backup option?

I'll be writing the cron job shortly; in my case it'll be server-wide and will require root privileges to install and run.

(I already have cron jobs for backing up both Plesk and Sun Cobalt RaQ servers, so it's just a matter of making sure I have all the necessary directories.)

My backup cron-job will be suitable for my needs, but I'll be happy to consult with people who need one to do other things besides what I've decided I need.

The cron-job will require another server (hopefully on a local network to avoid bandwidth charges for backup) to store the backup. It'll store two copies and will be usable at any frequency. In my case we run two backup cron-jobs nightly... so we have a full backup from the most previous week and the week before that, and also a full backup from the previous night and the one before that.

This can take a lot of space... though the backups are compressed they do take up over half the space that the full server configuration and data takes up; the set of backups I'm talking about takes (for example) almost 4.5 gigs if the original server content takes up 1.5 gigs. If your server content consists of a lot of already compressed files (image files, etc.), it will take up a lot more.

At the minimum the system storing the backup (I call this the "target" system) will need to run an ftp daemon.

Backing up an entire server configuration to a desktop system isn't practical unless you're lucky enough to have an awful lot of bandwidth to your desktop and an awful lot of storage on your desktop.

Jeff
 
Hi Jeff - I'd be very interested in this ... are you planning on releasing the scripts ?

From what I've seen, the DA release of server backups is coming, but I'd really like to have something in place soon.

If I can provide any assistance, or you need a "backup buddy", let me know. I've got servers in Rackshack and DV2.

Thanks
 
Thanks for the offer, hostpc.

All I really need right now is time; I run a live DA server at my colo (Level3 in Tustin, CA), and a test DA server at my home, on it's own static IP#.

It won't take me long at all to have a backup scenario in place, but I'll have to test it to see if it restores a working system.

And there, my friend, lies the difficulty.

:)

Jeff
 
Unfortunately not; I've been quite busy lately.

I hope to get it done next week but I have a system to deliver first.

Jeff
 
Ok, we don't have a 2nd server in the local network so we need to backup over a big distance so that means bandwidth.

We are planning ourself to make a simpel backup script but not with ftp, but with rsync. Normaly most site's from the users keep the same, so this wil save some bandwidth.

Or is there a big difference with ftp and rsync?
 
bvvelzen said:
Or is there a big difference with ftp and rsync?
Click to expand...
There certainly is a big difference. With FTP you move either everything, or with a bit of scripting ingenuity, only the files that have changed. With rsync, you move only the specific bits that have changed.

No, it's not magic, it's just a lot of work for the processors on both systems.

If you're going to do rsync you should have a lot of spare processor power, and you should plan on doing it in the middle of your slowest period (for most of us, that's between 1 am, and 4 am, when the cron.daily starts.

My recommendation would be to NOT try to do rsync as part of cron.daily; too many other things are going on at the same time.

Jeff
 
is it possible to say in how many time approximately this option will be available? backup option for resellers
 
DirectAdmin Support said:
There is no feature to do that, but all of the user settings are stored in:

/usr/local/directadmin/data/users/username/*

all user setting, limits, domain settings and what not, are all there.

I'm not sure if you have access to that, as you would need root.

John
Click to expand...

John,

If I created a temporary backup script is all everything a user would need in the following 2 paths:

/home/username/domains/*
/usr/local/directadmin/data/users/username/*

A full server image not really needed by DA i don't think although backup all sites / DirectAdmin settings aswell as individual sites would be what is the best option here.

As i said if its only them 2 paths involved i will try getting an advanced script sorted that could be run in a variety of ways

backup [options]

Options:
allsites -- backup all sites setup within DirectAdmin
da_settings -- Backup all DirectAdmin configs and settings
site -- backup an individual site

Should be quite easy to get something going like that :)

I *could* also include an option to ftp any backups to an external location although the main idea would be an organised tree of folders.

Chris
 
Last edited:
Chris, We've got 10" of snow on the ground, just since midnight, and another 12-14" coming ... I would be ETERNALLY grateful if you had something like this working to perk up my otherwise AWFUL weekend :)

I'd even be willing to make a small donation to "the cause" for such a script.

Thanks
 
we are now backing up the described dirs in http://directadmin.com/paths.html, but we take the complete /etc/ and /var/ and /usr/ dirs and the home dirs that belong to my account to a second HD

In case of a HD crash, is it easy to restore the server with all thsi data being backed up?
 
hmm, is it possible that DA gets in trouble when tarring these large dirs?
Every morning sites are unreachable, and pop mail goes down. Seems like it goes down everytime the backup starts

backup starts around 04:00
thats when the webserver seems to go down:

5:09 mywebserver Hostname unknown (DNS timeout) 8000 Singapore, SG

4:58 mywebserver Hostname unknown (DNS timeout) 8000 Singapore, SG

4:47 mywebserver Hostname unknown (DNS timeout) 8000 Texas, TX

4:36 mywebserver Connection timed out 110 Amsterdam, NL

3:33 mywebserver OK 0 Amsterdam, NL
 
sander815 said:
hmm, is it possible that DA gets in trouble when tarring these large dirs?
Every morning sites are unreachable, and pop mail goes down. Seems like it goes down everytime the backup starts

backup starts around 04:00
thats when the webserver seems to go down:

5:09 mywebserver Hostname unknown (DNS timeout) 8000 Singapore, SG

4:58 mywebserver Hostname unknown (DNS timeout) 8000 Singapore, SG

4:47 mywebserver Hostname unknown (DNS timeout) 8000 Texas, TX

4:36 mywebserver Connection timed out 110 Amsterdam, NL

3:33 mywebserver OK 0 Amsterdam, NL
Click to expand...

Heh, my ideas worked :D
I've been working on a backup to offsite server script using rsync.
But the main problem with rsync is you only see the real advantage when you backup the files before you tar them, otherwise you can just ftp the tarred file every day.
So now i first create a mysql backup, send all stuff to the offsite server, which starts packing all files into a .tar.bz2 file. The second server had a load of 2.?? when i tried it for the first time, so it can cause a high load, but downtime, don't really know...
 
pop mail goes down every morning, and sites can't be reached every morning....already mailed support

http comes back up, but pop has te be restarted manually, or server rebooted

backups used to take a couple of minutes, but the last few days it takes 5 hours or so
 
sander815 said:
http comes back up, but pop has te be restarted manually, or server rebooted
Click to expand...

A few things you would need to do before we can help you:

- Check your logs for any reasons why they are stopping not starting (DA should bring both all your mail and apache back up and email you immediatly if it fails)

- If the software goes down at a certain time check the top command just before and during that time to check for possible causes.

- Tell us what errors you are getting if any when starting the software! i guess you are sometimes getting errors since you said sometimes it needs a reboot?

John is away until the 27th, not sure about Mark but either way you may want to install SIM temporarily on them services. Installation guide for SIM can be found in the checklist (link in sig)

Chris
 
Hello,

I've sent him a reply basically telling him the same thing :) I'm away from home, but will never be away from the internt ;) The only thing I don't have access to is the source code... and high speed internet (eww dialup :P)

John
 
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