recover

alias for restore — extract files from a dump(8) backup

TLDR

This command is commonly an alias/symlink for restore. See the full documentation:

$ tldr restore

Interactive restore from a dump file

$ recover -if [backup.dump]

List the table of contents of a dump archive

$ recover -tf [backup.dump]

Full filesystem restore (to the current directory)

$ recover -rf [backup.dump]

Extract specific files

$ recover -xvf [backup.dump] [path/to/file]

Compare archive with filesystem

$ recover -Cf [backup.dump]

SYNOPSIS

recover [-irtxCR] [options] [files]

recover is an alternative name/symlink for the restore utility used by the dump/restore ext2/3/4 backup system. It reads a backup archive produced by `dump(8)` and writes the selected files back to disk. Interactive mode (`-i`) gives you a tiny shell for browsing the archive: `ls`, `cd`, `pwd`, `add`, `delete`, `extract`, `quit`.On some systems (notably NSR/NetWorker), `recover` refers instead to a very different tool — the client-side restore interface for the Legato/EMC NetWorker backup server. The flags and behavior below describe the dump/restore lineage; for NetWorker, consult `recover(8)` on that system.

PARAMETERS

-i

Interactive restore: browse the archive and pick files.

-r

Restore an entire filesystem. Run in an empty, freshly created filesystem.

-R

Resume a previously interrupted `-r` restore.

-t

Print the table of contents of the archive.

-x

Extract the named files (or the whole archive if no names given).

-C

Compare archive contents with the filesystem.

-f file

Archive file or device (e.g. `/dev/nst0` or `backup.dump`). Use `-` for stdin.

-v

Verbose: print each file as it is processed.

-N

Do everything except actually writing files to disk (dry run).

-y

Do not ask whether to abort on tape errors; always try to continue.

-h

Do not recurse into directory hierarchies when extracting.

-m

Extract by inode number instead of name.

-s n

Skip to the nth dump file on a multi-file tape.

-b size

Block size (in kilobytes) for reads.

INTERACTIVE COMMANDS

`ls` [dir] — list entries`cd` dir — change directory within the archive`pwd` — print current archive directory`add` name — mark for extraction`delete` name — unmark`extract` — extract marked files`setmodes` — set owners/permissions on extracted directories`verbose` — toggle verbose output`quit` — exit

CAVEATS

Only understands archives created by `dump(8)`; `tar`, `cpio`, `rsync` archives require their own restore tools. Full (`-r`) restores must run in an empty filesystem. Restores preserve inode numbers, so restoring onto a live tree can overwrite or interleave files.`recover` may not exist on your system; use `restore` directly if it is missing. On NetWorker systems, `recover` is a different program entirely.