Topic: Help when restoring system to a new box

[ber]

Hi I'm in the process of testing the integrity of my backups in case of complete failure. I need a backup that will give me a complete restore of user-data and server configuration in case of complete hardware failure.
I am asking for help to check that the backups are fine and whether i am going through the correct procedure to restore a system.

I am currently running SME 7.5 and using the backup software for a full backup once a week and a incremental backup weekly. Backup is on a 250GB disk. Total backup is appx 20GB. System is on a RAID 1 80GB Disk mirrored.
The backups run fine as per the logs/email. I would ideally like to get Affa running but that's a little beyond me at the moment so Its all purely manual for the time being.
I have attempted to run a restore of the backups to the new hardware but keep getting lock-ups or other trivial errors.
Was hoping that it would be "straight forward"- plug the external USB backup on a fresh install choose 'yes" and it will do the rest- well its not that simple, I am up to my fifth restore and still not getting a full system restore completed.
A lack of Linux knowledge means that there are some info which is takes for granted users should know or understand i don't have.
some of the things I've noted.
- new hardware must have the same name in order to restore
- backup on USB mount must be given the same name as the production server setup.
- certificate issues- server advises that the certificate is different??
- Have left the restoration process running for 2 days and it still doesn't finish- seems to lock up.
- I understand that the system is using DAR backup software...

Can anyone help me run and full restore and advise how to running it correctly.

[janet]

ber

Your procedures seem mixed up/incorrect.

I need a backup that will give me a complete restore of user-data and server configuration in case of complete hardware failure.

SME server provides that by default in the Backup or restore panel in server manager. There are two possibilities there, I suggest you use the option backup to workstation and select local USB disk. Configure as required eg Full backup weekly with 6 daily incrementals and probably (based on your amount of data and backup disk size) you should configure for 2, 3 or 4 sets which the system will automatically rotate. Four sets will keep the oldest backup for 4 weeks.

Was hoping that it would be "straight forward"- plug the external USB backup on a fresh install choose 'yes" and it will do the rest ..... I am up to my fifth restore and still not getting a full system restore completed.

You are using the wrong backup to restore from.
To restore using the backup done via the server manager panel, you do a fresh install without selecting the restore option at first start up,  and then run server manager and use the restore option in the server manager panel to do a full restore from the backup disk.

The restore you mention ie when given the option during first run after a fresh install, really requires a backup that is done using the other backup to desktop option in the server manager Backup or restore panel, or a backup done via the admin Console (both of which produce a smeserver.tgz file).
For the first one see the server manager panel.
For the second one, log in as admin and select backup to USB option. Note this is a one off manual backup that a sysadmin would do, for example, immediately before a major upgrade, rather than a routine daily scheduled type of backup.

... I understand that the system is using DAR backup software...

The default backup in the Backup or restore panel ie the option Backup to workstation (and/or USB), uses dar, called e-smith backup with dar. This produces a multi part file called xxxxx.rar.

An add on contrib called DAR2 (or Disk Archive) also exists and uses dar.
It also produces multi part rar files.
Be careful not to confuse the two different backup methods/applications.
The backup created with either can only be restored using the software it was created on AFAIK.

If you are using DAR2 there is a specific procedure to follow, which goes something like: install the fresh OS, install the DAR2 contrib, reinstate the DAR2 db manually, run the restore from the Disk Archive server manager panel. See
http://wiki.contribs.org/DAR2#Manual_restore_of_DAR2_configuration

I would ideally like to get Affa running but that's a little beyond me at the moment ....

[

Affa, given the size of the wiki article, seems daunting at first, but it is really quite easy and straightforward to setup. Just focus on the particular backup task/method you wish to do/use. I personally feel it only needs to be used for unattended off site backups to another remote server, although it can backup to local USB disk.

The default e-smith with dar backup to a local USB disk is fine for local backups.

[ber]

Hi Mary. thank you for your reply.

As you have suggested I use the same backup schedule and setup. (backup to workstation/USB Backup/configure weekly backups with 2 sets etc...)
I use the server-manager panel to source the restore file after installing the fresh OS and process the restoration. It seems to advise me what files it is processing then stops after 5-10 minutes on a particular file- not always consistent. When i reboot- the users are restored with all the system settings etc... I sometimes get unusual info regarding disk space and certain files not restored or directories that are empty.
The DAR2 maybe an issue- i did look into using it initially- i will see if it is installed.- do you know how find out whether it is installed and running? I ran the particular command

login as: root
root@192.168.0.254's password:
Last login: Tue Jul 27 22:27:19 2010 from 192.168.0.230
[root@server ~]# yum info installed smeserver-dar2
Loading "smeserver" plugin
Loading "installonlyn" plugin
Loading "fastestmirror" plugin
Loading "protect-packages" plugin
[root@server ~]#

possible that its not installed?

As you mentioned AFFA does look daunting- ill get over this hill first and then once Im confident of the backup/restore process I will attempt the AFFA contrib. Thanks again.

[janet]

ber

As you appear to be having problems with a part of the base install of sme server, please lodge a bug report. Be prepared to follow through with requests for additional information.
Backup & restore should "just work".