I like Joseph's use of NULL to avoid backing up tmp files. Here is my rsync script for backing up a small home network: ############# ## the line for wiki must be run as root ############## ############################################### ## Start script here: ## ############################################### # set 'now' to time and date for filename now=BUDD$(date +%y%m%d)-$(date +%H%M) mkdir /media/_bu/$now sudo rsync -avh /var/www/ddwiki/wiki.d/ /media/_bu/$now/wiki.d.bu | tee /media/_bu/$now/bu.log rsync -avh /home/koder/ /media/_bu/$now/koder | tee -a /media/_bu/$now/bu.log ############################################### ## End script here: ## ############################################### My mail editor wrapped the line at the tee option. I locate the system time and date, format it the way I like, then make a directory in target media. This gives a time stamped folder to store data in. The BUDD is Back Up Delta Dawn, the computer I am working with. I tee the output to a file on the external so I can review what was done if I desire. It is relatively simple, easy to understand and readily modifiable. You could tell it to omit things if you wanted to. For me it is easier to just grab it all. I am only backing up personal data since I can rebuild the machine if I need to. I need to have it make sure the media is available and abort if it is not, but that is for later. Harold -----Original Message----- From: Joseph Sinclair Reply-To: Main PLUG discussion list To: Main PLUG discussion list Subject: Re: backup software recommendations? Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:24:27 -0700 I ended up using DAR for a backup I needed to do to a 500G USB drive. It took roughly 28 hours (USB isn't a very good filesystem interface, especially for 400G of backup data...), but it worked fairly well. Below is the command I ran (from /, and after dropping the system into single user mode, very important when backing up the root filesystem...) dar -y9 -s 4G -D -R / -c "/media/disk/Backup-$(date -I)" -Z "*.gz" -Z "*.bz2" -Z "*.zip" -Z "*.png" -Z "*.jpg" -Z "*.jpeg" -P tmp -P mnt -P dev -P proc -P "media/*" -P var/run -P var/lock -P "lib/modules/2.6.*/volatile" &1 1>"/tmp/darbackup$(date -I).out" & Alex Dean wrote: > Matrix Mole wrote: >> On Sat, Jul 12, 2008 at 10:35 AM, Alex Dean wrote: >>> I need backup software for a home network. Mix of Linux and OSX >>> machines. >>> Will be using an external HDD for backup media. The backup server >>> will run >>> on one of the OSX machines, since it's the only non-laptop I have. I'm >>> mainly looking for something that's easy to configure and has minimal >>> resource consumption. >> >> I like the rsync option for backup purposes. I'm not sure if it'll >> work for your setup. I've been using it to keep my web servers safe >> and stored on my local network from their remote machine locations. >> Plus, with rsync being command line, it should be very easy to write >> shell scripts for it. > > I'm sure it would work. But honestly, I don't want to write all those > scripts. I think it's probably already been done by others who have > considered more cases than I'm likely to think of. > > DIY is cool when you're interested in the project, but I'm not that > interested in this. I just want something I can fire up and get my > machines backed up with minimal effort. > > thanks, > alex > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss