Carl,

Carl Karsten wrote:
> Carl Karsten wrote:
>   
>> Carl Karsten wrote:
>>     
>>> Carl Karsten wrote:
>>>       
>>>> I am pondering how to add a safety net that somehow will prevent someone 
>>>> from 
>>>> dropping an image onto the wrong disk.  "are you sure" isn't it because 
>>>> the 
>>>> person generally doesn't understand what they are committing to.
>>>>
>>>> The story goes like this: Joe service guy figures out that a system needs 
>>>> a new 
>>>> disk.  he calls the office and tells someone.  person in office grabs a 
>>>> new 
>>>> disk, plugs it into a sata->usb cable, plugs the usb into a linux box, 
>>>> runs a 
>>>> script that drops an image on the disk, unplug, box it up and ship it out 
>>>> to Joe.
>>>>
>>>> The slight problem with this plan: the "runs a script" step has to be done 
>>>> as 
>>>> root, and it has the potential of wiping out the wrong disk.  For 
>>>> instance, if 
>>>> someone adds a new internal disk to the box, now the usb disk is sdc 
>>>> instead of 
>>>> sdb.  or if someone plugs in their iPhone or something.  This all kinda 
>>>> results 
>>>> in: person in office needs to figure out what the target device is and not 
>>>> mess 
>>>> up.
>>>>
>>>> I am ok with getting them to help (pick a device from a list), but would 
>>>> like to 
>>>> offer an extra level of protection.   This is when I start pondering...
>>>>
>>>> One idea I had: only restore to an empty disk.  "empty" could have a few 
>>>> definitions: no partitions defined, no partition table, no files in any 
>>>> partition.
>>>>
>>>> Another idea is looking for some sort of signature: like a file name, or a 
>>>> file 
>>>> with a string in it.  and to be over the top, the string could be the 
>>>> date, so 
>>>> that the signature expires after some time.
>>>>
>>>> One problem I keep thinking is:  The step of prepping a disk has the same 
>>>> risks 
>>>> as dropping the clone on the wrong disk.  I have 2 solutions to this:
>>>>
>>>> 1. someone else preps the disks, and they are standing by.  (this is 
>>>> different 
>>>> than just dropping the clone on them, because there may be more than one 
>>>> image 
>>>> to pick from, and the image may change over time.)
>>>>
>>>> 2. person in office uses a 2nd box to prep: maybe a windows box, or 
>>>> something 
>>>> they are more familiar with, and less likely to wipe out critical data.
>>>>
>>>> btw - make this an option.  I don't want to inflict this added step on the 
>>>> current clonezilla userbase, especially me :)
>>>>         
>>> I just figured out I can include all of this in the "runs a script" script.
>>>
>>>       
>> Well, no - I can't exactly just script this, because I wanted to use the 
>> "pick a 
>> device from a list" feature that clonezilla provides.
>>
>> How about a hook before or after the "Are you sure?" that calls a script 
>> with 
>> some parameters (like the device about to be whacked) and looks at the 
>> return 
>> code to decide if it should continue?
>>
>> Then I could try various techniques and report back what seems to work.
>>
>>     
>
> I have another idea about this:  detect change in "list of drives" (whatever 
> that is - I am actually not sure how linux decides what is/isn't a drive)
>
> Here is what works for me:
>
> #!/bin/bash
> read -p "if the drive is connected, remoe it.  When it is removed  press 
> [enter] 
> to continue..."
> fdisk -l >fdisk.1.txt
> read -p "connect disk and press [enter] to continue..."
> fdisk -l >fdisk.2.txt
> diff fdisk.1.txt fdisk.2.txt | grep Disk
>
> ju...@dell30:~$ ./x.sh
> if the drive is connected, remoe it.  When it is removed  press [enter] to 
> continue...
> connect disk and press [enter] to continue...
>  > Disk /dev/sdd: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
>  > Disk identifier: 0x000ae623
>
> Carl K
>
>   
Thanks. I have to think more about this.

Steven.
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-- 
Steven Shiau <steven _at_ nchc org tw> <steven _at_ stevenshiau org>
National Center for High-performance Computing, Taiwan. http://www.nchc.org.tw
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Open Source Business Conference (OSBC), March 24-25, 2009, San Francisco, CA
-OSBC tackles the biggest issue in open source: Open Sourcing the Enterprise
-Strategies to boost innovation and cut costs with open source participation
-Receive a $600 discount off the registration fee with the source code: SFAD
http://p.sf.net/sfu/XcvMzF8H
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