Unzip software for ZWC Compressed archives?

[PilotJLR]

Hello,
I've very recently put Amanda into production (after a few successful test runs) and am backing up three Windows machines and one Linux server. As luck(?) would have it, one of the Windows machines got completely trashed by a trojan this morning, so now I'm restoring data for real. As an aside, I'm of course only restoring some data files - no executables.

In the course of unzipping a level 0 and a level 1 backup, I've noticed that only PKWare's PKZip Reader is able to unzip these archives. During my testing previously, I had been successful with WinZip as well, but it is unable to extract my backups now. Windows Compressed Folders won't even open them, and neither will "unzip" in Linux or 7zip in Linux or Windows.

I have no problem with using only PKZip from now on... but I wanted to point this problem out, as others on this board have had similar problems to mine.
The Zmanda folks on this board might want to consider changing their documentation regarding this.

I'm on track for a successful restore now, but I'll post back if I uncover any other problems.

A few questions, though:
- Has anyone had success restoring 10+ GB zip64 files from the ZWC using any Linux tools? I would be interested in being able to unzip these archives on a samba server without a Windows middleman.
- Can anyone at Zmanda comment on whether other compression tools will be included with ZWC? The zip64 implementation currently in use does not work with non-PKWare "zip64 compliant" programs. Adding 7zip support, for example, might solve these problems, since 7zip is open source and available on many platforms.

Lastly - my thanks to the Amanda/Zmanda community for producing and maintaining this software! After getting past this problem, I'm happy that I'm well on the way to a successful restore.

[gokul]

Hello,
Thanks for writing in. Regarding compression, Zmanda maintains compatibility with zip64 compliant tools like PKZIP, WinZip etc. We have tested our archives with WinZip as well, and would like to know from you the problem regarding WinZip. Could you paste the error you get whilst extracting through WinZip?

Windows Compressed Folders in not zip64 compliant, and therefore will not work for Zmanda archives greater than 4GB.

Also regarding support for other compression tools, we may think of providing 7Zip support in the future, although nothing for the immediate horizon.

Lastly, were you able to do a successful restore ?

Gokul.

[PilotJLR]

Originally Posted by gokul

Hello,
Thanks for writing in. Regarding compression, Zmanda maintains compatibility with zip64 compliant tools like PKZIP, WinZip etc. We have tested our archives with WinZip as well, and would like to know from you the problem regarding WinZip. Could you paste the error you get whilst extracting through WinZip?

Windows Compressed Folders in not zip64 compliant, and therefore will not work for Zmanda archives greater than 4GB.

Also regarding support for other compression tools, we may think of providing 7Zip support in the future, although nothing for the immediate horizon.

Lastly, were you able to do a successful restore ?

Gokul.

Sorry for the delay in responding back to this.

I had WinZip try to unzip one of the 11GB level 0 backups, and have posted screenshots of the error popups and the winzip log. The error popup in the screen shot occurs very frequently. During my first restore attempt, I clicked the 'Yes' button to continue past errors at least a hundred times before I gave up and switched to PKZip. PKZip produced no errors on this archive.

And with PKZip, the restore was successful!


WinZip error: http://imgur.com/TwISW.png
WinZip prompt:
Snip of WinZip log:

[PilotJLR]

Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket... I just had to do ANOTHER restore. One of the Windows desktops had its disk fail today. The restore went smoothly and successfully. I only attempted PKZip this time; if the Zmanda team is interested, let me know and I will run the zip files through WinZip for testing as well.

Thanks again!



(yvangkwheng - not really sure what you're saying here... your autosig is suspicious, fyi)

[pyeatman]

Great to hear and congrats on a smooth restore!

[harsha]

Originally Posted by PilotJLR

Sorry for the delay in responding back to this.

I had WinZip try to unzip one of the 11GB level 0 backups, and have posted screenshots of the error popups and the winzip log. The error popup in the screen shot occurs very frequently. During my first restore attempt, I clicked the 'Yes' button to continue past errors at least a hundred times before I gave up and switched to PKZip. PKZip produced no errors on this archive.

And with PKZip, the restore was successful!


WinZip error: http://imgur.com/TwISW.png
WinZip prompt:
Snip of WinZip log:

Sorry for the delay in reply. Following link has some clues about why winzip is throwing the above error.

http://www.powerarchiver.com/forums/...ead.php?p=2001.

BTW Which version of winzip are you using ?

[zbackup]

Originally Posted by PilotJLR

(yvangkwheng - not really sure what you're saying here... your autosig is suspicious, fyi)

Yep, he was a spammer. We have removed him and his post. Thanks for flagging this.

Please do share as much details of your configuration as possible on the forum. E.g. performance of your backups, etc. This is very useful for other users who are planning Amanda installs.

Best