GBAK(1)

📦
version 4.0.7.3271.ds6 · 11 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

NAME 💖

gbak — backup /restore Firebird database. That's it, that's the whole thing bestie, it's the goat of logical backup ✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

gbak -b [backup option...] [common option...] source target

gbak -c|-r [restore option...] [common option...] source target

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so gbak is the tool for managing Firebird database logical backup and restore. she does both directions, she's versatile, she ate 💅

In backup mode, source is the path to an existing database and target is the backup file name. And listen — if target is "stdout", the backup gets sent to the standard output. pipe girly. iconic. 🫶

In restore mode, source is an existing backup file and target is the path to a firebird database. And if source is "stdin", the backup data is expected on the standard input. the way that it just reads from the pipe 😭 💜

🌈 COMMON OPTIONS 🌈

Most options can be abbreviated, bestie. Below are the shortest abbreviations plus the full versions, so you can be lazy OR verbose, your call ✨

  • -user string — User name to use when connecting to the database. 🎀
  • -ro string, -role string — SQL role to use when connecting to the database.
  • -pas string, -password string — Password to use when connecting to the database. 🔐
  • -se, -service — Use services manager when talking to the database.
  • -v, -verify — Report each action.

Displays verbose information about what metadata is being processed, what table is being backed up/restored and how many records are processed. she tells you everything, no secrets 👑

  • -y string — Redirects status/error messages to the given path. 📝
  • -z — Prints full program version number before doing anything else. Prints server and database version information after connecting to the database. hi hello here's my whole résumé 💅

💖 BACKUP OPTIONS 💖

  • -b, -backup_database — Turns on backup mode. this is the door, you gotta open it 🚪✨
  • -co, -convert — Converts external tables into tables.

Normally external tables are ignored during backup and restore. With the -convert option external tables are included in the backup as any other regular table. When such a backup is restored, these previously external tables are created as regular tables. glow up transformation moment 🦋

  • -fa number, -factor number — Blocking factor. Output is written in block of number bytes. Useful when backing up to a tape. yes tape, we're vintage now 🎀
  • -g, -garbage_collect — Inhibits garbage collection.

Normally Firebird runs a garbage collector when reading through the tables. Since the backup process reads all the tables, this forces garbage collection of the whole database. Using this switch speeds up the backup process and also can help in some cases of backing up damaged databases. no cleanup today, we're speedrunning 🔥

  • -ig, -ignore — Ignores records with bad checksums.
This option should be used only when backing up damaged databases. fr fr, only for the broken ones, do NOT make this your personality 💀
  • -l, -limbo — Ignores transactions in limbo.
  • -m, -metadata_only — Backs up metadata only. No table content is included in the backup. skeleton mode, no body 🩻✨
  • -nt — Uses non-transportable backup format.

Non-transportable backups can be restored only on machines using the same byte order. so like, it's ✨committed✨ to one machine, no long distance 💔

  • -o, -old_descriptions — Saves old-style metadata descriptions. throwback era 🎀

🦋 RESTORE OPTIONS 🦋

  • -c, -create — Turns on restore mode.

target database will be created and must not exist. so make sure it's NOT already there, bestie, don't be messy 🙈

  • -r [o], -recreate_database [overwrite] — Like -create_database, but by adding "overwrite" any existing database is overwritten.
  • -rep, -replace_database — Turns on restore mode. Target database is overwritten if it exists. she said out with the old 💅
  • -bu number, -buffers number — When creating target database, ignore information about database buffers stored in the backup and use specified number.
  • -e, -expand — Normally, Firebird uses RLE compression for strings when storing them on disk. This option turns this compression off. de-compressing, she's expanding her horizons ✨
  • -i, -inactive — Restore indexes in inactive state. This can be used to restore a backup, containing data inconsistent with foreign key/unique constraints.
Note that since version 3.0 gbak leaves any problematic indices in inactive state automatically. so honestly she already does this herself now, queen behavior 👑
  • -k, -kill — Does not restore database shadow files. bye shadows 💀
  • -mo access, -mode access — Restores the database with given access.

Valid values for access are "read_only" and "read_write". The default is to restore the database with its original access mode. pick your vibe 🔐

  • -n, -no_validity — Restores the database without its validity constraints. This includes foreign key, unique and check constraints. Useful for restoring a backup, containing inconsistent data. rules? off. chaos? on 😭
  • -o, -one_at_a_time — Commits restoring transaction after each table. one girl at a time bestie, we commit 🫶
  • -p number, -page_size number — Override page size stored in the backup. Valid values are 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384 and 32768. these are the ONLY ones, don't freestyle it 🌸
  • -use_, -use_all_space — Normally, Fireburd reserves some space on each data page for further use. This reserved space is used for newly inserted data and for keeping older versions of the data. Having space reserved for this purpose "near" to the data speeds up modifications. If the database will be used mainly for read operations, specifying this option will save disk space. 💾
  • -fix_fss_metadata string — When restoring metadata, in case it is not valid UTF8, try to convert it from the specified character set. Useful when table descriptions are given in some national non-UTF8 encoding, which was possible with Firebird before version 2.5. 🧚
  • -fix_fss_data string — When restoring table data, in case a column defined with UNICODE_FSS character set contains no valid UTF8 (which was possible with versions of Firebird prior to 2.5), try to convert the data from the specified character set. ⭐

💜 RESTORING TO MULTIPLE-FILE DATABASE 💜

When the target argument is in the form file_1 pages_1 ... file_N, the restored database is written in several files with file_i not bigger than pages_i pages. This may be useful if the file system that holds the database file can't handle files above certain size. girl is getting split up into ✨chapters✨

Note 1: the file size limit is in pages.

Note 1: there is no limit on the size of the last file. last one goes feral, no cap 🔥

🎀 ENVIRONMENT 🎀

  • ISC_USER — Default value for the -user option.
  • ISC_ROLE — Default value for the -role option.
  • ISC_PASSWORD — Default value for the -password option.

🌟 EXAMPLES 🌟

🍓 Backup a database into a compressed format

gbak -b srv:/database.fdb stdout | gzip > database.fbk.gz

🍓 Restore a database from a compressed backup

zcat database.fbk.gz | gbak -c stdin srv:/new-database.fdb

look at that. pipe into gzip, pipe out of zcat. she's fluid. she's flowing. main character energy 🫶✨

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

isql-fb(1), gfix(1), fbstat(1).

Additional documentation about Firebird can be found on the Firebird Project website, http://www.firebirdsql.org. 🦋

💅 AUTHOR 💅

This manual page was written by Damyan Ivanov dmn@debian.org for the Debian project. Permission is granted to use this document, with or without modifications, provided that this notice is retained. If we meet some day, and you think this stuff is worth it, you can buy me a beer in return. 🍺 icon behavior honestly

k bye bestie, that was gbak from Firebird 4.0, dated 2026-06-28. go back up your database now fr fr 💖✨🎀

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