ctl_backups - Cyrus IMAP documentation
Perform administrative operations directly on Cyrus backups.
ctl_backups [OPTIONS] compact [MODE] backup...
ctl_backups [OPTIONS] list [LIST OPTIONS] [[MODE] backup...]
ctl_backups [OPTIONS] lock [LOCK OPTIONS] [MODE] backup
ctl_backups [OPTIONS] reindex [MODE] backup...
ctl_backups [OPTIONS] stat [MODE] backup...
ctl_backups [OPTIONS] verify [MODE] backup...
ctl_backups is a tool for performing administrative
operations on Cyrus backups.
ctl_backups reads its configuration options out of the
imapd.conf(5) file unless specified otherwise by -C.
In all invocations, backup is interpreted according to the
specified MODE. See Modes below.
ctl_backups provides the following sub-commands:
- compact
- Reduce storage required by the named backups. Compact behaviour is
influenced by the backup_compact_minsize,
backup_compact_maxsize, backup_compact_work_threshold, and
backup_retention_days configuration settings. See imapd.conf(5) for
details.
This should generally be invoked regularly, such as by adding
an entry to the EVENTS section of cyrus.conf(5). See Examples for
an example.
If the backup_keep_previous configuration setting is
enabled, compact will preserve the original data and index files
(renaming them with a timestamp). This is useful for debugging.
- list
- List backups. See List Options for options specific to the
list sub-command. Columns are separated by tabs, and are:
- end time of latest chunk
- size of backup data file on disk
- userid to which the backup belongs
- path to backup data file
If no mode or backups are specified, lists all known
backups (as if invoked with the -A mode).
- lock
- Obtain and hold a lock on the named backup. Useful for operating on Cyrus
backup files using non-Cyrus tools (such as UNIX tools or custom scripts)
in relative safety. See Lock Options for details.
- reindex
- Rebuild the indexes for the named backups, based on the raw backup data.
This is useful if their index files have been corrupted, or if the index
format has changed.
If the backup_keep_previous configuration setting is
enabled, reindex will preserve the original index file (renaming it with
a timestamp). This is useful for debugging.
- stat
- Display stats for the named backups. Columns are separated by tabs, and
are:
- userid or filename
- compressed (i.e. on disk) size
- uncompressed size
- compactable size
- compression ratio
- utilisation ratio
- start time of latest chunk
- end time of latest chunk
The compactable size is an approximation of how much uncompressed
data would remain after compact is performed. The utilisation ratio
is this figure expressed as a percentage of the uncompressed size. Note that
this approximation is an underestimate. That is to say, a backup that has
just been compacted will probably still report less than 100%
utilisation.
- verify
- Verify consistency of the named backups by performing deep checks on both
the raw backup data and its index.
- -F
- Force the operation to occur, even if it is determined to be unnecessary.
This is mostly useful with the compact sub-command.
- -S
- Stop-on-error. With this option, if a sub-command fails for any particular
backup, ctl_backups will immediately exit with an error, without
processing further backups.
The default is to log the error, and continue with the next
backup.
- -V
- Don’t verify backup checksums for read-only operations.
The read-only operations list and stat will
normally perform a “quick” verification of the backup file
being read, which checks the checksums of the most recent chunk. This
can be slow for backups whose most recent backup chunk is very
large.
With this option, the verification step will be skipped.
- -j
- Produce output in JSON format. The default is plain text.
- -v
- Increase the verbosity. Can be specified multiple times.
- -w
- Wait for locks. With this option, if a backup named on the command line is
locked, execution will block until the lock becomes available.
The default is to skip backups that are currently locked.
Options that apply only to the list sub-command.
- -t [hours]
- List stale backups only, that is, backups that have received no updates in
hours. If hours is unspecified, it defaults to 24.
Options that apply only to the lock sub-command.
- -c
- Exclusively create the named backup while obtaining the lock. Exits
immediately with an error if the named backup already exists.
When the lock is successfully obtained, continue as per the
other options.
- -p
- Locks the named backup, and then waits for EOF on the standard input
stream. Unlocks the backup and exits once EOF is received. This is the
default mode of operation.
- -s
- Locks the named backup, and with the lock held, opens its index file in
the sqlite3(1) program. The lock is automatically released when
sqlite3 exits.
- -x command
- Locks the named backup, and with the lock held, executes command
using /bin/sh (as per system(3)). The lock is automatically
released when command completes.
The filenames of the backup data and index are made available
to command in the environment variables
$ctl_backups_lock_data_fname and
$ctl_backups_lock_index_fname, respectively.
- -A
- Run sub-command over all known backups.
Known backups are recorded in the database specified by the
backup_db and backup_db_path configuration options.
- -D
- Backups specified on the command line are interpreted as domains. Run
sub-command over known backups for users in these domains.
- -P
- Backups specified on the command line are interpreted as userid prefixes.
Run sub-command over known backups for users matching these prefixes.
- -f
- Backups specified on the command line are interpreted as filenames. Run
sub-command over the matching backup files. The backup files do not need
to be known about in the backups database.
- -m
- Backups specified on the command line are interpreted as mailbox names.
Run sub-command over known backups containing these mailboxes.
- -u
- Backups specified on the command line are interpreted as userids. Run
sub-command over known backups for matching users.
This is the default if no mode is specified.
Scheduling ctl_backups compact to run each morning using
the EVENTS section of cyrus.conf(5):
EVENTS {
checkpoint cmd="ctl_cyrusdb -c" period=30
compact cmd="ctl_backups compact -A" at=0400
}
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