Dell NetWorker 19.9 Administration Guide

Files owned by the operating system

Most open files that are owned by the operating system can be backed up. However, some applications can apply operating system locks to open files. These locks prevent other applications, such as NetWorker software, from writing to or reading from the open file.

The NetWorker software normally skips locked files and returns the following message:

save: filename cannot open

Also, the operating system might return a permission denied error.

To back up locked open files, close any open files if possible. To automate this process, create a pre- and postprocessing backup command that shuts down specific applications, backs up the open files, and then restarts any applications after the backup finishes.

You can also use Open File Manager to back up open files.

Files owned by a specific application

The NetWorker software cannot normally back up an open file that belongs to a specific application, like a database. To back up these open files, use a NetWorker Module. For example, use the NetWorker Module for SAP to back up open files in an Oracle database.

Files that change during the backup

If a file changes during a backup, the NetWorker software displays the following message in the Monitoring window:

warning: filename changed during save

To ensure that the changed file is backed up, either rerun the scheduled backup or perform a manual backup of the file.

NetWorker Modules can back up these types of files correctly if they are files that are related to the database that the module is backing up.