BDB.DB0(5)

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💾 BDB.DB0 — the AFS file reference, bestie edition ✨

okay so we're talking about bdb.DB0 and bdb.DBSYS1 here — the two files that hold the Backup Database and its little sidekick log. no cap, these are important.

🌸 NAME 🌸

bdb.DB0, bdb.DBSYS1 — they contain the Backup Database and its associated log. that's it, that's the whole vibe. 🫶

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

so the bdb.DB0 file is literally the Backup Database itself. it's where all the configuration info that the AFS Backup System uses lives, plus cross-indexed records of the tapes that got created and the volumes that got dumped using the Backup System commands. it's giving ✨organized chaos✨ but in a good way.

then we have bdb.DBSYS1, which is a log file. the Backup Server (that's the buserver process, iykyk) logs every single database operation into it before it actually performs the operation. why? because when an operation gets interrupted, the Backup Server just replays the log to finish the job. it's giving main character energy with a backup plan. 💅

both files are in binary format — so don't go opening them in a text editor, bestie, you will simply perish 💀 — and they live in the /var/lib/openafs/db directory on each database server machine that runs the Backup Server.

here's the part where it gets kinda iconic: when the Backup Server starts or restarts on a given machine, it establishes a connection with its peers and verifies that its copy of the bdb.DB0 file matches the copy on the other database server machines. and if it doesn't match? the Backup Servers use AFS's distributed database technology, Ubik, to distribute to all of the machines the copy of the database with the highest version number. democracy but make it database. 👑

to actually administer the Backup Database, use the commands in the backup suite. and listen — it is advisable to create a backup copy of the bdb.DB0 file on tape on a regular basis, using the UNIX tar command or another local disk backup utility. yes, backing up the backup database. yes, it's meta. yes, do it anyway. 🙈

bestie, fr fr: regular tape backups of bdb.DB0 are not optional in spirit. use tar or another local disk backup utility. 🎀

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

IBM Corporation 2000. <http://www.ibm.com/> All Rights Reserved.

This documentation is covered by the IBM Public License Version 1.0. It was converted from HTML to POD by software written by Chas Williams and Russ Allbery, based on work by Alf Wachsmann and Elizabeth Cassell. shoutout to the whole conversion squad, they ate. 💖

okay that's the whole page! this one's from the OpenAFS crew, dated 2026-07-27, and it's BDB.DB0(5) — go forth and back up your backups, bestie. slay. 💅✨🦋

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