Public bug reported: Between Ubuntu 8.04 and 8.10 the rsnapshot package was updated. The new version has a couple of problems in the default /etc/rsnapshot.conf file included in the package. These problems did not exist in 8.04.
The following configuration options are all located in /etc/rsnapshot.conf. Problem 1: snapshot_root is wrong In 8.04, the top-level destination dir snapshot_root is there and is configured correctly: der...@dev:~$ cat /etc/rsnapshot.conf | grep snapshot_root | head -1 snapshot_root /var/cache/rsnapshot/ der...@dev:~$ ls -lad /var/cache/rsnapshot drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2006-06-21 23:46 /var/cache/rsnapshot der...@dev:~$ Note, the value for "snapshot_root" is "/var/cache/rsnapshot", which is correct. That dir is created by the DEB at install time, and it's owned by user root. In 8.10, this is now /.snapshots/, which does not exist, and which is not created by the DEB: r...@ubuntu:/etc# cat /etc/rsnapshot.conf | grep snapshot_root | head -1 snapshot_root /.snapshots/ r...@ubuntu:/etc# ls -lad /.snapshots ls: cannot access /.snapshots: No such file or directory r...@ubuntu:/etc# ls -lad /var/cache/rsnapshot drwx------ 2 root root 4096 2008-05-06 07:36 /var/cache/rsnapshot r...@ubuntu:/etc# Note that the wrong value "/.snapshots" does not exist on the filesystem. If Ubuntu wants to change the default from /var/cache/rsnapshot to /.snapshots then the package should create that dir at install time and no longer create /var/cache/rsnapshot. As an Ubuntu rsnapshot user, my preference would be to just revert the default config file back to the way it was in 8.04. Problem 2: The intervals are uncommented (danger!) In 8.04, the cron job interval definitions were all commented out by default: der...@dev:~$ cat /etc/rsnapshot.conf | grep "#interval" #interval hourly 6 #interval daily 7 #interval weekly 4 #interval monthly 6 der...@dev:~$ The leading "#" is a comment, like Python/Bash/etc. This had the effect that the user was forced to edit the config file and define the intervals that he wanted. In 8.10, the intervals are uncommented: r...@ubuntu:/etc# cat /etc/rsnapshot.conf | grep "^interval" interval hourly 6 interval daily 7 interval weekly 4 r...@ubuntu:/etc# This means simply running rsnapshot after an install (without customizing the config file) will cause rsnapshot to backup the local directories /home/, /etc/, and /usr/local/, because those local backup targets are defined (by default) at the end of the config file. In my opinion that is dangerous. I use rsnapshot to do networked-based backups across an SSH tunnel. We're talking terabytes of data. If I did an rsnapshot install and it backed up my /home/ dir to the local dir /.snapshots/ I would immediately run out of disk space. Since rsnapshot is a backup program providing networked backups with incremental file changes, I think the user should be forced to define his preferred backup targets and intervals. Presuming /home/ (or any other dir) is the target to be backed up is a Bad Idea. I'm a huge fan of It Just Works (and I'm a total Ubuntu fanboy) but in this case I think the user should be forced to intervene and hand-edit the config file -- which is exactly how 8.04 worked. Extra Question: Is it possible to add regression tests to the package build process, to prove these problems are not re-introduced again in 9.04 (and upwards)? ** Affects: rsnapshot (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New -- rsnapshot conf file broken in new 8.10 package https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/318577 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs