[p4] Which all checkpoint.xxx and journal.xxx files to keep

[Bhavbhuti Nathwani]

Hi all

I regularly execute the following commands;

"C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4" verify -q //...
"C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4" verify -u //...
"C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4d" -jc -z

So now I have files checkpoint.1 to .21 and journal.0 to 20.

Now my question is what all files do I have to keep?
Do I need all of them?

As for my previous thread regarding connectivity I will respond soon
to it as I have other one last wrinkle ironed out.

Please advise.
Regards
Bhavbhuti

[Ivey, William]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: perforce-user-***@perforce.com
> [mailto:perforce-user-***@perforce.com]On Behalf Of Bhavbhuti
> Nathwani
> Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 12:20 AM
> To: perforce-***@perforce.com
> Subject: [p4] Which all checkpoint.xxx and journal.xxx files to keep
>
>
> Hi all
>
> I regularly execute the following commands;
>
> "C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4" verify -q //...
> "C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4" verify -u //...
> "C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4d" -jc -z
>
> So now I have files checkpoint.1 to .21 and journal.0 to 20.
>
> Now my question is what all files do I have to keep?
> Do I need all of them?

I usually keep the last three, but I believe the last two
are sufficient. (Perforce's DB is somewhat similiar to
Berkeley DB - originally based on it I believe - and they
say two is enough.)

I do sometimes hold on to the last checkpoint before a major
server upgrade for a few weeks just in case I need to diagnose
a before and after problem, but I never have needed it and it
wouldn't be useful for a real recovery beyond a day or so. -Wm

[Jeff A. Bowles]

Yup, "what he said."

I do nearly the same thing, keeping the last couple of checkpoints
and ALL journals from
the earliest of those (saved) checkpoints to the present. (Sometimes
a disk sector fails
and you need the journals to bring things current with what you DO
have. So you save
some checkpoints AND ALSO journals.)

-Jeff Bowles

ps. For performance/time reasons, it might not be necessary to do
those verifies
in exactly that way. (Some checksum computations are now done
automatically for
you, at check-in time.)


On Sep 15, 2005, at 7:42 AM, Ivey, William wrote:

>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: perforce-user-***@perforce.com
>> [mailto:perforce-user-***@perforce.com]On Behalf Of Bhavbhuti
>> Nathwani
>> Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 12:20 AM
>> To: perforce-***@perforce.com
>> Subject: [p4] Which all checkpoint.xxx and journal.xxx files to keep
>>
>>
>> Hi all
>>
>> I regularly execute the following commands;
>>
>> "C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4" verify -q //...
>> "C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4" verify -u //...
>> "C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4d" -jc -z
>>
>> So now I have files checkpoint.1 to .21 and journal.0 to 20.
>>
>> Now my question is what all files do I have to keep?
>> Do I need all of them?
>>
>
> I usually keep the last three, but I believe the last two
> are sufficient. (Perforce's DB is somewhat similiar to
> Berkeley DB - originally based on it I believe - and they
> say two is enough.)
>
> I do sometimes hold on to the last checkpoint before a major
> server upgrade for a few weeks just in case I need to diagnose
> a before and after problem, but I never have needed it and it
> wouldn't be useful for a real recovery beyond a day or so. -Wm
>
> _______________________________________________
> perforce-user mailing list - perforce-***@perforce.com
> http://maillist.perforce.com/mailman/listinfo/perforce-user
>

[Bhavbhuti Nathwani]

Hi Jeff

On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 08:07:52 -0700, "Jeff A. Bowles" <***@pobox.com>
wrote:

>Yup, "what he said."

So continuing my example I can safely keep checkpoint.20 and .21 and
it's journal.19 and .20

I don't know if the above was a question :) Just thinking aloud I
guess. If I am wrong please point out the right numbers.

>ps. For performance/time reasons, it might not be necessary to do
>those verifies
>in exactly that way. (Some checksum computations are now done
>automatically for
>you, at check-in time.)

I use 2005.1 version and I have noticed that these 2 verify command
now execute almost immediately (I have a small lot) as compared to the
previous 2004 version.

I was going by the book as they say. I read it in the manual and
executed the commands without really questioning or complaining.
Questioning or complaining can come later as I gather more knowledge.

Thanks for responding.
Regards
Bhavbhuti

[Stephen Vance]

Don't forget that journal.19 without checkpoint.19 is pretty useless.

checkpoint.(n) + journal.(n) = checkpoint.(n+1)

When you are preserving them, keep them around in pairs.

