Re: [gentoo-user] disaster recovery - planning

[Rich Freeman]

On Mon, Mar 20, 2017 at 7:15 PM,   wrote:
> Besides standard "data" backup, if I was to plan for a disaster
> recovery; what to include in a backup system if I was to rebuild a new box?
>
> - /etc
> - /var/lib/portage/world
> - /usr/src/linux/.config
> - /var/spool/fax/ (if needed)
> - /var/www/localhost/htdocs/ (if needed)
> - crontab (users and root)
>

Here is what I'm backing up to the cloud via duplicity (where storage
is expensive so I have a more selective set of rules here):
--include /boot --include /usercache --include /etc --include
/data/www --include /data/home --include /root --include
/var/lib/samba --include /var/spool/tftp --include /var/lib/cdcat
--include /var/bind --include /usr/local --include
/var/lib/portage/world --include /data/diskless/gentooinst64 --include
/data/diskless/mythliv2 --include /var/lib/bitcoin/.bitcoin/wallet.dat
--include /var/lib/quassel/ --include /var/lib/ --include
/data/sstorage3/containers/mariadb/ --include
/data/sstorage3/containers/vpn/ --include
/data/sstorage3/containers/ddclient/ --include
/data/sstorage3/containers/dns/

(I realize that a lot of this references mountpoints that are useless
to you, but the end of the paths is probably good enough as a
checklist.  Yes, I realize a few of those are redundant, but I suspect
they might get around exclusions.)

My excludes for these more expensive backups contain things like:
www cache directories for some apps
Trash directories
NNTP client caches
Download directories
~/.cache
mail client caches (I use IMAP)
bitcoin blockchains
mysql data directory (I separately run mysqldump and back that up)
.snapshots on volumes that use zfs/btrfs
/usr and /var/log on my containers
Any random /tmp that would otherwise be caught

In general I try to stick stuff I want to back up in /home, and stick
stuff I don't want to backup elsewhere and just symlink it into /home
where needed.  The include/excludes just handle the random stuff where
this policy isn't practical.

Now, I also keep local backups of everything and the rules are much
more inclusive there.  I just exclude things like /sys, /proc,
anything with a bind mount (so as to not save it twice), /usr/portage
(changes constantly, trivial to restore), all those .snapshots
directories, and the same sorts of things in chroots (but not
containers).

As far as the suggestion to use ansible/etc goes for things like /etc
- I certainly agree it is a best practice.

-- 
Rich

Re: [gentoo-user] disaster recovery - planning

[Alec Ten Harmsel]

El 20/03/2017 a las 05:15 p. m., the...@sys-concept.com escribió:

Besides standard "data" backup, if I was to plan for a disaster
recovery; what to include in a backup system if I was to rebuild a new box?

- /etc
- /var/lib/portage/world
- /usr/src/linux/.config


These three should be pushed out with a configuration management 
tool/system like Salt or Ansible in my opinion and committed in a git 
repo instead of being backed up.



Alec

Re: [gentoo-user] disaster recovery - planning

[Heiko Baums]

Am 21.03.2017 um 00:15 schrieb the...@sys-concept.com:
> Besides standard "data" backup, if I was to plan for a disaster
> recovery; what to include in a backup system if I was to rebuild a new box?
> 
> - /etc
> - /var/lib/portage/world
> - /usr/src/linux/.config
> - /var/spool/fax/ (if needed)
> - /var/www/localhost/htdocs/ (if needed)
> - crontab (users and root)
> 
> What else did I miss?

/home (I guess that's what you mean with standard "data" backup)
/usr/local
/root
/usr/share/fonts (if needed)

Actually I would make a backup of the whole system excluding those
directories:

lost+found/
/dev/
/media/
/mnt/ (depends)
/proc/
/run/
/sys/
/tmp/
/var/export/
/var/run/
/home/*/.gvfs/

Heiko

[gentoo-user] disaster recovery - planning

[thelma]

Besides standard "data" backup, if I was to plan for a disaster
recovery; what to include in a backup system if I was to rebuild a new box?

- /etc
- /var/lib/portage/world
- /usr/src/linux/.config
- /var/spool/fax/ (if needed)
- /var/www/localhost/htdocs/ (if needed)
- crontab (users and root)

What else did I miss?

