Using dbbackup to Create Incremental Backups

Use the dbbackup utility to create an incremental live backup that also resets transaction logs on completion. Each backup uses a unique name that acts as a method of versioning each file.

1. On the host of the selected runtime database, run:

    dbbackup -y -t -n -x -c connection-string   target-directory 

   where:

   • -y – creates the backup directory or replaces a previous backup file in the directory without confirmation. If you want to be prompted, do not specify -y.
   • -t – create a backup that can be used as an incremental backup since the transaction log can be applied to the most recently backed up copy of the database files.
   • -n – changes the naming convention of the backup transaction log file to yymmddxx.log. xx are sequential letters ranging from AA to ZZ. This indexed file naming convention allows you to keep backups of multiple versions of the transaction log file in the same backup directory.
   • -x – backs up the existing transaction log, deletes the original log, and then starts a new transaction log. Do not use this option if you are using database mirroring.
   For example, this command creates the incremental transaction log backup file in the folder B:\default, in which the transaction log of default.db (cache database) is stored:

   dbbackup -y -t -n -x -c
   “dbn=default;uid=dba;pwd=sql;links=tcpip
   (DoBroadcast=NO;VerifyServerName=NO;host=
   localhost;port=5200)” B:\default

2. Ensure the incremental yymmddxx.log backup is created in the target directory selected.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 on each remaining database in the data tier node.