IBSurgeon FirstAID is the tool that can automatically diagnose and repair corrupted Firebird or InterBase databases - it can recover corruptions that neither gbak nor gfix can fix. Supported versions: Firebird 1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 2.5, 3.0, 4.0, InterBase from 4.0 to 2020.
It uses its layer for low-level database access without using the InterBase or Firebird engine, so it can perform real "surgical" operations and repair your database when all other standard mechanisms (gfix and gbak) cannot.
Now you are in 5 minutes from the recovery of your corrupted Firebird or InterBase database!
Usually, database corruption means that some links between internal structures of Firebird (or InterBase) database are broken. When the database engine sees a broken reference to the missed record or database page, it stops working with a message like this:
Internal gds software consistency check ()Such error messages are reported by gbak tool, by gfix (it writes them into firebird.log), and by end-users applications (you can see the full list of "software consistency check" errors here).
The first part of this error is a common prefix for bugcheck (i.e., serious error), and in the parentheses, there are details of the error.
Usually, such error prevents normal work with the database, and the recovery procedure should be executed. If it was not possible to fix a corrupted Firebird (or InterBase) database with standard means (gfix.exe and gbak.exe), it is time for IBSurgeon FirstAID.
IBSurgeon FirstAID is designed to work with the database directly, on a very low level – it allows bypassing erroneous places where the engine crashes and either fix broken links or exporting all users' data to the new database.
IBSurgeon FirstAID can perform 2 kinds of recovery operations: direct recovery and data extraction. The direct recovery is intended to fix the original corrupted database in place. This is a very fast and efficient method: after fixing the broken links database usually becomes readable, and it is possible to perform backup and restore. There are detailed instructions in FirstAID Recovery Guide on how to use the direct fix in FirstAID and then perform final steps with gfix and gbak tools.
The data extraction is designed to view and export data from the corrupted database to the database with the same structure (usually it should be empty).
FirstAID data extraction is applied in the case of heavy corruptions or metadata losses: it uses only a few system tables to decrypt users' data and export all available data to the new database.
Important! You can download the free version of FirstAID, open the corrupted database and preview all available data – and if you can see these data, they can be saved and exported to the new empty database. FirstAID scans corrupted database, then shows the list of tables, so a user can browse them.
With IBSurgeon FirstAID it is possible to repair corrupted Firebird/InterBase databases in more than 95% of cases.
See the video below how to repair the Firebird database with IBSurgeon FirstAID:
Important! If you cannot see data with FirstAID in your corrupted database, please contact our support: support@ib-aid.com. Please send the diagnostic log and relevant details (full error text, screenshots, etc) to our support, and get recovery estimation for free.
You will receive an exact free answer on whether your database is recoverable or not, is it recoverable by FirstAID directly, or some manual work is needed. We will also try to estimate how much of your data can be recovered if there is a serious problem that will not allow 100% recovery.
For serious problems we offer Firebird (and InterBase) database recovery service - see more details here.
There are many possible corruptions that IBSurgeon FirstAID has been designed to repair and correct. These are listed below:
For those who don't want to experience corruption again, we recommend HQbird Enterprise, with the option to create a mirror (warm-standby) for the database or even a fail-safe cluster.
FirstAID is licensed per database – “database” means database file which can be recovered. The most popular license is for 3 databases, it is enough for the majority of clients.
If you are ISV (Independent Software Vendor, i.e., your company produces business software that uses Firebird or InterBase) or you have many databases, 50 databases license should be a perfect choice.
For those who need the complete recovery solution, there is HQbird Professional – it includes FirstAID for 50 databases, IBBackupSurgeon for recovering corrupted backups and IBUndelete to undelete occasionally deleted records.
HQbird Enterprise is our flagship product, it includes the following features: high availability and replication, recovery toolset for 100 databases, GUI for database development, backups' automation, transaction and queries monitoring, database structure analysis, optimized configurations and more.
Also, it is possible to buy the upgrade for 5 and 50 databases. The upgrade can be done for any version of FirstAID or any previous Pack.
For large ISV companies, we have a very special offer – HQbird Enterprise Subscription (it includes FirstAID). This is an ultimate choice for serious companies that need a full set of recovery, monitoring, and optimization tools for Firebird: such subscription allows unlimited usage of HQbird for business applications (ERP, CRM, etc) during the period of subscription. Contact us for more details!
Don't hesitate to contact us to discuss licensing options!
Product | Description | Purchase now: | |
---|---|---|---|
FirstAID for 3 databases | Recovery tool. License to recover 3 Firebird or InterBase databases. | $199 | |
FirstAID for 50 databases | Recovery tool. License to recover 50 Firebird or InterBase databases. | $399 | |
HQbird: advanced Firebird distribution | |||
HQbird Professional | HQbird Professional includes the following features: recovery toolset (FirstAID and other recovery tools for 50 databases), GUI for database development, backups' automation, transaction and queries monitoring, database structure analysis, optimized configurations. | €649 | |
HQbird Enterprise | HQbird Enterprise includes the following features: high availability and replication, recovery toolset, GUI for database development, backups' automation, transaction and queries monitoring, database structure analysis, optimized configurations, and performance self-test. | €899 | |
FIREBIRD SUPPORT SUBSCRIPTIONS - MONTHLY | |||
Complete support of 1 Firebird server | Complete support (DBA and licenses) for 1 Firebird server - see details here. | €99/month | |
UPGRADES | |||
Upgrade FirstAID for 5 databases | It adds 5 databases to FirstAID, or any version of FirstAID (standalone or included in Pack, including old versions 1.x-3.x) | $129 | |
Upgrade FirstAID for 50 databases | It adds 50 databases to FirstAID, or any version of FirstAID (standalone or included in Pack, including old versions 1.x-3.x) | $238 |
Gfix scans the database, checks data structures and records for corruption, and fixes them.
Please note: It is necessary to run gfix after FirstAID Direct Fix, and it can be skipped in case of extraction since the database for export is not corrupted.
The recommended combination of gfix switches and commands after FirstAID direct fix is the following:
gfix -v -full -ig -user SYSDBA -pass your_pass Path_to_database
gfix -mend -ig -user SYSDBA -pass your_pass Path_to_database
If gfix reports such errors or even if it fails with various error messages, it is necessary to proceed with gbak! There is a good chance that gbak will be successful.
So, the goal of using gbak during the recovery is to create a healthy database backup, and then restore from it to the new uncorrupted database.
Here are some tips on how to achieve it.
The recommended combination of gbak switches for the corrupted database is the following:
gbak -b -g -ig -user SYSDBA -pass your_pass Path_to_database Path_to_backup
After the successful gbak, the restore must be done to create a fresh database from the backup. The command is the following:
gbak -c -user SYSDBA -pass your_pass Path_to_backup Path_to_database
More details about gfix and gbak can be found in FirstAID Recovery Guide.