-- 
Thelma

Re: [gentoo-user] switching adapter - power supply

[Poison BL.]

On Mon, Mar 20, 2017 at 1:36 PM,  wrote:

> Or take one of the old PS from an old case and solder the tip to 12V
> line is better solution?
>

One point that should be noted on this idea... as long as it cooperates, it
should last pretty much forever, but your draw at the wall will likely be
much, much, higher than it is now since the ~50-60W max you're drawing from
it is so much lower than an older PSU is designed for (and efficiency drops
the further from the load it's designed for you go, in either direction).
The other issue I'm aware of is that a PC's PSU is designed with a minimum
load, and they can have unstable/incorrect output if that load's not met. I
would expect any PSU made in the past several years (where actual power
draw of a basic desktop has dropped significantly) to be fine with the load
you're throwing at it, but it's something to verify, especially if it's a
meaningfully older PSU. Typically, the place you see that problem crop up
is using a PSU for bench power, and running small embedded, very low power
(i.e. Arduino and the like) hardware off of it.

Whichever way you go, good luck!

-- 
Poison [BLX]
Joshua M. Murphy

Re: [gentoo-user] switching adapter - power supply

[taii...@gmx.com]

On 03/20/2017 01:36 PM, the...@sys-concept.com wrote:


I have a small box "VIA Eden Processor 1200MHz" it runs my asterisk and
hylafax but it is powered by those external 12V adapters (12V 5A).

They don't usually last long, max 2-years or less.  I have a spare unit:
Switching Adapter Power Supply.
The box is in remote location so if it goes down due to PS I have to
there and restart it, it shut down twice on me this morning; I think
this adapter is going slowly.

If find/connect 12V adapter with higher Amps 10A or 15A will it help
extend the live of the these external power supplies?

Or take one of the old PS from an old case and solder the tip to 12V
line is better solution?

I have something like that which I purchased from mini-box, it gets 
incredibly hot but it still works after a few years - maybe you could 
get something from them?


I would buy another one with higher amps, replace the components inside 
with better ones and fabricate a metal case for it with a heat-sink so 
it lasts longer.


The lifespan you stated is expected for cheap chinese capacitors, they 
only last 2000/hrs at 80C which is seriously pathetic. (so 6000 hours at 
the probable 20C you have) Get yourself some better long life japanese 
made ones.

Re: [gentoo-user] switching adapter - power supply

[T ed Ozolins]

On 17-03-20 11:36 AM, the...@sys-concept.com wrote:

I have a small box "VIA Eden Processor 1200MHz" it runs my asterisk and
hylafax but it is powered by those external 12V adapters (12V 5A).

They don't usually last long, max 2-years or less.  I have a spare unit:
Switching Adapter Power Supply.
The box is in remote location so if it goes down due to PS I have to
there and restart it, it shut down twice on me this morning; I think
this adapter is going slowly.

If find/connect 12V adapter with higher Amps 10A or 15A will it help
extend the live of the these external power supplies?

Or take one of the old PS from an old case and solder the tip to 12V
line is better solution?



The higher current rating unit should run cooler thus live longer. If 
the psu from the old case has a well filtered output should do quite 
well. Since most desk-top psu are fan cooled could be an added bonus.


--
Ted Ozolins
Cranbrook, BC

Re: [gentoo-user] switching adapter - power supply

[Mick]

On Monday 20 Mar 2017 13:19:59 the...@sys-concept.com wrote:
> On 03/20/2017 12:12 PM, J. Roeleveld wrote:
> > On March 20, 2017 6:36:25 PM GMT+01:00, the...@sys-concept.com wrote:
> >> I have a small box "VIA Eden Processor 1200MHz" it runs my asterisk and
> >> hylafax but it is powered by those external 12V adapters (12V 5A).
> >> 
> >> They don't usually last long, max 2-years or less.  I have a spare
> >> unit:
> >> Switching Adapter Power Supply.
> >> The box is in remote location so if it goes down due to PS I have to
> >> there and restart it, it shut down twice on me this morning; I think
> >> this adapter is going slowly.
> >> 
> >> If find/connect 12V adapter with higher Amps 10A or 15A will it help
> >> extend the live of the these external power supplies?
> >> 
> >> Or take one of the old PS from an old case and solder the tip to 12V
> >> line is better solution?
> > 
> > Most cheap 12V adapters are just that. Cheap. I would invest in a quality
> > unit that is actually designed for long term 24/7 use.
> > 
> > A higher amp might help as it won't be stressed as much. But also consider
> > adding cooling as it's the high temperatures and inadequate cooling that
> > kills them.
> > 
> > --
> > Joost
> 
> These 12V 5A adapters are small (~2x4x1in) external adaptors, they
> failed on my several times.  They are not design with cooling system and
> yes they do run warm especially when run 24/7.
> 
> I even had standard case power supply fail on me twice, so yes I try to
> buy them with extra watts capacity and most importantly I always ask for
> one with Japanese capacitors.
> 
> --
> Thelma

I had an old Linksys NSLU2 which had a PSU failure a few months after I 
connected a large USB drive to it.  The USB drive was drawing more current 
than the PSU could cope with in continuous operation (it was running 24-7).  I 
opened the PSU and replaced the capacitors with higher rating components.  
This lasted just under a couple of years.  After that I used a higher amperage 
PSU from a laptop.  I can't recall the exact difference in amps.  The original 
was 5V 2A and I used something like 5.5A, which lasted for a long time without 
any problem.  BTW, besides the size also check the polarity of the pin to make 
sure you do not blow the target device.
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] switching adapter - power supply

[thelma]

On 03/20/2017 12:12 PM, J. Roeleveld wrote:
> On March 20, 2017 6:36:25 PM GMT+01:00, the...@sys-concept.com wrote:
>> I have a small box "VIA Eden Processor 1200MHz" it runs my asterisk and
>> hylafax but it is powered by those external 12V adapters (12V 5A).
>>
>> They don't usually last long, max 2-years or less.  I have a spare
>> unit:
>> Switching Adapter Power Supply.
>> The box is in remote location so if it goes down due to PS I have to
>> there and restart it, it shut down twice on me this morning; I think
>> this adapter is going slowly.
>>
>> If find/connect 12V adapter with higher Amps 10A or 15A will it help
>> extend the live of the these external power supplies?
>>
>> Or take one of the old PS from an old case and solder the tip to 12V
>> line is better solution?
> 
> Most cheap 12V adapters are just that. Cheap. I would invest in a quality 
> unit that is actually designed for long term 24/7 use.
> 
> A higher amp might help as it won't be stressed as much. But also consider 
> adding cooling as it's the high temperatures and inadequate cooling that 
> kills them.
> 
> --
> Joost

These 12V 5A adapters are small (~2x4x1in) external adaptors, they
failed on my several times.  They are not design with cooling system and
yes they do run warm especially when run 24/7.

I even had standard case power supply fail on me twice, so yes I try to
buy them with extra watts capacity and most importantly I always ask for
one with Japanese capacitors.

--
Thelma

Re: [gentoo-user] Sizing up power supplies [was: switching adapter - power supply]

[Dale]

Alan Mackenzie wrote:
> Hello, Dale.
>
> Apologies to Thelma for hi-jacking the thread so early, but this point
> is too interesting just to pass over:
>
> On Mon, Mar 20, 2017 at 12:57:00 -0500, Dale wrote:
>
> [  ]
>
>> I might add, when I buy power supplies for my puter rigs, I try to buy
>> one that will only be loaded at around 40 to 50%.
> Do you mean 40 to 50% when the computer is going full blast (?like
> building libreoffice, or something like that).

I usually calculate for max power, yes.  After all, when running Gentoo
and compiling things like LOo, gcc and other large and lengthy packages,
there is a heavy load and heat build up that goes with it.  I try to
always plan for the worst and hope for the best.  You should see my
rigs.  The word "tank" comes to mind.  To make the point clear, I have a
Cooler Master HAF-932 case with those large fans.  The CPU cooler just
barely fits in the case, and the case is large. 


