| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
wallace1819
Apprentice
Joined: 17 Aug 2002
Posts: 195
Location: VT
|
 Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 11:41 pm Post subject: backup question... /dev or no /dev? |
 |
|
when I use tar to make a full system backup should I include /dev or is all that stuff created by devfs at boot?
wally |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
bone
Apprentice
Joined: 07 Jun 2002
Posts: 255
Location: Midwest, USA
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 11:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| No need to include /dev. Those are all device files that are specific to each system. For the most part, if you are reinstalling on the same system, it will have everything you need. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ozonator
Guru
Joined: 11 Jun 2003
Posts: 591
Location: Ontario, Canada
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2004 11:54 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Check the output of the 'mount' command; if there's a devfs file system mounted on /dev, it's indeed being created and managed entirely by devfsd, and there's no need to back it up. Same with /proc and (with 2.6.x) /sys -- their contents are created 'on the fly' by the kernel.
One note: if you want an exact copy of your whole system, make sure the /dev mount point exists in your copy (same with /proc and /sys).
And a tip: with both cp and rsync, the -x option restricts the operation to one file system. Depending on how you're doing those backups, that can be handy, e.g., so that the cp/rsync operation skips /dev, /proc, /sys, since they're different filesystems from the root (/) filesystem. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
bone
Apprentice
Joined: 07 Jun 2002
Posts: 255
Location: Midwest, USA
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 12:24 am Post subject: |
|
|
Great eleboration Ozonator.
One question... What are you all using for a backup software/package? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
tam1138
Tux's lil' helper
Joined: 28 Oct 2003
Posts: 103
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 12:42 am Post subject: |
|
|
| bone wrote: | | One question... What are you all using for a backup software/package? |
I haven't found one that does exactly what I want so I'm writing my own. Feel free to contribute to the list of requirements:
http://tam.hiddenrock.com/projects/colossus/requirements.php |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ozonator
Guru
Joined: 11 Jun 2003
Posts: 591
Location: Ontario, Canada
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2004 12:44 am Post subject: |
|
|
| bone wrote: | | One question... What are you all using for a backup software/package? |
These days, with cheap, spacious HDs and fast network connections, I tend to rsync stuff to a big drive. My main box at home has a 40 GB HD as the main boot device; it also has a 120 GB drive -- I use rsync to mirror the content of the partitions on the 40 GB drive to identical partitions on the 120; I also have a partition on the 120 GB drive for a mirror of the content of another machine, and for important things from my laptop. (Leftover space is for ogg files!  )
As for the backup process itself, it's a simple script that is essentially "mount /mirror/<target>; <rsync various things>; umount /mirror/<target>", which is run by cron. Seems to work nicely -- it's automatic (i.e., I don't need to remember), and and I've got immediately usable copies of all my important files, which I can access with any OS that can read an ext2/3 partition (just in case, keep a Gentoo live CD or a System Rescue CD handy).
Of course, this doesn't cover having an archival backup (a 'snapshot' of your files), nor does it move anything offsite (assuming you don't have a remote machine you can rsync to, and a fast net connection to it); it only protects against hardware failure. So, I also burn irreplaceable stuff to CDs periodically (usually tar.bz2 files unless it's already compressed, like music or photos). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
davidblewett
Apprentice
Joined: 15 Feb 2004
Posts: 274
Location: Indiana
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I use rdiff-backup. It uses rsync as the protocol, but adds the ability to do differential backups so that you can restore from a certain point in time. For example, if something gets hosed and you unknowingly run your backup, now that backup is hosed as well. With rdiff-backup, you can restore from a known good point in time. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
Networking & Security
