Avamar: How to browse specific folders in NDMP backups using Avtar and MCCLI

Summary: Use Avamar Management Console Command Line Interface (MCCLI) or avtar to list backups by label.

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Instructions

Browse Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP) backup contents using MCCLI and Avtar.

Identify the backup label number:

Run the following command to list all backups for the NDMP client and note the wanted labelnum (such as, 22).

admin@[SERVER]:~/>: avmgr getb --path=/[FULL_DOMAIN_PATH]/[NDMP_CLIENT_NAME]

 

List files in a directory with mccli:

  • Non‑recursive view: Displays only the items directly under the specified directory.
  • Recursive view: Includes all subdirectories and their contents.

Non‑recursive command:

admin@[SERVER]:~/>: mccli backup show --name=/[FULL_DOMAIN_PATH]/[NDMP_CLIENT_NAME] --labelNum=22 --dir=/orb_data/

 

Recursive command (add --recursive=true ):

admin@[SERVER]:~/>: mccli backup show --name=/[FULL_DOMAIN_PATH]/[NDMP_CLIENT_NAME] --labelNum=22 --dir=/orb_data/ --recursive=true

 

List files with avtar

  • Without a starting directory, avtar lists every directory and its contents.
  • Providing a starting directory limits the output to that directory.

List all directories and files:

admin@[SERVER]:~/>: avtar --list -v --path=/[FULL_DOMAIN_PATH]/[NDMP_CLIENT_NAME] --labelnum=22 --quiet

 

List only the contents of /orb_data/:

admin@[SERVER]:~/>: avtar --list -v --path=/[FULL_DOMAIN_PATH]/[NDMP_CLIENT_NAME] --labelnum=22 /orb_data/ --quiet

 

Save the command output to a file.

Redirect the output of avtar to a capture file. Use > to create/overwrite or >> to append.

# Create or overwrite the file
admin@[SERVER]:~/>: avtar --list -v --path=/[FULL_DOMAIN_PATH]/[NDMP_CLIENT_NAME] --labelnum=22 /orb_data/ --quiet > avtar_list_contents.txt

# Append additional output
admin@[SERVER]:~/>: avtar --list -v --path=/[FULL_DOMAIN_PATH]/[NDMP_CLIENT_NAME] --labelnum=22 /orb_data/ --quiet >> avtar_list_contents.txt
Verify that the --dir or directory argument matches the exact path in the backup. An incorrect path returns no results.
Replace all placeholders (such as, [SERVER], [FULL_DOMAIN_PATH], [NDMP_CLIENT_NAME]) with values specific to your environment before running the commands.

Affected Products

Avamar
Article Properties
Article Number: 000190958
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 09 Dec 2025
Version:  7
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