>> One, it is lightly loaded relative to what it can handle.  Two, it
>> will most likely handle heat better at those levels.  Third, it allows
>> for upgrades, hard drive additions etc without having to buy another
>> one. 
> Just how does one calculate the amount of power a box will use?
> Processors proudly say "95W tdp", or whatever, but how much power does
> RAM use, or the motherboard, or SDDs, or HDDs?
>
> I'm anticipating building a new rig in the coming weeks/months
> (depending on how soon the motherboard makers start producing Ryzen MBs
> in quantity), and I'd be interested in getting an optimally sized PSU.
> Most of the time, my PC is just idling along, with sporadic bursts of
> activity like building libreoffice.
>
> So how do I work out the electricity consumption of all these
> components?


Usually I do it this way.  Whatever goes in the case and runs off the
P/S, I research how much power it uses.  CPU for example, I use that
wattage rating the manufacturer claims even tho it will likely be less
than that even while compiling and under heavy load.  Hard drives, same
thing.  Take the voltage, the current and multiply them to get wattage
if I can't find wattage itself.  Fans, add those up.  It takes a bit but
it gives a pretty good idea. 

There are websites to that can give you ideas and they also include some
wiggle room.  I've also been known to find someone who has the same mobo
and a close CPU model and either found what they say theirs pulls or I
just ask them outright.  That is usually some good info because it is
real world.


>> I hope that info will help. 
> Thanks!
>
>> Dale

I might add.  My old rig had a Abit NF7 mobo.  It had a 2500+ single
core CPU.  It also had several hard drives, DVD and several fans.  It
pulled about 400 watts under load and not much better idle.  When I
built my new rig, I took a little info from that.  Thing is, things were
more efficient when I bought the parts for the new rig than it was for
my old rig.  My new rig, it pulls less than 200 watts.  Generally, it is
about 150 watts.  I'm getting that from both the UPS info and from a
power meter.  The UPS is pretty close.  Thing is, that includes a
router, modem and some little speakers as well.  The reason I add this,
a 500 watt power supply can power quite a lot of computer nowadays. 
Unless you have some high powered graphic cards and other power hogs,
really large P/Ss are not generally needed.  I could easily use a 300 to
350 watt P/S in my new rig and still have wiggle room and that power on
rush handled. 

Hope that helps.

Dale

:-)  :-) 

[gentoo-user] Re: Sizing up power supplies [was: switching adapter - power supply]

[Grant Edwards]

On 2017-03-20, Alan Mackenzie  wrote:

> So how do I work out the electricity consumption of all these
> components?

You build it and then measure.  (Or find a review by somebody else who
has measured it.)

For some components (e.g. disk drives), you can get decent typical/max
power consumption numbers, but for other components it's hopeless.

-- 
Grant Edwards   grant.b.edwardsYow! This PIZZA symbolizes
  at   my COMPLETE EMOTIONAL
  gmail.comRECOVERY!!

[gentoo-user] Sizing up power supplies [was: switching adapter - power supply]

[Alan Mackenzie]

Hello, Dale.

Apologies to Thelma for hi-jacking the thread so early, but this point
is too interesting just to pass over:

On Mon, Mar 20, 2017 at 12:57:00 -0500, Dale wrote:

[  ]

> I might add, when I buy power supplies for my puter rigs, I try to buy
> one that will only be loaded at around 40 to 50%.

Do you mean 40 to 50% when the computer is going full blast (?like
building libreoffice, or something like that).

> One, it is lightly loaded relative to what it can handle.  Two, it
> will most likely handle heat better at those levels.  Third, it allows
> for upgrades, hard drive additions etc without having to buy another
> one. 

Just how does one calculate the amount of power a box will use?
Processors proudly say "95W tdp", or whatever, but how much power does
RAM use, or the motherboard, or SDDs, or HDDs?

I'm anticipating building a new rig in the coming weeks/months
(depending on how soon the motherboard makers start producing Ryzen MBs
in quantity), and I'd be interested in getting an optimally sized PSU.
Most of the time, my PC is just idling along, with sporadic bursts of
activity like building libreoffice.

So how do I work out the electricity consumption of all these
components?

> I hope that info will help. 

Thanks!

> Dale

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).