Steve

At 01:37 AM 9/16/2005, Bhavbhuti Nathwani wrote:
>Hi Jeff
>
>On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 08:07:52 -0700, "Jeff A. Bowles" <***@pobox.com>
>wrote:
>
> >Yup, "what he said."
>
>So continuing my example I can safely keep checkpoint.20 and .21 and
>it's journal.19 and .20
>
>I don't know if the above was a question :) Just thinking aloud I
>guess. If I am wrong please point out the right numbers.
>
> >ps. For performance/time reasons, it might not be necessary to do
> >those verifies
> >in exactly that way. (Some checksum computations are now done
> >automatically for
> >you, at check-in time.)
>
>I use 2005.1 version and I have noticed that these 2 verify command
>now execute almost immediately (I have a small lot) as compared to the
>previous 2004 version.
>
>I was going by the book as they say. I read it in the manual and
>executed the commands without really questioning or complaining.
>Questioning or complaining can come later as I gather more knowledge.
>
>Thanks for responding.
>Regards
>Bhavbhuti
>
>_______________________________________________
>perforce-user mailing list - perforce-***@perforce.com
>http://maillist.perforce.com/mailman/listinfo/perforce-user

Stephen Vance
mailto:***@vance.com
http://www.vance.com/

[Bhavbhuti Nathwani]

Hi Steve

On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 08:20:03 -0400, Stephen Vance <***@vance.com>
wrote:

>Don't forget that journal.19 without checkpoint.19 is pretty useless.
>
>checkpoint.(n) + journal.(n) = checkpoint.(n+1)

Ohh, thanks I was under the wrong impression checkpoint.(n-1) +
journal.(n) = checkpoint.(n+1)
Regards
Bhavbhuti

[Bhavbhuti Nathwani]

Hi William

On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 09:42:16 -0500, "Ivey, William"
<***@bmc.com> wrote:
>I usually keep the last three, but I believe the last two
>are sufficient. (Perforce's DB is somewhat similiar to
>Berkeley DB - originally based on it I believe - and they
>say two is enough.)

Thanks a lot for the advise.
Regards
Bhavbhuti

[Stephen Vance]

I usually hold enough to last prior to my last full backup, typically 7-8.

Steve

At 10:42 AM 9/15/2005, Ivey, William wrote:

> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: perforce-user-***@perforce.com
> > [mailto:perforce-user-***@perforce.com]On Behalf Of Bhavbhuti
> > Nathwani
> > Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 12:20 AM
> > To: perforce-***@perforce.com
> > Subject: [p4] Which all checkpoint.xxx and journal.xxx files to keep
> >
> >
> > Hi all
> >
> > I regularly execute the following commands;
> >
> > "C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4" verify -q //...
> > "C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4" verify -u //...
> > "C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4d" -jc -z
> >
> > So now I have files checkpoint.1 to .21 and journal.0 to 20.
> >
> > Now my question is what all files do I have to keep?
> > Do I need all of them?
>
>I usually keep the last three, but I believe the last two
>are sufficient. (Perforce's DB is somewhat similiar to
>Berkeley DB - originally based on it I believe - and they
>say two is enough.)
>
>I do sometimes hold on to the last checkpoint before a major
>server upgrade for a few weeks just in case I need to diagnose
>a before and after problem, but I never have needed it and it
>wouldn't be useful for a real recovery beyond a day or so. -Wm
>
>_______________________________________________
>perforce-user mailing list - perforce-***@perforce.com
>http://maillist.perforce.com/mailman/listinfo/perforce-user

Stephen Vance
mailto:***@vance.com
http://www.vance.com/

[Bhavbhuti Nathwani]

Hi Steve

On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 11:51:08 -0400, Stephen Vance <***@vance.com>
wrote:

>I usually hold enough to last prior to my last full backup, typically 7-8.

So I guess none of them are required by me. I have around 180MB of
db*.* and source control files. I take the whole lot on the RW-CD
everyday.

Thanks for your views.
Regards
Bhavbhuti

[Stephen Vance]

You'll still want to retain the last pair or two.

Steve

At 01:37 AM 9/16/2005, Bhavbhuti Nathwani wrote:
>Hi Steve
>
>On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 11:51:08 -0400, Stephen Vance <***@vance.com>
>wrote:
>
> >I usually hold enough to last prior to my last full backup, typically 7-8.
>
>So I guess none of them are required by me. I have around 180MB of
>db*.* and source control files. I take the whole lot on the RW-CD
>everyday.
>
>Thanks for your views.
>Regards
>Bhavbhuti
>
>_______________________________________________
>perforce-user mailing list - perforce-***@perforce.com
>http://maillist.perforce.com/mailman/listinfo/perforce-user

Stephen Vance
mailto:***@vance.com
http://www.vance.com/

[Bhavbhuti Nathwani]

Hi Steve

On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 08:17:59 -0400, Stephen Vance <***@vance.com>
wrote:

>You'll still want to retain the last pair or two.

Okay. Thanks.
Regards
Bhavbhuti

[Smith, Jeff]

We have a cron job that performs the verify and then deletes all the
checkpoint/journal files more than a month old.

