Binary compatibility of backup files

[Tarby777]

Hi all,

Are 10.1B database backups (created with the probkup utility) compatible across platforms at all? I'll have a bucket-load of databases to move from Tru64 to AIX in the near future, and I'm trying to work out the easiest way to do it. If I can avoid a dump-and-load exercise by simply restoring a backup file, that's the way I'd prefer to go...

TIA
Tarby

 

[TomBascom]

You're out of luck.

In the (distant) past it has sometimes worked so long as the byte order hasn't changed but even then it has been darkly hinted that there could be issues with bit level internal structures. Tech support is very much opposed to such things.

With current releases like OE10 there are even more strongly worded warnings and they have put various integrity checks into the db startup that will detect such things.

If you want to change platforms you get to dump and load.

 

[tamhas]

Although, of course, your technique of connecting directly to both databases and replicating would also work across platforms.

 

[TomBascom]

That's true and it might even be the fastest option.

I didn't specifically mention it though because, in my mind, it's just another flavor of dump and load.

 

[tamhas]

At some level it might be considered dump and load, but it certainly isn't something that one is going to think of just reading the manuals. Anyone who has a "bucket-load" of databases to move seems like someone who might care about performance and it seems like a context where one could easily take advantage of the parallelism, given enough disks and network bandwidth.