From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org ([208.92.234.80] helo=lists.gentoo.org) by finch.gentoo.org with esmtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1Okwvu-0000Dp-Oy for garchives@archives.gentoo.org; Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:28:47 +0000 Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id D1A99E073A; Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:27:58 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail-iw0-f181.google.com (mail-iw0-f181.google.com [209.85.214.181]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id AC960E073A for ; Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:27:58 +0000 (UTC) Received: by iwn6 with SMTP id 6so1634300iwn.40 for ; Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:27:58 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:mime-version:sender:received :in-reply-to:references:from:date:x-google-sender-auth:message-id :subject:to:content-type; bh=8HB+eAjGg0al14lF0CnGYV9URXlg8jwh+Baa/0FGwRk=; b=wQeprU5KDqrN5gmF6sh/sDHsrzKsINNbpw/2J+2UrLzyvssIKMm7AxPQpYvpj3RgVg 0Vcn7l+qCsOfZe5f4g5CvxFq3EGJEjWqk82sRT6bLQAsr70D0Y13mxLkXaXdb6W0dMJ2 1fOBf9kopi9WLVyWQzYoZfEbL12gumRFKwfHk= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:sender:in-reply-to:references:from:date :x-google-sender-auth:message-id:subject:to:content-type; b=AdG2eT2QntMNyBZobNnuMleCQTRsHqWYMtPALVYFohrUUTyS3wdSRltm835UZ+dmfx sExW+DfGEBjy3R2n6tx85BIh0nfUPBe4oWlv4mIJvO9twmhJvHqW5j3GRnevXsIurUnX FtxtwbT0n61/PrrwVFjP28P6dbnorLntYCKz4= Received: by 10.231.12.76 with SMTP id w12mr5532033ibw.87.1281954478139; Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:27:58 -0700 (PDT) Precedence: bulk List-Post: List-Help: List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail X-BeenThere: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Reply-to: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Sender: fthtmn@gmail.com Received: by 10.231.200.134 with HTTP; Mon, 16 Aug 2010 03:27:38 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <201008160215.55382.wonko@wonkology.org> References: <201008160215.55382.wonko@wonkology.org> From: Nganon Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:27:38 +0300 X-Google-Sender-Auth: OsHRdzpesrN0_1YBf-pdhlILSss Message-ID: Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] How to build a time machine on Gentoo To: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=000325574cb249ab97048dee4995 X-Archives-Salt: 3ff5bb9e-5f17-49b8-94d8-7359a494355e X-Archives-Hash: c82f3e01a5989a1dd95a775db7f6d584 --000325574cb249ab97048dee4995 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 On 16 August 2010 03:15, Alex Schuster wrote: > Nganon > writes: > > > Hello all, > > > > My first post on the list. I thought I would start with something > > that I started > > to think of as 'essential' after losing 90GB of data. Now I have two > > main questions in mind: what to and how to back up on gentoo most > > efficiently. > > > > 1. Apart from users' home directories and the followings, what should > > be backed > > up on a gentoo machine? > > /etc/portage/ > > /root > > /var/lib/portage > > ...? > > Wouldn't it be easier to just backup the whole / directory? > Excluding /home, /usr/portage and /var/tmp/portage? > > Yes but that would not solve my huge backup file problem, would it? > > 2. Erm..okay, I am gonna say, what magic I want and then ask your way. > > I first started making gzipped tar balls as follows: > > > > tar czpf /media/backups/userA-`date +%Y.%m.%d`.tgz -X > > userA-excludelist /etc > > > > But these can get huge especially for home dirs. I also want safe dvd > > copies. > > Though I can find enough space on the external drives, I don't trust > > them any more. See above..sigh..(No I recovered about one third of it > > with testdisk/photorec > > which names them as file000001 file00002.. and half them are zero > > sized.. which > > quite justifies my agony) > > Okay, but I don't trust DVDs. Although DVD-RAM is quite safe I heard. > But external disks are flexible, offer more space, and if you want more > security, just use yet another drive, so you are safe even if your main > drive and a backup drive fails. > > I did not give a thought to DVD-RAM before. Will give it a try. Thanks. I suggest you have a look at rdiff-backup. It gives you a 1:1 copy of > the source directory, but also does incremental backups, which are > stored (in compressed form) in an additional folder in the destination > directory. I would use this at least for things like /etc, where I > sometimes might want to retrieve an old version of a file. Similar to > your approach with big tar files and small ones containing the > increments. > > I just emerged and tried it. Seems like incremental backups was what I was looking for. But from what I see, it is mirroring the src to dist and storing the metadata/stats of increments as archived. Maybe there is an option to archive increments along side their metadata as well. I will keep playing with it. I use a script for my backups, which I mentioned here on 2010-05-07, > subject 'Snackup'. It optionally creates LVM snapshots so I can make > backups from the running system, even if the source directory is > altered during the backup. This works on LVM only, though, and also > allows the volume to be LUKS-encrypted. It does backups by rdiff-backup, > rsync, cp, tar or dd. It may be overkill when not using the LVM > features, but still I suggest to use some script for backups, so one > does not always have to remember the backup commands. When I want to > update my backup, I enter something like 'snackup boot root home src', > and the script backs up my boot, root and home partition in the > background, and creates tar files each directory in /usr/src. > > I found the thread and script. I am gonna take a look at it. Once I decide on how to backup, I am gonna cron a script for it. > > By the way, since I want dvd backups as well, and I want to use +rw > > dvds so I can overwrite old backup after a while, what is best way of > > ensuring the integrity and safety of them. Is it a good idea to use > > truecrypt containers? Or nothing tops signing and encrypting with gpg? > > I'd use DVD-RAM. The media is a little more expensive, but AFAIK they > were made with long-time backups in mind. And access is much easier, > you just copy the files as to an external drive, no need to burn ISOs. > > Wonko > > Thanks for the advises. --000325574cb249ab97048dee4995 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
On 16 August 2010 03:15, Alex Schuster <w= onko@wonkology.org> wrote:
Nganon <nganon+gentoo@gmail.com> writes:

