fbackup running out of virtual memory

[rjdscs]

HI All

I am have a major problem backuping up a HPUX 10.20 server using fbackup. The machine is a D330 with 512 MB RAM and 3 GB swap. The backup is kicked off by cron every night. It runs for about 60 - 90 mins and then

fbackup(1004): session begins on Tue May 7 18:39:34 2002
fbackup(9999): Not enough space
fbackup(1504): could not open directory `.' (./omdata/user06/g0002i7)
fbackup(9999): Not enough space
fbackup(1504): could not open directory `.' (./omdata/user06/g0002i8)
fbackup(9999): Not enough space
.
.
.
backup(1504): could not open directory `.' (./omdata/user06/u0002nf)
fbackup(1505): out of virtual memory

Any ideas as to the cause/solution to this problem?

Thanks

Richard

 

[mewa]

Hi,
You did not mentioned how much data is going to be backed up during the session and how many files the directory tree consists of. So I can only suggest that "out of virtual memory" means there is not enough of swap available for the fbackup session.
As you have 3GB of swap in your configuration I would advise to check the value of maxdsiz kernel parameter. It may be set to default value (likely to be 64) which is probably not enough for the fbackup to proceed.

Regards,
mewa

 

[rjdscs]

I am backing up about 25GB but >1 million files. I thnk it is the number of files. Will increasing maxdsiz solve the problem?

 

[mewa]

Hi,
I'm not sure if higher value of maxdsiz will solve the problem. During the backup fbackup builds the index of files prior to sending them to the tape. It needs some swap space during this process, some amount for each file, but I do not know how much exactly.
You have over 1 milion files. A short calculation says it should be over 3KB per file to fail because of not enough swap space. I think this is not possible.
Another possibility is that you get to the memory allocation limit which is maxdsiz. I guess increasing maxdsiz may help.
What is the value of maxdsiz now?

Regards,
Ewa

 

[rjdscs]

Hi mewa

maxdsiz is set at the default of 64 MB. I will increase it and see if that resolves the problem. As it is a live 24x7 system it is hard to find a time to reboot. A lot of negotiation with users, but I will try to schedule the changes for tonight. Thanks for your help. If any other ideas come to mind please pass them on.

Richard

 

[mewa]

Hi,
I thought of the new maxdsiz value for your system. I guess it should be at least 128MB.

I'm looking forward to hear if the change has helped.

Regards,
Ewa