full backup

rldev

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May 26, 2004
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How do some of you deal with the backup of user home directories? I ask because I currently use the DA Full SYs backup, but it would seem like a real pain to decompress the entire /home dir to get to a clients home directory in order to restore it if the home dir becomes very large. Any info on this topic would be nice to hear. I am interested in how you handle backups in general.
 
We use a customized version of the same program, making use of the CPanel module (not supplied by DA) to back up individual home directories.

We'll eventually make the product available at low cost, but it's not ready yet.

Of course you're welcome to do it yourself; we'll be releasing the list of required files to fully restore a server within a few days now, as we're done with the analysis and we're ready to try it out within the next few days.

Jeff
 
very good to hear. Seems a bit more functional. Looks like nobaloney is doing a lot of DA work :) I am interested in purchasing this script.
 
yeah its good but also bad, some of these addon scripts that cost money really should be part of the base directadmin.
 
Well I don't mind paying if it is something I need. Agreed that DA could have done it this way and may in the future. I'm not sure what other add-on scripts cost money other then installatron(well worth the money) and this.
 
this feature should be in DA already and should be made the priority. The full backup is great, unless you actually need to restore it, it's half complete and should be completed so that if there is a problem you can have your server back online with a few hours max, not a few days.
 
What is exactly the problem with restoring the full backup as it stands now?
 
The sysbk implementation in DA has some files left out that are important to the reinstallation of the system. Fortunately the implementation is fully adjustable from the web-based interface DA includes, and you, or I, or both of us, can certainly take the time to resolve the issues.

It's taken us many trial and error hours to determine the proper files and directories to back up and to come up with a list which we're willing to give away as soon as we do one more verification run.

We always honor the licenses under which we work, and since sysbk is distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), we will publish any changes we make in the core sysbk code.

With the combination of the list of files that need to be backed up, and a copy of any of the changes we'll finallly make to Sysbk (as of now we haven't made any), anyone should be able to duplicate our work, in a lot less time than we've taken. And of course at that point, should you do so, you may certainly give it away if you want; that's the beauty of Open Source.

We've also invested a lot of hours in determining exactly how to do the restore, and we'll be publishing a how-to as well.

DA is a great low-priced system that manages server hosting. DA (the company) has merged my exim.conf file (on which we also spent many hours of work) into DA (the product), and they're certainly welcome to merge my published and released work on Sysbk into DA as well.

But writing a script to automate the How-To process (which includes a lot of lines such as "Do an intelligent merge between the /etc/passwd file on both systems" is going to be as time-consuming as the rest of the project.

DA (the product) doesn't do everything. Which leaves some room for some niche developers.

As always, for you, it's a matter of time vs money. The DA staff is a certain amount of manpower and is already swamped with work. Perhaps theyll eventually include a fully and properly implemented backup and restore solution.

What I've done, since I needed one now, is create my own without waiting for them.

Now I'm willing to give away a major piece of my work, or sell you the finished solution if you need it.

Many DA users won't buy it, and they'll still offer excellent service to their clients. Because they'll take the time to do it themselves. Perhaps they'll even come up with a better solution than mine.

And the beauty of it all is we can choose.

Jeff
 
i understand what you are saying, but paying for a control panel without a 1 click/minimal hassel backup/restore solution is like buying a new car without having any warranty.

sure you can do all the reseller backups yourself, but there are still bugs in that and it still uses a lot of the admins time up to restore.

other panels have this implemented, securely and pain free, and i'm a huge fan of DA, but this is so very important and should be made priority.
 
rldev said:
What is exactly the problem with restoring the full backup as it stands now?

Several problems come to mind:

1) Unless you've added files, DA is not by default saving all the files you need for a painless restore.

2) If you back up the entire home directory, as DA does, you'll be backing up your backup.

3) Some people are having problems determining the backup scenario.

4) Some backed up files shouldn't be copied over to the restore system, but rather should be intelligently compared/merged against files of the same name in the restored system.

Backup/Restore isn't quite the nobrainer some people would like.

But it hardly ever is.

Jeff
 
yeah I got no problem with you wanting some reward for many hours of work you put into something, I just feel this should be already part of directadmin.
 
Did they give you a reply?

If they're about to bring it out I can stop working on mine, as our resources here are limited.

Jeff
 
yes they did "Hello,

I'm not too sure. It would be very difficult/risky to implement due to the system password files (more so for FreeBSD).
I'll start to consider how it might be implemented.

Thank you,"
 
whats the proper way for emailing suggestions/bugs to directadmin? I only know of this forum or support tickets and tickets dont seem appropriate for this kind of thing.
 
vandal said:
yes they did
I've got it almost down pat for Linux. To make it work on FreeBSD someone would have to give me access to a full backup (using my specifications) of a FreeBSD box.

But since I'm planning on selling it as opposed to giving it away, no one may be willing to do that.

Jeff
 
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