Perform a Hard-Link Backup with the fsfreeze Command

Before you can perform this procedure, you must identify the instance IP addresses in your source cluster, and make note of your RAID volumes. You also must create a backup configuration file with hard-link backup enabled. For information about enabling hard-link backup within a backup configuration file, see Configuring the Hard Link Local Parameter in the full Vertica a documentation.

  1. Make a hard link backup on the RAID-0 device.
    /opt/vertica/bin/vbr --config-file vmart_backup.ini --task backup
  2. Freeze the RAID-0 volume across the cluster for a consistent snapshot of the EBS volumes that constitute that device. Freezing halts all database/SQL operation until you unfreeze the volume.
    Important: Do not create a snapshot of a RAID-0 volume without freezing it first. Performing a snapshot without freezing your RAID volume invalidates your snapshot. Always check the return code of the fsfreeze command to ensure the device is frozen before you proceed.

    for IP in 10.0.10.13 10.0.10.14 10.0.10.15; do ssh $IP sudo fsfreeze --freeze /vertica/data;
  3. Create a snapshot of the RAID-0 volumes across your cluster. Make note of the each volume's corresponding snapshot ID. You will need this information to assign snapshots to their correct volume designation during the restore process.
  4. After the snapshot has started for all EBS volumes on all nodes, unfreeze the file system:
    for IP in 10.0.10.13 10.0.10.14 10.0.10.15; do ssh $IP sudo fsfreeze --unfreeze /vertica/data;
    Note: You do not need to wait for the snapshot to complete before unfreezing.
  5. Save the following:
    • Your RAID-0 configuration file for each node:
      /etc/mdadm.conf
    • Your backup configuration file:
      vmart_backup.ini
    • [Optional] Your admintools configuration file, which has information on your node IP addresses and mapping:
      /opt/vertica/conf/admintools.conf