Re[2]: openldap db wiped?

[Karolis Dautartas <list@public.lt>]

HC> 2.3 alpha was released January 1st. Obviously as an alpha it's still
HC> going through some shakedown.

HC> As always, your requests for changes should be submitted via ITS so they
HC> don't get lost.

HC> Also, changes that are not flushed by a checkpoint are still present in
HC> the BDB cache. When you run db_recover, they will be flushed out 
HC> correctly, so in practice you should never be losing any data. You just
HC> have to remember to run db_recover after any unclean shutdown. This is
HC> mandatory anyway for correct operation. (With Symas CDS, unclean 
HC> shutdowns are automatically detected and recovery is performed 
HC> automatically, so data integrity is always maintained without any 
HC> outside intervention.)

Today I got an email from another openldap user who got his DB wiped
and all data lost. db_recover does not work for him either.

This may sound dumb but I still do not understand some things. Could
you please take the time to answer these questions.

 - openldap is installed from RPM in my system and in rc.local I have
   this code: "service ldap start". Which is probably identical to
   /etc/init.d/ldap start

If my system shuts down uncleanly again, and
If openldap is started automatically at boot time and
If I use "checkpoint 8 5" directive in my config file

Will I only loose data since the last checkpoint (5 mins at most)
or
will I loose data since the last clean shutdown (can be 5 months).

Should db_recover be run BEFORE slapd is started at all times?
What happens if I start ldap, find out that the data is lost, and then
run db_recover?

I have some important data in that database, and still can not figure
out what happens if the server lost power.

thank you for your time
Karolis