Resumo
This tool allows you to back up data present on your
computer on different media and on a remote machine over the
network. Once the parameters are set, you can run the backup
periodically. Then, you can forget about it until you wish to
restore some files.
The backup parameters must be defined so that the tool knows what, where and when to perform the backup. We will guide you step-by-step with a back up-and-restore example using the wizard. Then we will introduce you to automation of periodic backups.
You can access this tool by clicking on the Backups icon in Mandriva Linux Control Center's System section. Click on the button to start the wizard. After making your choices in each step click on .
Select Backup
System to include the /etc
directory where all your current system configuration files
lie. This allows you to “transport” your system to
a different computer with little effort: only hardware-dependent
configuration will have to be revised.
Select
Backup Users to include all the files
included in all of your users' /home
directories. Clicking on the button lets you select individual users
and give you the following options:
Do not include the browser cache. Selecting this option is recommended due to the very nature of the ever-changing browser's cache.
Use Incremental/Differential Backups. Selecting this will preserve old backups. Choosing Use Incremental Backups will only save files which have been changed or added since the last backup operation. Choosing Use Differential Backups will only save files which have been changed or added since the first backup operation (also known as the “base” backup). This last option takes more space than the first one, but allows you to restore the system “as it was” at any given point in time for which a differential backup was made.
All possible backup media are listed, along with a Configure button to change media-dependent options:
The local hard disk drive is used to prepare backups for all media except NFS and direct to tape. You should not perform backups on your local hard disk anyway, you should always backup on remote or removable media. You can set the directory for storage and the limit of storage space. You can also set how many days to keep incremental or differential backups in order to save disk space.
To store the backup on a remote computer accessible using different methods. You can set the connection parameters as well as the access method and its options (if applicable). Please note that NFS backups are considered to be local disk backups, even if they are effectively stored on a remote system.
To store the backup on a tape drive. You can set the tape device if it's not detected automatically, and tape parameters such as writing directly on tape, whether or not to rewind, erase and eject the tape.
To store the backup on optical media: (re)writable CD or DVD. This is our preferred media for the example, so click on its button to set the required parameters (see Figura 16.15, “Setting Optical Media Parameters”).
If it isn't done automatically, use the Choose your CD/DVD device combo box to set the CD/DVD device. Set the medium's type and size, multisession and erasing options.
For multisession recordings, please have in mind that the option to erase the medium is only effective for the 1st session and also that session-related information recording takes some space out (20 to 30 MB) for each session, so the “real data” storage space will actually be less than the medium's size.
The last wizard step shows a summary of the configuration parameters. Use the button to change any parameter you are not satisfied with. Click on to store them. The backup set is now ready to be performed.
Click on , make sure the corresponding media is ready (the recordable CDs in our example), and then on to perform the backup.
A dialog will display the current progress of the operation. Please be patient: the time it takes to back up depends on many factors such as the size of the backup file set, the speed of the storage option selected, and so on. Once the operation is finished a report is shown: look for possible errors on it and take corrective measures if needed.
Make sure the media you want to restore the backup from is accessible and ready and click on the button. In our example we will restore the whole backup so on the restore dialog (Figura 16.17, “Choosing the Restore Type to Perform”) click on and then on the button to start the restoration process.
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Existing files in the target restoration directory (same location where the backup was made from, by default) will be overwritten. |
Feel free to investigate the other restore options if you want to restore part of a backup instead of the full file set.
In the tool's main window, click on and then on the button. In The backup scheduling window (see Figura 16.18, “Daemon Options Window”) select Use daemon to define the schedule.
You are then asked to specify the interval (or period) between each backup operation and the storage media. In our example we set up a customized calendar (custom period selected) to perform a backup every Friday at a quarter to midnight and store it on CD.
Click on and then on the button to set more backup options (see Figura 16.19, “Miscellaneous Options Window”).
Use the Please
choose the compression type pull down list to select the
compression used for your backups among tar
(no
compression), tar.gz
(gzip compression) and
tar.bz2
(bzip2 compression: better but
slower).
Select the
Use .backupignore files option to have
certain files excluded from the backup. The
.backupignore
file should be present in every
directory of the backup file set where files are to be
excluded. Its syntax is very easy: a one-file-per-line list of the
names of the files to exclude.
Select the Send mail report after each backup to option and fill the e-mail address so the tool knows to whom to mail the backup operation report. Please bear in mind that the system needs to have a working MTA (Mail Transport Agent) for this option to be effective.
Select the Delete Hard Drive tar files after backup to other media option to free that space after performing the backup.