> Hello all,
>
> My first post on the list. I thought I would start with something
> that I started
> to think of as 'essential' after losing 90GB of data. Now I ha= ve two
> main questions in mind: what to and how to back up on gentoo most
> efficiently.
>
> 1. Apart from users' home directories and the followings, what sho= uld
> be backed
> up on a gentoo machine?
> /etc/portage/
> /root
> /var/lib/portage
> ...?

Wouldn't it be easier to just backup the whole / directory?
Excluding /home, /usr/portage and /var/tmp/portage?

Yes but that would not solve my huge backu= p file problem, would it?=A0
=A0
> 2. Erm..okay, I am gonna say, what magic I want and then ask your way.=
> I first started making gzipped tar balls as follows:
>
> tar czpf /media/backups/userA-`date +%Y.%m.%d`.tgz -X
> userA-excludelist /etc
>
> But these can get huge especially for home dirs. I also want safe dvd<= br> > copies.
> Though I can find enough space on the external drives, I don't tru= st
> them any more. See above..sigh..(No I recovered about one third of it<= br> > with testdisk/photorec
> which names them as file000001 file00002.. and half them are zero
> sized.. which
> quite justifies my agony)

Okay, but I don't trust DVDs. Although DVD-RAM is quite safe I he= ard.
But external disks are flexible, offer more space, and if you want more
security, just use yet another drive, so you are safe even if your main
drive and a backup drive fails.

I did not give a thought to DVD-RAM before. Will give= it a try. Thanks.

I suggest you have a look at rdiff-backup. It gives you a 1:1 copy of
the source directory, but also does incremental backups, which are
stored (in compressed form) in an additional folder in the destination
directory. I would use this at least for things like /etc, where I
sometimes might want to retrieve an old version of a file. Similar to
your approach with big tar files and small ones containing the
increments.

I just emerged and tried it. Seems like incremental b= ackups was what I=A0
was looking for. But from what I see, it is = mirroring the src to dist and=A0
storing=A0the metadata/stats of = increments as archived. Maybe there is an=A0
option=A0to=A0archive increments along side their metadata as well. I = will keep=A0
playing=A0with it.

I use a script for my backups, which I mentioned here on 2010-05-07,
subject 'Snackup'. It optionally creates LVM snapshots so I can mak= e
backups from the running system, even if the source directory is
altered during the backup. This works on LVM only, though, and also
allows the volume to be LUKS-encrypted. It does backups by rdiff-backup, rsync, cp, tar or dd. It may be overkill when not using the LVM
features, but still I suggest to use some script for backups, so one
does not always have to remember the backup commands. When I want to
update my backup, I enter something like 'snackup boot root home src= 9;,
and the script backs up my boot, root and home partition in the
background, and creates tar files each directory in /usr/src.

I found the thread and script. I am gonna = take a look at it. Once I decide on=A0
how to=A0backup, I am gonn= a cron a script for it.
=A0
> By the way, since I want dvd backups as well, and I want to use +rw > dvds so I can overwrite old backup after a while, what is best way of<= br> > ensuring the integrity and safety of them. Is it a good idea to use > truecrypt containers? Or nothing tops signing and encrypting with gpg?=

I'd use DVD-RAM. The media is a little more expensive, but AFAIK = they
were made with long-time backups in mind. And access is much easier,
you just copy the files as to an external drive, no need to burn ISOs.

=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Wonko


Thanks for the advises.=A0
--000325574cb249ab97048dee4995--