[openssl-users] READ error during tape restore via OpenSSL on AIX

[Klee, Peter (King of Prussia)]

Hello OpenSSL community,


We are running OpenSSL on IBM AIX version 7.1 on an IBM Power8 server.   The OpenSSL versions installed are as follows:

  openssh.base.client
               6.0.0.6103   COMMIT       COMPLETE     06/25/14     17:46:58

  openssh.base.server
               6.0.0.6103   COMMIT       COMPLETE     06/25/14     17:46:58

  openssl.base
                1.0.1.510   COMMIT       COMPLETE     09/23/14     15:49:29

When backing up files to tape with no encryption using the AIX backup command, we are able to restore the files from tape using the AIX restore command, with no issue.

When backing up files to tape with symmetric OpenSSL encryption (for instance blowfish, aes-128-cbc, aes-256-cbc, with either a password or a key file) the files back up to tape without error.  But when restored from tape, we consistently receive the following error messages during the restore:

804401144:error:0200B005:system library:fread:I/O error:bss_file.c:245:
804401144:error:20082002:BIO routines:FILE_READ:system lib:bss_file.c:246:
One of the files backed up and restored is a database file (Intersystems Cache) and the restored database passes an integrity check after each restore.  The restored text files in the target directory come up with no differences when using diff to compare them to the original files in the source directory.  So, we aren't seeing any issues with the integrity of the restored files.

But why are the two error messages showing up consistently?

Here's our backup command, this time using the aes-256-cbc encryption algorithm and the password shown:

find . -print | backup -ivUf - | openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -k abc123 -out /dev/rmt0.1
And here's the restore command and the result:
openssl enc -d -aes-256-cbc -k abc123 -in /dev/rmt0.1 | restore -xvqf -
IBM8_SYS2(/store/abcalt)$ bc -k abc123 -in /dev/rmt0.1 | restore -xvqf -     <
x            0 .
x    974127104 ./CACHE.DAT
804401144:error:0200B005:system library:fread:I/O error:bss_file.c:245:
804401144:error:20082002:BIO routines:FILE_READ:system lib:bss_file.c:246:
x        40904 ./RMS
x            0 ./stream
IBM8_SYS2(/store/abcalt)$


Those two exact 804401144 error messages show up consistently during every tape restore.  We have tried specifying the block size on the backup and restore but it makes no difference.  It should be noted that when we use the backup and restore commands with OpenSSL encryption and no tape drive, but backing up to a different directory and restoring from there, there are no errors during the restore.  The errors only happen when restoring from tape.

Any thoughts you have on this are appreciated.


Peter M Klee
System Analyst
Fiserv DataSafe
Fiserv Credit Union Solutions
800-523-7282 x 2376

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