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4\chapter{Critical Items to Implement Before Production}
5\label{CriticalChapter}
6\index[general]{Production!Critical Items to Implement Before }
7\index[general]{Critical Items to Implement Before Production }
8
9We recommend you take your time before implementing a production a Bacula
10backup system since Bacula is a rather complex program, and if you make a
11mistake, you may suddenly find that you cannot restore your files in case
12of a disaster.  This is especially true if you have not previously used a
13major backup product.
14
15If you follow the instructions in this chapter, you will have covered most of
16the major problems that can occur. It goes without saying that if you ever
17find that we have left out an important point, please inform us, so
18that we can document it to the benefit of everyone.
19
20\label{Critical}
21\section{Critical Items}
22\index[general]{Critical Items }
23\index[general]{Items!Critical }
24
25The following assumes that you have installed Bacula, you more or less
26understand it, you have at least worked through the tutorial or have
27equivalent experience, and that you have set up a basic production
28configuration. If you haven't done the above, please do so and then come back
29here. The following is a sort of checklist that points with perhaps a brief
30explanation of why you should do it.  In most cases, you will find the
31details elsewhere in the manual.  The order is more or less the order you
32would use in setting up a production system (if you already are in
33production, use the checklist anyway).
34
35\begin{itemize}
36\item Test your tape drive for compatibility with Bacula by using the  test
37   command in the \ilink{btape}{btape} program.
38\item Better than doing the above is to walk through the nine steps in the
39   \ilink{Tape Testing}{TapeTestingChapter} chapter of the manual. It
40   may take you a bit of time, but it will eliminate surprises.
41\item Test the end of tape handling of your tape drive by using the
42   fill command in the \ilink{btape}{btape} program.
43\item If you are using a Linux 2.4 kernel, make sure that /lib/tls is disabled. Bacula
44   does not work with this library. See the second point under
45   \ilink{ Supported Operating Systems.}{SupportedOSes}
46\item Do at least one restore of files. If you backup multiple OS types
47   (Linux, Solaris, HP, MacOS, FreeBSD, Win32, ...),
48   restore files from each system type. The
49   \ilink{Restoring Files}{RestoreChapter} chapter shows you how.
50\item Write a bootstrap file to a separate system for each backup job.  The
51   Write Bootstrap directive is described in the
52   \ilink{Director Configuration}{writebootstrap}  chapter of the
53   manual, and more details are available in the
54   \ilink{Bootstrap File}{BootstrapChapter} chapter. Also, the default
55   bacula-dir.conf comes with a Write Bootstrap directive defined. This  allows
56   you to recover the state of your system as of the last backup.
57\item Backup your catalog. An example of this is found in the default
58   bacula-dir.conf file. The backup script is installed by default and
59   should handle any database, though you may want to make your own local
60   modifications.  See also \ilink{Backing Up Your Bacula Database -
61   Security Considerations }{BackingUpBaculaSecurityConsiderations} for more
62   information.
63\item Write a bootstrap file for the catalog. An example of this is found in
64   the default bacula-dir.conf file. This will allow you to quickly restore your
65   catalog in the event it is wiped out -- otherwise it  is many excruciating
66   hours of work.
67\item Make a copy of the bacula-dir.conf, bacula-sd.conf, and
68   bacula-fd.conf files that you are using on your server. Put it in a safe
69   place (on another machine) as these files can be difficult to
70   reconstruct if your server dies.
71\item Make a Bacula Rescue CDROM! See the
72   \ilink{Disaster Recovery Using a Bacula Rescue
73   CDROM}{RescueChapter} chapter. It is trivial to  make such a CDROM,
74   and it can make system recovery in the event of  a lost hard disk infinitely
75   easier.
76\item Bacula assumes all filenames are in UTF-8 format. This is important
77   when saving the filenames to the catalog. For Win32 machine, Bacula will
78   automatically convert from Unicode to UTF-8, but on Unix, Linux, *BSD,
79   and MacOS X machines, you must explicitly ensure that your locale is set
80   properly. Typically this means that the {bf LANG} environment variable
81   must end in {\bf .UTF-8}. An full example is {\bf en\_US.UTF-8}. The
82   exact syntax may vary a bit from OS to OS, and exactly how you define it
83   will also vary.
84
85   On most modern Win32 machines, you can edit the conf files with {\bf
86   notepad} and choose output encoding UTF-8.
87\end{itemize}
88
89\section{Recommended Items}
90\index[general]{Items!Recommended }
91\index[general]{Recommended Items }
92
93Although these items may not be critical, they are recommended and will help
94you avoid problems.
95
96\begin{itemize}
97\item Read the \ilink{Quick Start Guide to Bacula}{QuickStartChapter}
98\item After installing and experimenting with Bacula, read and work carefully
99   through the examples in the
100   \ilink{Tutorial}{TutorialChapter} chapter  of this manual.
101\item Learn what each of the \ilink{Bacula Utility Programs}{_UtilityChapter}
102   does.
103\item Set up reasonable retention periods so that your catalog does not  grow
104   to be too big. See the following three chapters:\\
105   \ilink{Recycling your Volumes}{RecyclingChapter},\\
106   \ilink{Basic Volume Management}{DiskChapter},\\
107   \ilink{Using Pools to Manage Volumes}{PoolsChapter}.
108\item Perform a bare metal recovery using the Bacula Rescue CDROM.  See the
109   \ilink{Disaster Recovery Using a Bacula Rescue CDROM}{RescueChapter}
110    chapter.
111\end{itemize}
112
113If you absolutely must implement a system where you write a different
114tape each night and take it offsite in the morning. We recommend that you do
115several things:
116\begin{itemize}
117\item Write a bootstrap file of your backed up data and a bootstrap file
118   of your catalog backup to a floppy disk or a CDROM, and take that with
119   the tape.  If this is not possible, try to write those files to another
120   computer or offsite computer, or send them as email to a friend. If none
121   of that is possible, at least print the bootstrap files and take that
122   offsite with the tape.  Having the bootstrap files will make recovery
123   much easier.
124\item It is better not to force Bacula to load a particular tape each day.
125   Instead, let Bacula choose the tape.  If you need to know what tape to
126   mount, you can print a list of recycled and appendable tapes daily, and
127   select any tape from that list.  Bacula may propose a particular tape
128   for use that it considers optimal, but it will accept any valid tape
129   from the correct pool.
130\end{itemize}
131