Jeff

> -----Original Message-----
> From: perforce-user-***@perforce.com
> [mailto:perforce-user-***@perforce.com]On Behalf Of Bhavbhuti
> Nathwani
> Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2005 12:20 AM
> To: perforce-***@perforce.com
> Subject: [p4] Which all checkpoint.xxx and journal.xxx files to keep
>
>
> Hi all
>
> I regularly execute the following commands;
>
> "C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4" verify -q //...
> "C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4" verify -u //...
> "C:\Program Files\Perforce\p4d" -jc -z
>
> So now I have files checkpoint.1 to .21 and journal.0 to 20.
>
> Now my question is what all files do I have to keep?
> Do I need all of them?

[Bhavbhuti Nathwani]

Hi Jeff

On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 12:21:25 -0400, "Smith, Jeff" <***@medplus.com>
wrote:

>We have a cron job that performs the verify and then deletes all the
>checkpoint/journal files more than a month old.

So I guess you have seperated checkpoint creation and the 2 verify
commands into seperate scripts/batches. And you delete old stuff only
after you have a successful verification (which can take time for
larger depots)

Thanks.
Regards
Bhavbhuti

[Andreas Axelsson]

The journal file contains all changes between two checkpoints (assuming
you truncate the journal and make checkpoints at the same time), so
unless you have checkpoint.X, journal.X is of little or no use, since it
only describes what happened after you made checkpoint.x. Check the
admin guide to see which files you need for various recovery scenarios.

See "Recovery Procedures" on
http://www.perforce.com/perforce/doc.051/manuals/p4sag/02_backup.html#10
45323

cheers,
/axl

> -----Original Message-----
> From: perforce-user-***@perforce.com
> [mailto:perforce-user-***@perforce.com] On Behalf Of
> Bhavbhuti Nathwani
> Sent: den 16 september 2005 07:38
> To: perforce-***@perforce.com
> Subject: Re: [p4] Which all checkpoint.xxx and journal.xxx
> files to keep
>
> Hi Jeff
>
> On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 08:07:52 -0700, "Jeff A. Bowles" <***@pobox.com>
> wrote:
>
> >Yup, "what he said."
>
> So continuing my example I can safely keep checkpoint.20 and
> .21 and it's journal.19 and .20
>
> I don't know if the above was a question :) Just thinking
> aloud I guess. If I am wrong please point out the right numbers.
>
> >ps. For performance/time reasons, it might not be necessary
> to do those
> >verifies in exactly that way. (Some checksum computations
> are now done
> >automatically for you, at check-in time.)
>
> I use 2005.1 version and I have noticed that these 2 verify
> command now execute almost immediately (I have a small lot)
> as compared to the previous 2004 version.
>
> I was going by the book as they say. I read it in the manual
> and executed the commands without really questioning or complaining.
> Questioning or complaining can come later as I gather more knowledge.
>
> Thanks for responding.
> Regards
> Bhavbhuti
>
> _______________________________________________
> perforce-user mailing list - perforce-***@perforce.com
> http://maillist.perforce.com/mailman/listinfo/perforce-user
>

[Bhavbhuti Nathwani]

HI Andreas

On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 15:06:30 +0200, "Andreas Axelsson"
<***@dice.se> wrote:

Check the
>admin guide to see which files you need for various recovery scenarios.
>
>See "Recovery Procedures" on
>http://www.perforce.com/perforce/doc.051/manuals/p4sag/02_backup.html#10
>45323

Thanks for the pointer.
Regards
Bhavbhuti

[Smith, Jeff]

Actually, it does the delete once the verify finished good or bad.
Since we keep a month of checkpoints on hand and that directory itself
is backed up nightly to an offsite location, we're not concerned about
loosing a couple month-old ones on disk.

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: Bhavbhuti Nathwani [mailto:***@hotpop.com]
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2005 1:38 AM
To: perforce-***@perforce.com
Subject: Re: [p4] Which all checkpoint.xxx and journal.xxx files to keep


Hi Jeff

On Thu, 15 Sep 2005 12:21:25 -0400, "Smith, Jeff" <***@medplus.com>
wrote:

>We have a cron job that performs the verify and then deletes all the
>checkpoint/journal files more than a month old.

So I guess you have seperated checkpoint creation and the 2 verify
commands into seperate scripts/batches. And you delete old stuff only
after you have a successful verification (which can take time for larger
depots)

Thanks.
Regards
Bhavbhuti

_______________________________________________
perforce-user mailing list - perforce-***@perforce.com
http://maillist.perforce.com/mailman/listinfo/perforce-user

[Bhavbhuti Nathwani]

Hi Jeff

On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 10:49:43 -0400, "Smith, Jeff" <***@medplus.com>
wrote:

>Actually, it does the delete once the verify finished good or bad.
>Since we keep a month of checkpoints on hand and that directory itself
>is backed up nightly to an offsite location, we're not concerned about
>loosing a couple month-old ones on disk.

Okay. Thanks.
Regards
Bhavbhuti