Re: [Bacula-users] Some beginner Bacula questions (2nd try)
On 03/09/2010 12:28 PM, John Drescher wrote: > On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 2:17 PM, C M Reinehr wrote: >> On Tue 09 March 2010 12:19:40 pm John Drescher wrote: >>> >I've always been a little unclear about the benefits of the .bsr >>> > files myself but mine is a small business so I can't speak for those with >>> > much larger, enterprise systems. They're small and are no trouble to back >>> > up, so I keep them against the possibility that I might really need them >>> > one day. >>> >>> They are most useful for restoring a corrupt catalog. >>> >>> John >> Thanks! I knew there had to be a good reason and that I just hadn't yet >> discovered it. :-) >> > > Also useful in disaster recovery when you do not have the database up > and running. Maybe I should have explained more... Each of my backup jobs goes to a separate file named JobName-JobId-Level. These are copied to DVD. Only "user" files are backed up -- system files will be restored by re-installing the OS and apps. I do a full backup every two months with daily incrementals in between. My bare-metal recovery plan is: 1. Install a Linux machine from distribution media. 2. Install Bacula (a copy of the source and conf files is on the backup DVDs). 3. Configure Postgresql, create bacula db. 4. Identify the volume with the latest catalog backup (which is easy to do given my volume naming scheme), extract the catalog db backup (with bextract) and restore to the db. 5. I now should be able to do a full restore of the user files, yes? So why do I need the bsr files? The only thing I will be restoring without a catalog is the catalog itself and it is in a single volume file. This plan is admittedly time consuming but I can afford a couple days downtime (and I have found that I reinstall Linux (Fedora) pretty frequently anyway due to new versions, and same with Windows which suffers from bit- rot). The main problem I have with it is the requirement for a Linux machine in order to restore any of the Windows clients -- I would be much happier with Bacula if I could restore a Windows client with only a Windows machine available. Does this seem like a workable plan? (I have not tested it yet but will as soon as I can free up a spare disk and some time.) -- Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev ___ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
Re: [Bacula-users] Some beginner Bacula questions (2nd try)
On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 2:34 PM, Joseph L. Casale wrote: >>Also useful in disaster recovery when you do not have the database up >>and running. > > I chuckled at backing these up myself, it's a rather circular dependency:) > If you back those up, when you need them to alleviate the use of a certain > tool when your catalog dies, you need to use that very tool to get them off:) > > I suppose it's one use versus possibly many... > I don't back these up with bacula but I have mirrored them on a different system then the server with rsync. John -- Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev ___ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
Re: [Bacula-users] Some beginner Bacula questions (2nd try)
>Also useful in disaster recovery when you do not have the database up >and running. I chuckled at backing these up myself, it's a rather circular dependency:) If you back those up, when you need them to alleviate the use of a certain tool when your catalog dies, you need to use that very tool to get them off:) I suppose it's one use versus possibly many... -- Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev ___ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
Re: [Bacula-users] Some beginner Bacula questions (2nd try)
On Tue 09 March 2010 01:28:37 pm John Drescher wrote: > On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 2:17 PM, C M Reinehr wrote: > > On Tue 09 March 2010 12:19:40 pm John Drescher wrote: > >> > I've always been a little unclear about the benefits of the > >> > .bsr files myself but mine is a small business so I can't speak for > >> > those with much larger, enterprise systems. They're small and are no > >> > trouble to back up, so I keep them against the possibility that I > >> > might really need them one day. > >> > >> They are most useful for restoring a corrupt catalog. > >> > >> John > > > > Thanks! I knew there had to be a good reason and that I just hadn't yet > > discovered it. :-) > > Also useful in disaster recovery when you do not have the database up > and running. > > John Luckily, I haven't yet had to recover from a disastor, just the occasional deleted or corrupted file. But I suppose I will eventually. Cheers! cmr -- Debian 'Etch' - Registered Linux User #241964 "More laws, less justice." -- Marcus Tullius Ciceroca, 42 BC -- Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev ___ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
Re: [Bacula-users] Some beginner Bacula questions (2nd try)
On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 2:17 PM, C M Reinehr wrote: > On Tue 09 March 2010 12:19:40 pm John Drescher wrote: >> > I've always been a little unclear about the benefits of the .bsr >> > files myself but mine is a small business so I can't speak for those with >> > much larger, enterprise systems. They're small and are no trouble to back >> > up, so I keep them against the possibility that I might really need them >> > one day. >> >> They are most useful for restoring a corrupt catalog. >> >> John > Thanks! I knew there had to be a good reason and that I just hadn't yet > discovered it. :-) > Also useful in disaster recovery when you do not have the database up and running. John -- Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev ___ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
