Performing a snapshot backup

A snapshot backup operation uses the fast copying technology of a storage device to perform the data copying portion of the backup.

Before you begin

To perform snapshot backup and restore operations, you need one of two things:

A Db2® ACS API driver for your storage device. For a list of supported storage hardware for the integrated driver, refer to this tech note.
For storage devices that are not supported, implement a custom script that allows your storage device to perform snapshot operations.

Before you can perform a snapshot backup, you must enable Db2 Advanced Copy Services (ACS).

Restrictions

You cannot recover individual table spaces by using snapshot backups.

If you use integrated snapshot backups, you cannot perform a redirected restore. A FlashCopy® restore reverts the complete set of volume groups containing all database paths to a prior point in time.

Procedure

To perform a snapshot backup, use one of the following approaches:

Issue the BACKUP DATABASE command with the USE SNAPSHOT parameter, as shown in the following example:
```
db2 backup db sample use snapshot
```
Call the ADMIN_CMD procedure with BACKUP DB and USE SNAPSHOT parameters, as shown in the following example:
```
CALL SYSPROC.ADMIN_CMD
   ('backup db sample use snapshot')
```

Issue the db2Backup API with the SQLU_SNAPSHOT_MEDIA media type, as shown in the following example:

int sampleBackupFunction( char dbAlias[],
                          char user[],
                          char pswd[],
                          char workingPath[] )
{
  db2MediaListStruct mediaListStruct = { 0 };

  mediaListStruct.locations = &workingPath;
  mediaListStruct.numLocations = 1;
  mediaListStruct.locationType = SQLU_SNAPSHOT_MEDIA;


  db2BackupStruct backupStruct = { 0 };

  backupStruct.piDBAlias = dbAlias;
  backupStruct.piUsername = user;
  backupStruct.piPassword = pswd;
  backupStruct.piVendorOptions = NULL;
  backupStruct.piMediaList = &mediaListStruct;

  db2Backup(db2Version950, &backupStruct, &sqlca);

  return 0;
}