Topic: Advice for backup required, SME 6.0

[petermoel]

I'm using SME 6.0 and backup my data basically by copying content of i-bays to another computer once in a while.

Have found that backup to desktop does not work. Suspect because TAR file is too large?

Don't own a tape drive.

In case of a crash    I would need ot manually reinstall server and then restore the data from my backup.

(That's also how I updated from 5.6 to 6.0 as the automatic update failed. Am reluctant therefore to update to 6.0.1.)

What would an experienced users recommend, eg:

* Copy entire hdd with ghost? (spare 2nd hdd would not be a problem, but don't own ghost. Is there a good free software?)
* Install a module from contrib? (Which one?)
* Buy a tape drive? (Reluctant to pay the money and no space in current server hardware.)

Thanks!

Peter..

[duncan]

* Copy entire hdd with ghost? (spare 2nd hdd would not be a problem, but don't own ghost. Is there a good free software?)
Peter..

Good free software - yes - dd

Already a part of SME.

[ntblade]

Try Mondo Rescue.  It's Excellent!...
http://www.microwerks.net/~hugo/

There's a contrib / howto here...
http://mirror.contribs.org/smeserver/contribs/thaynes/E-Smith/mondoarchive/

N

[petermoel]

* Copy entire hdd with ghost? (spare 2nd hdd would not be a problem, but don't own ghost. Is there a good free software?)
Peter..

Good free software - yes - dd

Already a part of SME.

Did you use "dd" for cloning drives yourself and what are your experiences?

What command would be required if the two drives are connected as masters to IDE0 and IDE1?

Just to explain where I'm coming from. I'm not focused on linux or my server but on my data and applications.

I'm using SME because it is cheap, easy and reliable, but do not intend to become a linux guru.

[duncan]

Something like

Code: [Select]

dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdc

Will produce an exact copy of your primary master to your secondry master. This can take a few hours depending on your specs. It has saved me before.

Regards Duncan

[petermoel]

Try Mondo Rescue.  It's Excellent!...

N

Thanks for the reply!

Just had a look on the site. Looks like Mondo Rescue requires a CD writer?

Is this correct?

Unfortunately my server does not have a CD writer. Could attach one via USB but I don't want to open another can of worms.

Any idea if there is an alternative to a CD writer? Cound not find anything on their website.

[petermoel]

Something like

Code: [Select]

dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdc

Will produce an exact copy of your primary master to your secondry master. This can take a few hours depending on your specs. It has saved me before.

Regards Duncan

Wow - received this reply only minutes after posting the question. THANK YOU!!!

This does look easy, will give it a try and let you know.

I get slight panic attacks if I imagine that I might mix up something and copy my empty 2nd drive on the server's hard drive. Well, I reckon that the linux command line is not for the fainthearted?

[ntblade]

Just had a look on the site. Looks like Mondo Rescue requires a CD writer?

I use it in a machine without a writer to do a monthly backup of the complete system.  I creates a bootable ISO CD image(s) which can be used to restore in the event of a severe crash.  The CDs can be created on another machine.  Mondo can also be used to restore to a bigger drive.  It adjusts the partition sizes accordingly.

N

[raem]

duncan

> dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdc
> Will produce an exact copy of your primary master > to your secondry master.

I would like to use dd to clone one disk of a RAID1 array for backup purposes. As my RAID1 disks are Primary Master (hda) & Sec Master (hdc) and my CD drive is Sec Slave (hdd), I expect I would put my backup drive into Primary Slave (hdb) and run the following:

dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb

What are the implications of using dd on a live system. Obviously I have to shutdown the server to insert the backup drive and shutdown the server to remove the drive when the dd clone is complete.
I gather dd is doing a bit by bit copy which as you say takes some time.
During that time data may change on the drives, so is my backup really a snapshot in time, it seems to me I could end up with data on it that has changed during the time period it took to copy.
Is that how it would work using dd, or does dd shutdown the system somehow before starting to copy ?

Comments appreciated.

[duncan]

Hi Ray,

I am only guessing here but - dd works on a live system . I would think that should something change after it has been copied - that change is lost.

dd works really well - saved an almost dead mythtv drive for me to a new one (I would have hated to loose that one - Highly customised Slack install) - however I use it with the aim to back up the base install only. If I lose a few emails (TV shows) too bad for me.

[raem]

Thanks duncan

> This can take a few hours depending on your specs.

Can you give an idea of the time it takes for a certain size drive eg in your experience.

[mbachmann]

20 GB Seagate mid-range HD on a 1Ghz PIII machine booted from diskette dd'ed in about 4 hrs.

[chris burnat]

20 GB Seagate mid-range HD on a 1Ghz PIII machine booted from diskette dd'ed in about 4 hrs.

booted from diskette, what do you mean?

[hordeusr]

I just used mondo as a test and it worked perfectly.  Mondo created 5 iso's.  Booted with the first disk and let it do it's thing on my test server.  It resized the partitions (production server is 80, test server is 30gig).  Here is the little script I used....

smbmount //pc/share /mnt/mondo -o username=Admin,password=pass
mondoarchive -Oi -s700m -E "/mnt/mondo" -d /mnt/mondo -F
umount /mnt/mondo

FYI, This puts the iso's on my windows 2000 workstation.

[mbachmann]

booted from diskette, what do you mean?

I booted the SME from a Linux boot diskette and dd'd it. I used "Tom's RTBT".

[raem]

Hi mbachmann

> I booted the SME from a Linux boot diskette and dd'd it.

Why did you do it that way, is there a reason not to boot from the HDD(s) ?


> I used "Tom's RTBT"

What is Tom's RTBT please ?

[mbachmann]

Because dd stutters if files are open or in use, esp. in /logs or /proc. An maybe because i am also using windows and from there i am habitually booting a plain DOS for  critical tasks.

Tom's RTBT (Tom's floppy which has a root filesystem and is also bootable): http://www.toms.net/rb/. Just like SystemRescueCd but on a diskette.

[chris burnat]

I used "Tom's RTBT".

Thanks.

[ryan]

I have used g4u (ghost for unix) to duplicate SME installs to other servers.  It uploads/downloads from a local ftp server and if you "prep" (see instructions) the blank space on the disk, it is fast.  

Regarding backup, I shared /home/esmith/files in samba and gave root only access.  Then, login on a XP box as root and you have complete access to user data, email, homes, and ibays, etc.  (seeing user folders requires entering/typing the full netbios path at least one time in Run)  The backup medium can be to the XP hard drive, or IDE tape drive.  This method allows for easy restore of single files or folders/emails.  

Note:  XP differential copy does not function correctly with a samba share.  Use full backup option.

With a g4u image and daily XP backups, restoring SME should be quick with minimal lost user data (if XP does daily backup).

ryan