>>> I can't recall if gbak returns an exit error code if something weird
>>> happens,
>> On Linux, it returns zero for all ok and 1 for something bad happened.
>>
>> > but to check if a backup is valid, the only thing you can do is
>>> to restore the backup and see if this process goes through. This is
>>> something I do for critical databases/backups.
>> Always good advice. There is always a possibility that the backup
>> worked, but the file could still be corrupt. :-(
>
> Yep! Had several requests already from people complaining their backup
> file is corrupted. One infamous is, with databases having a lot of
> trigger, procedures and interdependencies.
>
> A restore might fail with mismatched parameters (can't recall the exact
> error message) for procedures ... Nasty! The only way out here is to
> have a working database and re-compile all PSQL stuff on parameter list
> changes etc ...
>
> IMHO, there is (a lot of) space for improvements in the backup/restore
> area of Firebird. While with gbak, one can only be sure if a backup is
> valid by running a restore (which gets very interesting in the> 100 GB
> area *g*),

Btw, I'm anxious to see Adrianos improvement in production:
http://tracker.firebirdsql.org/browse/CORE-3433

which gladly got backported to 2.1.5.


--
With regards,

Thomas Steinmaurer
Upscene Productions
http://www.upscene.com
http://blog.upscene.com/thomas/

Download LogManager Series, FB TraceManager today!
Continuous Database Monitoring Solutions supporting
Firebird, InterBase, Advantage Database, MS SQL Server
and NexusDB!