Topic: Backup and restore of SME 6.X

[mapangojoe]

Hello All.  In the past I have (often) upgraded SME the following way:

I backup the shares (ibays) manually (to a winboxen), and any home directories that may have data.  Delete the share data and any home directory data (to get the backup to desktop down below 2GB worth of data).  Do a server-manager backup to desktop.  This gets me the config information and any Email sitting on the IMAP server.

Then I reinstall, and restore from desktop.  Then restore the home dir's and share data.  This has worked very well in the past, and I have done it this way on well over a dozen installs.


Today I was going to do the same thing to upgrade a server I run.  I'm changing the hardware, and moving from one 10GB hard disk, to 2 mirrored 100GB drives.
The problem I face, is that there is 5GB worth of IMAP mail on this server.   My above trick will not work, because I can't get the backup to desktop data down to below the 2GB limit.  

So, not being the Linux guru I wish I was I'm wondering if I could do the following:

1. Backup the /home directory using tar, then copy it to a Windows machine on my network.
2. Backup the /etc directory using tar, then copy it to a Windows machine on my network.
3. Install SME on me new hardware.
4. Utar my /etc tar file over /etc
5. Untar my /home backup over /home

I'm wondering if there are other subdirectories I need to get?  Are any hard of soft links going to cause a problem.

I also wonder if I am missing the boat on some other better way of doing this.  Buying a 20GB tape drive is not an option.
 
I need to do this in a way as not to loose any Email data (or any other data for that matter).  The backup issue remains a problem for me on SME servers.  I stopped using tape drives years ago.  I live in a small resort town in North Idaho and it's very dusty here.  Even pricey TBU's don't usually last much more than a year here.

Thanks in advance to any advice you can give.

[raem]

mapangojoe

First of all, a little trick I read ages ago may be of assistance.
You can move data to /tmp and then when you do a backup to desktop the data is not included in the backup as /tmp is not backed up.

This is a good way just to get the config backed up.
Move your data back afterwards.


As a complete alternative backup solution try Darrell Mays backup to workstation (backup2ws).

You can do selective backups of specified folders. These do not include the msql databases.

You can also do a Disaster Recovery or 911 backup, which includes the mysql databases and all files needed to recreate your system on a fresh install of the OS, plus reinstall of additional contrib rpms.

You can also specify the size of the pieces that the backup file is split into. Just keep it below 2Gb and you won't have any problem backing up or restoring. The backup is split into many parts but treated as if it is one file.

I'm suprised you have not read about this, there must be thousands of people using it.

[mapangojoe]

mapangojoe

First of all, a little trick I read ages ago may be of assistance.
You can move data to /tmp and then when you do a backup to desktop the data is not included in the backup as /tmp is not backed up.

This is a good way just to get the config backed up.
Move your data back afterwards.


As a complete alternative backup solution try Darrell Mays backup to workstation (backup2ws).

You can do selective backups of specified folders. These do not include the msql databases.

You can also do a Disaster Recovery or 911 backup, which includes the mysql databases and all files needed to recreate your system on a fresh install of the OS, plus reinstall of additional contrib rpms.

You can also specify the size of the pieces that the backup file is split into. Just keep it below 2Gb and you won't have any problem backing up or restoring. The backup is split into many parts but treated as if it is one file.

I'm suprised you have not read about this, there must be thousands of people using it.

First, let me say "thanks for the reply"  It is very helpful, and actually confirms what I have learned today.  

Just after I posted this I decided to checkout the advanced forum.  On the first page was a post about backups, and in that post there was a list of SME backup solutions.  There I was backup2ws and decided to try it "again".  I thought I had tried it, and did not have any luck with it.  In retrospect, I must have tried some other software, because backup2ws looks great.  I installed it, and started a backup this afternoon.  Tomorrow I'll go back after lunch and do my upgrade.

Thanks again for the post.