore operation to allow restarts.</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
          <para>usage</para>

          <para>Show space used on the server for this account. Display
          fields:</para>

          <itemizedlist>
            <listitem>
              <para><literal>Used</literal>: Total amount of space used on the
              server</para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><literal>Old files</literal>: Space used by old
              files</para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><literal>Deleted files</literal>: Space used by deleted
              files</para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
              <para><literal>Directories</literal>: Space used by the
              directory structure</para>
            </listitem>
          </itemizedlist>

          <para>When Used exceeds the soft limit, the server will start to
          remove old and deleted files until the usage drops below the soft
          limit. After a while, you should expect to see the usage stay at
          just below the soft limit. You only need more space if the space
          used by old and deleted files is near zero.</para>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist>
    </refsection>
  </refsection>

  <refsection>
    <title>Author</title>

    <para>Ben Summers and contributors. For help, please go to the <ulink
    url="http://www.boxbackup.org/trac/">Wiki</ulink>, or subscribe to the Box
    Backup <ulink
    url="http://lists.warhead.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/boxbackup">mailing
    list.</ulink></para>
  </refsection>

  <refsection>
    <title>See Also</title>

    <para>bbackupd.conf(8)</para>
  </refsection>

  <refsection>
    <title>Files</title>

    <para><literal>bbackupquery</literal> uses the Box Backup client
    configuration file, usually located in
    <filename>/etc/box/bbackupd.conf</filename>. On Windows this file is
    usually located in the installation directory, and is named
    <filename>bbackupd.conf</filename> as well.</para>
  </refsection>

  <refsection>
    <title>Bugs</title>

    <para>If you find a bug in Box Backup, and you want to let us know about
    it, join the <ulink
    url="http://lists.warhead.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/boxbackup">mailing
    list</ulink>, and send a description of the problem there.</para>

    <para>To report a bug, give us at least the following information:</para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>The version of Box Backup you are running</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>The platform you are running on (Hardware and OS), for both
        client and server.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>If possible attach your config files (bbstored.conf,
        bbackupd.conf) to the bug report.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>Also attach any log file output that helps shed light on the
        problem you are seeing.</para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>And last but certainly not least, a description of what you are
        seeing, in as much detail as possible.</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>
  </refsection>
</refentry>