To perform an incremental backup of transaction log files, use the
dbbackup command.
On the host of the selected runtime database, run:
dbbackup –y –c
connection-string target-directory
where:
- y – creates a backup directory, or replaces a previous backup file in the directory
without confirmation. If you want to be prompted to enter a file, do not specify
-y.
- t – creates 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, where
xx are sequential letters that range
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 directory.
- x – backs up the existing transaction log, deletes the original log, and starts a
new transaction log. Do not use this option if you are using database
mirroring.
For example, the following command creates the incremental database
transaction log backup file in c:\smpbackup\incremental\default:
dbbackup -y -t -n -x -c "dbn=default;uid=dba;pwd=sql;links=tcpip(DoBroadcast=NO;VerifyServerName=NO;host=localhost;port=5200)" C:\smpbackup\incremental\default
Use dbtran to translate the incremental transaction log generated to
SQL commands. This utility fails if any data in the log is invalid or corrupted. If the
utility succeeds, you can safely apply the log to the full backup on the recovery
server.
- Validate the transaction log backup by converting it to a SQL command
file:
dbtran yymmddxx.log yymmddxx.sql
- Delete the resulting yymmddxx.sql file as it is not required
for any other purpose.