Table of Contents
Abstract
There are two general types of backups to be considered: backing up the ramdisk, and backing up the physical media. Formerly, one could only backup the ramdisk through the lrcfg script. With the release of Dachstein, support has been added to the lrcfg backup script for backing up the floppy disk, as well as the ramdisk.
Before backing up any files you should insure that the write protect tabs on the floppy disk(s) you are backing up to are closed. The floppy disk must also not be mounted. The lrcfg script cannot backup to a mounted floppy disk. If you are turning on confirmation in the backups, insure you are present during the backup. Leaving the backup in a state of 'awaiting confirmation' for an extended period of time can cause the backup for the package in question to fail.
Once the backups are complete, do remember to place the write protect tab on the floppy(ies) back in the open position to prevent further writing to the disk.
For obvious reasons, there is no need to back up the CD (presuming you are using the Dachstein CD distribution). The ramdisk, on the other hand, should be backed up each time you make changes to your system configuration, and the floppy boot disk (if you use one) should be backed up periodically (in case the boot disk becomes corrupted).
From the main menu, select [b], then press [Enter] to go to the back-up menu. Users of Eigerstein who are new to Dachstein will notice a dramatically different menu. Each package is listed with a number, followed by the package name, the type of backup, the target device, and the file system on the target device. Ex.:
Package Type BkupDev BkupFS -------- ---- -------- -------- 1) root Full fd0 msdos 3) ramlog Full cdrom iso9660 5) modules Full cdrom iso9660 ...
The package refers (not surprisingly) to the package you wish to back up. The Type refers to the type of backup you wish to perform for the corresponding package. Possible options for this field are:
| Full | backup the package binaries and configuration files |
| Partial | backup only the configuration files |
| Modified | backup files which have changed (This feature is, as of this writing, not yet implemented). |
| None | do not back up this package |
The BkupDev refers to the target device where the backup will be stored. Possible options for this field are:
| fd0 | 1st floppy disk. An ms-dos file system is assumed. |
| cdrom | CD-ROM drive. An iso9660 file system is assumed. |
| custom destination | You can type in a device such as hda (the "/dev/" will be prepended for you), then select a file system. You are limited to the file systems listed in /proc/filesystems. |
Everything INCLUDING log will perform a backup of all packages listed in the table above, including log files, using the listed options for each package.
Everything EXCEPT log will backup all packages listed in the table above using the listed options for each package.
The Confirm writes option asks you prior to copying the backed up information if lrcfg should copy it. Possible options are ON (ask before copying) or OFF (do not ask before copying).
The last set of commands (b, d, and t) are used to configure the backup options for each package in the table. These are used in the following manner:
command pkg [Enter]
where command is b, d, or t, and pkg is the package name or number which you wish to backup, or modify backup parameters for. Examples:
b 1 [Enter] | backs up the root package using the listed options |
d
5 [Enter] | takes you to a menu in which you can select a backup destination for the modules binaries and/or configuration files |
t 2 [Enter] | takes you to a menu from which you can select the type of backup for the etc package. |
Let's assume you are running a firewall in which you will be modifying the network.conf file, and the modules.conf file. Let's assume further that you are booting off of floppy instead of the CD. In this case, you will want to back up the etc and modules packages. Since you can't back these up to the CD, you need to back them up to the floppy. ou would then perform the following steps:
d 5 [Enter] | Change the destination for the modules package |
1
[Enter] | Selects fd0, with a msdos file system |
t 5 [Enter] | Modify the backup type for the modules package |
p
[Enter] | Selects a partial (config files only) backup |
d 2 [Enter] | Change the destination for the etc package |
1
[Enter] | Selects fd0, with a msdos file system |
t 2 [Enter] | Modify the backup type for the etc package |
p
[Enter] | Selects a partial (config files only) backup |
c [Enter] | Turns off confirmation |
b 5 [Enter] | backup the modules package |
b 2 [Enter] | backup the etc package |
q [Enter] | return to the main menu |
We backed up each package individually. If you would rather back up all packages which you have modified in one stroke, you would go through and select a backup type of none for each of the packages which you have not modified.
Finally, when you restart the system, you will notice that the etc and modules packages are now being read off of both the CD-ROM and the floppy. You will also notice that your backup preferences have stuck. These are saved on the floppy disk as well, and are reloaded when the system restarts.
From the main menu, you can choose option [c] to copy the boot disk. To do this:
Press [c] (you will be prompted to insert the boot disk.)
Insert the boot disk, and press [Enter] (lrcfg will begin making a copy of the disk, then you will be prompted for a back up disk.)
Replace the boot disk with a blank disk. (lrcfg will now begin placing a copy onto the new disk, formatting it if necessary.)
Once the backup is complete, the main lrcfg menu will be displayed again.