Re: [Bacula-users] Some beginner Bacula questions (2nd try)
On Tue 09 March 2010 12:19:40 pm John Drescher wrote: > > I've always been a little unclear about the benefits of the .bsr > > files myself but mine is a small business so I can't speak for those with > > much larger, enterprise systems. They're small and are no trouble to back > > up, so I keep them against the possibility that I might really need them > > one day. > > They are most useful for restoring a corrupt catalog. > > John Thanks! I knew there had to be a good reason and that I just hadn't yet discovered it. :-) cmr -- Debian 'Etch' - Registered Linux User #241964 "More laws, less justice." -- Marcus Tullius Ciceroca, 42 BC -- Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev ___ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
Re: [Bacula-users] Some beginner Bacula questions (2nd try)
> I've always been a little unclear about the benefits of the .bsr files > myself > but mine is a small business so I can't speak for those with much larger, > enterprise systems. They're small and are no trouble to back up, so I keep > them against the possibility that I might really need them one day. > They are most useful for restoring a corrupt catalog. John -- Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev ___ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
Re: [Bacula-users] Some beginner Bacula questions (2nd try)
Stuart, I don't have the experience with or knowledge of Bacula that many others on the list have but I think I can answer your questions: On Tue 09 March 2010 09:52:00 am Stuart McGraw wrote: > I asked this last week but no responses... > > Anyone? > > I am new at Bacula and am trying to work out a ] > reasonable scheme for backing up my home network. > I had some questions I hope someone can answer... > > 1) Sometimes my Bacula server machine is down at >the scheduled backup time. No problem, I just >kick of the backup jobs manually the next morning. >Is there some way to start all the jobs as though >the time was last night? Right now I start each >of the five client jobs, and the catalog job >individually. (I was a little surprised there >is not something like a JobSet resource for >aggregating several jobs into one schedulable >unit.) The short answer is no. Short of resetting the time on your server there is no way of making Bacula think it was last night. Also, there is no way of grouping jobs. The simplest solution just is to make sure that your Bacula server is up and running at the necessary times. One of the design features of Bacula is that, once configured, it requires very little user interaction -- just change the tapes. > 2) I write each job to a separate (file) backup volume >(to be written to DVD later). Is there any point >to writing .bsr files? They are for locating a >particular job within a volume that contains multiple >jobs, yes? I've always been a little unclear about the benefits of the .bsr files myself but mine is a small business so I can't speak for those with much larger, enterprise systems. They're small and are no trouble to back up, so I keep them against the possibility that I might really need them one day. > 3) Is there any supported way to change the labels of >existing (file) volumes? I have changed the label >format several times and don't want to wait until >some of the old volumes expire after a year to get >rid of the volumes with "weird" names. Again, the short answer is no. The only way to relable a volumn is to purge the contents. Any data in/on the volumn is lost. > Thanks for any information/advice. Hope this helps. cmr > --- >--- Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval > Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs > proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. > See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. > http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev > ___ > Bacula-users mailing list > Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users -- Debian 'Etch' - Registered Linux User #241964 "More laws, less justice." -- Marcus Tullius Ciceroca, 42 BC -- Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev ___ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
[Bacula-users] Some beginner Bacula questions (2nd try)
I asked this last week but no responses... Anyone? I am new at Bacula and am trying to work out a ] reasonable scheme for backing up my home network. I had some questions I hope someone can answer... 1) Sometimes my Bacula server machine is down at the scheduled backup time. No problem, I just kick of the backup jobs manually the next morning. Is there some way to start all the jobs as though the time was last night? Right now I start each of the five client jobs, and the catalog job individually. (I was a little surprised there is not something like a JobSet resource for aggregating several jobs into one schedulable unit.) 2) I write each job to a separate (file) backup volume (to be written to DVD later). Is there any point to writing .bsr files? They are for locating a particular job within a volume that contains multiple jobs, yes? 3) Is there any supported way to change the labels of existing (file) volumes? I have changed the label format several times and don't want to wait until some of the old volumes expire after a year to get rid of the volumes with "weird" names. Thanks for any information/advice. -- Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev ___ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
