Re: [gentoo-user] rsync backup system

[Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com>]

>> 2. Some of the files I back up only allow root to read.  I can run
>> rsync as root on each system, but I don't allow root logins.  This
>> means in order to rsync the second "sync" system with the first "sync"
>> system, I must run the rsync command from the first "sync" system.
>> This means I have to run rsyncd on the second "sync" system in
>> addition to the first "sync" system.  I'd rather only run one instance
>> of rsyncd.  Can anyone think of another option?
>
> Allow root logins only with a key, set up a specific user on the backup
> server to run the backup tasks and add that users key to the
> authorized_users file on the machine to be backed up.
>
>> 3. The rsync process always completes with "rsync error: some
>> files/attrs were not transferred".  How can I get more information
>> about which files this pertains to?
>
> Run rsync with the verbose option and direct stdout and stderr to files.
>
>> 5. If I end up with filesystem corruption on the SRC system, will that
>> corruption transfer over to the DST system during an rsync, or will
>> the transfer just fail?
>
> If data is corrupted, that will be backed up. If the filesystem
> corruption causes read errors, rsync will bail out.
>
>> 6. Can I run rsyncd on a system facing the internet without fear?
>
> Yes, as long as the rsync ports are closed in your router.
>
> Instead of all this, I'd recommend BackupPC. It handles all of your
> issues and more and is efficient at backing up multiple machines. You
> could run one BackupPC server and then rsync its store to the backup
> backup server. The latest version in portage is old, get the 3.x ebuild
> from bgo.

How is BackupPC to set up?  Is it a whole new world to explore, or can
it be set up quickly and easily?

 - Grant