Linux Backups Made Easy

mfago writes "A colleague of mine has written a great tutorial on how to use rsync to create automatic "snapshot-style" backups. Nothing is required except for a simple script, although it is thus not necessarily suitable for data-center applications. Please try to be gentle on his server: it is the $80 computer that he mentions in the tutorial. Perhaps try the Google cache." An excellent article answering a frequently asked question.

Comments

Critical daily backups done by the clueless.

[Anonymous Coward]

And people wonder why computer techs get a bad name.

Backups are for wimps

[Anonymous Coward]

Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everybody else mirror it.

why get so complex?

[ywwg]

if [ `df |grep /mnt/backup |wc -l` != "1" ]
then
echo Backup drive not mounted, skipping procedure
exit 2
fi
cd /mnt/backup
rsync -vaz --exclude-from=/root/exclude $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 / .

where exclude =

/mnt/cdrom /mnt/usb /mnt/backup /mnt/abyss1 /mnt/abyss2 /proc /tmp

stick in a cronjob. you can also add --delete if you want. it's basic, but easy.

Re:Because Linus says dump isn't reliable.

[Anonymous Coward]

This isn't a bug; it's a design issue.

Re:i've been slashdotted!

[soloport]

I know that listing my actual backup configuration here is a security risk; please be kind and don't use this information to crack my site. However, I'm not a security expert, so if you see any vulnerabilities in my setup, I'd greatly appreciate your help in fixing them. Thanks!

First suggestion: Don't list your actual backup configuration.