Re: [gentoo-user] switching adapter - power supply

[J. Roeleveld]

On March 20, 2017 6:36:25 PM GMT+01:00, the...@sys-concept.com wrote:
>I have a small box "VIA Eden Processor 1200MHz" it runs my asterisk and
>hylafax but it is powered by those external 12V adapters (12V 5A).
>
>They don't usually last long, max 2-years or less.  I have a spare
>unit:
>Switching Adapter Power Supply.
>The box is in remote location so if it goes down due to PS I have to
>there and restart it, it shut down twice on me this morning; I think
>this adapter is going slowly.
>
>If find/connect 12V adapter with higher Amps 10A or 15A will it help
>extend the live of the these external power supplies?
>
>Or take one of the old PS from an old case and solder the tip to 12V
>line is better solution?

Most cheap 12V adapters are just that. Cheap. I would invest in a quality unit 
that is actually designed for long term 24/7 use.

A higher amp might help as it won't be stressed as much. But also consider 
adding cooling as it's the high temperatures and inadequate cooling that kills 
them.

--
Joost
-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Re: [gentoo-user] switching adapter - power supply

[Dale]

the...@sys-concept.com wrote:
> I have a small box "VIA Eden Processor 1200MHz" it runs my asterisk and
> hylafax but it is powered by those external 12V adapters (12V 5A).
>
> They don't usually last long, max 2-years or less.  I have a spare unit:
> Switching Adapter Power Supply.
> The box is in remote location so if it goes down due to PS I have to
> there and restart it, it shut down twice on me this morning; I think
> this adapter is going slowly.
>
> If find/connect 12V adapter with higher Amps 10A or 15A will it help
> extend the live of the these external power supplies?
>
> Or take one of the old PS from an old case and solder the tip to 12V
> line is better solution?
>


I've worked with electrics for years.  I've even designed and built
power supplies for various projects, not computer ones tho.  I see what
you are thinking and in a way, it can be true.  Sometimes if you buy a
power supply that can handle more than you use, it does last longer. 
One reason for that, heat.  If you buy a power supply that is just big
enough for what you need and it is made in a way that heat builds up, it
will shorten the life at least some.  That said, if you buy a power
supply with the same rating but it is just much better designed and
built with cooling as a priority, then it will last longer as well. 
Heat is one of the big problems with electronics.   Power surges etc
would be my next concern. 

My advice, prepare to pay a little more for a power supply that can
either remove heat better but be rated the same OR buy a power supply
that can provide more power and that lead to less heat since it is not
so heavily loaded.  Either way, you will likely have to pay a little
more.  One other idea, measure just how much power it pulls with a meter
of some type to be sure what it needs.  It may be that it is not loaded
to heavy but just poorly designed or just to much heat.  You may also
find that it is heavily loaded which makes a slightly larger power
supply a good idea. 

I might add, when I buy power supplies for my puter rigs, I try to buy
one that will only be loaded at around 40 to 50%.  One, it is lightly
loaded relative to what it can handle.  Two, it will most likely handle
heat better at those levels.  Third, it allows for upgrades, hard drive
additions etc without having to buy another one. 

I hope that info will help. 

Dale

[gentoo-user] switching adapter - power supply

[thelma]

I have a small box "VIA Eden Processor 1200MHz" it runs my asterisk and
hylafax but it is powered by those external 12V adapters (12V 5A).

They don't usually last long, max 2-years or less.  I have a spare unit:
Switching Adapter Power Supply.
The box is in remote location so if it goes down due to PS I have to
there and restart it, it shut down twice on me this morning; I think
this adapter is going slowly.

If find/connect 12V adapter with higher Amps 10A or 15A will it help
extend the live of the these external power supplies?

Or take one of the old PS from an old case and solder the tip to 12V
line is better solution?

-- 
Thelma

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Flashing hardware via WINE ?

[Marc Joliet]

On Sonntag, 19. März 2017 11:20:35 CET Kai Krakow wrote:
> > Hi Kai (that's a rhyme! 
> 
> Yeah, I know that one... If you are from Germany, you'll also get why
> my former nick (some years ago) was "Shark" 

Hah!  That reminds me: there's a Gentoo developer by the name of David 
Seifert.  His nick?  "Soap".

