dummy.restore

is a method of validating the restorability of a 'save-type' (account-save, file-save, etc.) backup.

There are 3 methods to validate backup media:

1) The 't-chk' command, which looks for parity errors, but doesn't actually verify data.

2) Performing a 'dummy restore' using the 'sel-restore' with the 'n' option without actually writing any items back to disk. This not only checks for parity errors, but also validates the 'logical' format of the tape. If an unrestorable situation is encountered on the media, another backup can be made. See examples.

3) Using the 't-verify' command, which has the ability to not only do the same as steps 1 and 2, but also can compare each record from the media with its counterpart on disk to verify that they match. See 't-verify'. This is the most reliable way to check tape integrity.

See the subject, 'Tape Verify During Full Restore'.