Bootstrap File Format

The general format of a bootstrap file is:

<keyword>= <value>

Where each keyword and the value specify which files to restore. More precisely the keyword and their values serve to limit which files will be restored and thus act as a filter. The absence of a keyword means that all records will be accepted.

Blank lines and lines beginning with a pound sign (#) in the bootstrap file are ignored.

There are keywords which permit filtering by Volume, Client, Job, FileIndex, Session Id, Session Time, etc.

The more keywords that are specified, the more selective the specification of which files to restore will be. In fact, each keyword is ANDed with other keywords that may be present.

For example:

Volume = Test-001

VolSessionId = 1

VolSessionTime = 108927638

directs the Storage daemon (or the bextract program) to restore only those files on Volume Test-001 AND having VolumeSessionId equal to one AND having VolumeSession time equal to 108927638.

The full set of permitted keywords presented in the order in which they are matched against the Volume records are:

Volume The value field specifies what Volume the following commands apply to. Each Volume specification becomes the current Volume, to which all the following commands apply until a new current Volume (if any) is specified. If the Volume name contains spaces, it should be enclosed in quotes. At lease one Volume specification is required.

Count The value is the total number of files that will be restored for this Volume. This allows the Storage daemon to know when to stop reading the Volume. This value is optional.

VolFile The value is a file number, a list of file numbers, or a range of file numbers to match on the current Volume. The file number represents the physical file on the Volume where the data is stored. For a tape volume, this record is used to position to the correct starting file, and once the tape is past the last specified file, reading will stop.

VolBlock The value is a block number, a list of block numbers, or a range of block numbers to match on the current Volume. The block number represents the physical block within the file on the Volume where the data is stored.

VolSessionTime The value specifies a Volume Session Time to be matched from the current volume.

VolSessionId The value specifies a VolSessionId, a list of volume session ids, or a range of volume session ids to be matched from the current Volume. Each VolSessionId and VolSessionTime pair corresponds to a unique Job that is backed up on the Volume.

JobId The value specifies a JobId, list of JobIds, or range of JobIds to be selected from the current Volume. Note, the JobId may not be unique if you have multiple Directors, or if you have reinitialized your database. The JobId filter works only if you do not run multiple simultaneous Jobs. This value is optional and not used by to restore files.

Job The value specifies a Job name or list of Job names to be matched on the current Volume. The Job corresponds to a unique VolSessionId and VolSessionTime pair. However, the Job is perhaps a bit more readable by humans. Standard regular expressions (wildcards) may be used to match Job names. The Job filter works only if you do not run multiple simultaneous jobs. The value specifies a Client name or list of Clients to be matched on the current Volume.

Client The value specifies a Client name or list of Clients to will be matched on the current Volume.

The Client filter works only if you do not run multiple simultaneous Jobs. This value is optional and not used by to restore files.

FileIndex The value specifies a FileIndex, list of FileIndexes, or range of FileIndexes to be selected from the current Volume. Each file (object) stored on a Volume within a Session has a unique FileIndex. For each Session, the first file written is assigned FileIndex equal to one and the value is incremented for each file backed up.

Thus for a given Volume, the triple VolSessionId, VolSessionTime, and FileIndex uniquely identifies a file stored on the Volume. Multiple copies of the same file may be stored on the same Volume, but for each file, the triple VolSessionId, VolSessionTime, and FileIndex will be unique. This triple is stored in the Catalog database for each file.

To restore a particular file, this value (or a range of FileIndexes) is required.

FileRegex The value is a regular expression. When specified, only matching filenames will be restored.

FileRegex=^/etc/passwd(.old)?

Slot The value specifies the autochanger slot. There may be only a single Slot specification for each Volume.

Stream The value specifies a Stream, a list of Streams, or a range of Streams to be selected from the current Volume. Unless you really know what you are doing (the internals of Bacula), you should avoid this specification. This value is optional and not used by Bacula to restore files.

*JobType Not yet implemented.

*JobLevel Not yet implemented.

The Volume record is a bit special in that it must be the first record. The other keyword records may appear in any order and any number following a Volume record.

Multiple Volume records may be specified in the same bootstrap file, but each one starts a new set of filter criteria for the Volume.

In processing the bootstrap file within the current Volume, each filter specified by a keyword is ANDed with the next. Thus,

Volume = Test-01

Client = "My machine"

FileIndex = 1

will match records on Volume Test-01 AND Client records for My machine AND FileIndex equal to one.

Multiple occurrences of the same record are ORed together. Thus,

Volume = Test-01

Client = "My machine"

Client = "Backup machine"

FileIndex = 1

will match records on Volume Test-01 AND (Client records for My machine OR Backup machine) AND FileIndex equal to one.

For integer values, you may supply a range or a list, and for all other values except Volumes, you may specify a list. A list is equivalent to multiple records of the same keyword. For example,

Volume = Test-01

Client = "My machine", "Backup machine"

FileIndex = 1-20, 35

will match records on Volume Test-01 AND (Client records for My machine OR Backup machine) AND (FileIndex 1 OR 2 OR 3 … OR 20 OR 35).

As previously mentioned, there may be multiple Volume records in a bootstrap file. Each new Volume definition begins a new set of filter conditions that apply to that Volume and will be ORed with any other Volume definitions.

As an example, suppose we query for the current set of tapes to restore all files on Client Rufus using the query command in the console program:

Using default Catalog name=MySQL DB=bacula
\*query
Available queries:
    1: List Job totals:

    2: List where a file is saved:

    3: List where the most recent copies of a file are saved:

    4: List total files/bytes by Job:

    5: List total files/bytes by Volume:

    6: List last 10 Full Backups for a Client:

    7: List Volumes used by selected JobId:

    8: List Volumes to Restore All Files: Choose a query (1-8): 8

    Enter Client Name: Rufus

JobId	StartTime	VolumeName	StartFile	VolSesId	VolSesTime
154	2002-05-30 12:08	test-02	0	1	1022753312
202	2002-06-15 12:08	test-02	0	2	1024128917
203	2002-06-15 12:08	test-02	3	1	1024132350
204	2002-06-18 12:08	test-02	4	1	1024380678

The output shows us that there are four Jobs that must be restored. The first one is a Full backup, and the following three are all Incremental backups.

The following bootstrap file will restore those files:

Volume=test-02

VolSessionId=1

VolSessionTime=1022753312

Volume=test-02

VolSessionId=2

VolSessionTime=1024128917

Volume=test-02

VolSessionId=1

VolSessionTime=1024132350

Volume=test-02

VolSessionId=1

VolSessionTime=1024380678

As a final example, assume that the initial Full save spanned two Volumes. The output from might look like:

JobId	StartTime	VolumeName	StartFile	VolSesId	VolSesTime
242	2002-06-25 16:50	File0003	0	1	1025016612
242	2002-06-25 16:50	File0004	0	2	1025016612
243	2002-06-25 16:52	File0005	3	1	1025016612
246	2002-06-25 19:19	File0006	4	1	1025025494

and the following bootstrap file would restore those files:

Volume=File0003

VolSessionId=1

VolSessionTime=1025016612

Volume=File0004

VolSessionId=1

VolSessionTime=1025016612

Volume=File0005

VolSessionId=2

VolSessionTime=1025016612

Volume=File0006

VolSessionId=2

VolSessionTime=1025025494