(I grew up bilingual, what with an American mother and a German father, and am 
from, and currently live in, Germany.)

Greetings
-- 
Marc Joliet
--
"People who think they know everything really annoy those of us who know we
don't" - Bjarne Stroustrup


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[gentoo-user] Re: Confirm subscription to gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org

[Arthur Țițeică]

Re: [gentoo-user] LXDE startup error

[Raffaele Belardi]

Peter Humphrey wrote:

On Friday 17 Mar 2017 09:49:14 Mick wrote:


I don't have a fix for you, but from the errors it seems pam is not happy.
Display Managers and various services install pam modules in /etc/pam.d/
to manage user authentication.  It seems something is amiss there, or
some kind of conflict between gnome-keyring and LXDE.


Yes, I see that. I also see a lot of stuff that may be causing it. I deleted
.cache/lxsessions/LXDE/run.log, ran startx and immediately logged out, and
this is what I found (sorry, it's 110 lines):

$ cat run.log






So it looks as though something hasn't been installed right. I'm running an
emerge -e world at the moment to see if I can pick something up from it.



I don't see anything strange in your log; LXDE should start even without 
notification-deamon installed.

Is there anything strange in /var/log/X.org.0.log?
"ran startx and immediately logged out": do you use a login manager?

raffaele

Re: [gentoo-user] Slightly OT - My new SSD.

[Adam Carter]

> That, indeed, seems to to be the case.  When I do cat /proc/interrupts |
> egrep '(CPU/nvm)', I get just the header line with one data line:
>
>CPU0   CPU1   CPU2   CPU3
>  17:  0  0 15  14605   IO-APIC 17-fasteoi
>  ehci_hcd:usb1, nvme0q0, nvme0q1
>
> I'm kind of feeling a bit out of my depth here.  What are the nvme0q0,
> etc.?  "Queues" of some kind?  You appear to have nine of these things,
> I've just got two.  I'm sure there's a fine manual I ought to be
> reading.  Do you know where I might find this manual?
>

Can't remember where i read up on this. Might have been troubleshooting
poor small packet performance on a firewall (some network drivers can have
multiqueue too). Maybe start with this;
https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/Linux_Multi-Queue_Block_IO_Queueing_Mechanism_(blk-mq)

It looks like the nvme driver was made "mutliqueue" in kernel 3.19.

FWIW my system is 8 core (AMD 8350). Its odd having two queues on the same
interrupt, but I have the same for q0 and q1, but on your system i'd say
there should be some queues on other interrupts to they can be serviced by
other cores, so that doesnt look right.

Do you have MSI enabled? Bus options -> PCI Support -> Message Signaled
Interrupts (MSI and MSI-X)
If your system is not too old you may get more interrupts or a better
spread with that enabled.

When I look at the entire /proc/interrupts, there are just 30 lines
> listed, and I suspect there are no more than 32 interrupt numbers
> available.  Is there any way I can configure Linux to give my SSD more
> than one interrupt line to work with?
>
> > FWIW
> > # hdparm -tT /dev/nvme0n1
>
> > /dev/nvme0n1:
> >  Timing cached reads:   9884 MB in  2.00 seconds = 4945.35 MB/sec
> >  Timing buffered disk reads: 4506 MB in  3.00 seconds = 1501.84 MB/sec
>
> I get:
>
> /dev/nvme0n1:
>  Timing cached reads:   4248 MB in  2.00 seconds = 2124.01 MB/sec
>  Timing buffered disk reads: 1214 MB in  3.00 seconds = 404.51 MB/sec
>
> So my "cached reads" speed is (a little under) half of yours.  This is
> to be expected, since my PCIe lanes are only version 2 (and yours are
> probably version 3).


FWIW the motherboard manual says it has PCIe 2.0 x16 slots. Agree that
cache speed is likely a hardware issue.


> But the "buffered disk read" are much slower.  Is
> this just the age of my PC, or might I have something suboptimally
> configured?
>

You look like you're getting SATA speeds, but since you have the nvme
device, i guess that implies you havent fallen back to SATA. Could well be
older hardware or less PCIe slots/lanes.