Using a metadata image of a file system and archive instance to restore data objects in the file system

A computer program product for restoring files in a file system, wherein a backup database has information on backed-up files, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therein to perform operations, the operations comprising:

• maintaining for a point-in-time backup, as of a point-in-time, a metadata image of the file system including information on files and directories in the file system as of the point-in-time and an archive instance including a copy of database records in the backup database for the files in the point-in-time backup;
• receiving a restore request to restore at least one file from the point-in-time backup;
• creating a file representation of each file to restore in a directory structure of the file system from the metadata image, wherein at least one of the created file representations indicates that the file is stored off-line and has an external identifier used to access information on the file in the database records in the archive instance for the point-in-time backup, wherein the restored directory structure includes a first directory name including a plurality of file representations that include the first directory name in a unique identifier to identify the database record for the file;
• renaming the first directory name in the directory structure to a second directory name following the restoration of the directory structure in response to the restore request;
• receiving a request to access at least one file in the second directory name whose file representation indicates that the file is off-line;
• sending a restore request including the first directory name to identify the requested file in the archive instance;
• storing the file returned in response to the restore request in the second directory name in the file system.

A system for backing-up a file system using a backup database, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a computer readable storage medium including code executed by the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
• maintaining for a point-in-time backup, as of a point-in-time, a metadata image of the file system including information on files and directories in the file system as of the point-in-time and an archive instance including a copy of database records in the backup database for the files in the point-in-time backup, wherein the metadata image includes content of files that have a size less than a threshold size;
• receiving a restore request to restore at least one file from the point-in-time backup;
• and
• creating a file representation of each file to restore in a directory structure of the file system from the metadata image, wherein at least one of the created file representations indicates that the file is stored off-line and has an external identifier used to access information on the file in the database records in the archive instance for the point-in-time backup;
• for files having content included in the metadata image, restoring the file content in the file system from the metadata image;
• and
• indicating in the file representation for the file restored from the metadata image that the file is on-line.

A system for backing-up a file system using a backup database, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a computer readable storage medium including code executed by the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
• maintaining for a point-in-time backup, as of a point-in-time, a metadata image of the file system including information on files and directories in the file system as of the point-in-time and an archive instance including a copy of database records in the backup database for the files in the point-in-time backup;
• receiving a restore request to restore at least one file from the point-in-time backup;
• and
• creating a file representation of each file to restore in a directory structure of the file system from the metadata image, wherein at least one of the created file representations indicates that the file is stored off-line and has an external identifier used to access information on the file in the database records in the archive instance for the point-in-time backup, wherein the restored directory structure includes a first directory name including a plurality of file representations that include the first directory name in a unique identifier to identify the database record for the file;
• renaming the first directory name in the directory structure to a second directory name following the restoration of the file system in response to the restore request;
• receiving a request to access at least one file in the second directory name whose file representation indicates that the file is off-line;
• sending a restore request including the first directory name to identify the requested file in the archive instance;
• storing the file returned in response to the restore request in the second directory name in the file system.

A method performed within a computer system, comprising:

• maintaining for a point-in-time backup, as of a point-in-time, a metadata image of a file system including information on files and directories in the file system as of the point-in-time and an archive instance including a copy of database records in a backup database for the files in the point-in-time backup, wherein the metadata image includes content of files that have a size less than a threshold size;
• receiving a restore request to restore at least one file from the point-in-time backup;
• creating a file representation of each file to restore in a directory structure of the file system from the metadata image, wherein at least one of the created file representations indicates that the file is stored off-line and has an external identifier used to access information on the file in the database records in the archive instance for the point-in-time backup;
• for files having content included in the metadata image, restoring the file content in the file system from the metadata image;
• and
• indicating in the file representation for the file restored from the metadata image that the file is on-line.

A method performed within a computer system, comprising:

• maintaining for a point-in-time backup, as of a point-in-time, a metadata image of a file system including information on files and directories in the file system as of the point-in-time and an archive instance including a copy of database records in a backup database for the files in the point-in-time backup;
• receiving a restore request to restore at least one file from the point-in-time backup;
• creating a file representation of each file to restore in a directory structure of the file system from the metadata image, wherein at least one of the created file representations indicates that the file is stored off-line and has an external identifier used to access information on the file in the database records in the archive instance for the point-in-time backup, wherein the restored directory structure includes a first directory name including a plurality of file representations that include the first directory name in a unique identifier to identify the database record for the file;
• renaming the first directory name in the directory structure to a second directory name following the restoration of the file system in response to the restore request;
• receiving a request to access at least one file in the second directory name whose file representation indicates that the file is off-line;
• sending a restore request including the first directory name to identify the requested file in the archive instance;
• storing the file returned in response to the restore request in the second directory name in the file system.