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The KBackup User Manual
Version 1.2.7
(C) Copyright 1995, 1996 by Karsten Ballⁿder
All Rights reserved.
e-mail: karsten@piobelix.physik.uni-karlsruhe.de
This ASCII version of the manual has been created automatically using
some rather crude tools. If you can, access the HTML version or print
the formatted manual.
To find a certain passage, use the "/" key.
Structure of this manual:
Introduction
Copyright Notice
Changes against prior versions
Making Backups
Restoring Backups
Other Actions
Scheduled Operations
Configurations
Options Overview
The MultiBuf Program
Frequently Asked Questions
Copyright and Conditions of Use - the GPL
Chapter: Introduction
=========================================================================
Purpose of KBackup
=================================
KBackup is intended for handling of backups no matter whether they
reside on disk or tape or even in files. As most other backup programs
available today are either confusing the user with lots of long command
line options or user friendly but not powerful at all, the aim behind
writing KBackup was to provide a user friendly yet powerful backup
program. Further on I wanted to keep it compatible to existing and well
proven archive formats so you can restore your archives even if you should
not have KBackup around anymore.
To achieve this goal, KBackup uses established and well proven archive
tools like tar(1) or afio(1) to do the archive handling and
improves their functionality by adding quite a lot of additional
features. By using the dialog(1) program I could
make archive handling as easy and user friendly as possible.
This means that you will get the power and reliability of the best archive
handlers combined with a customisable and easy to use interface.
Features
=================================
Although KBackup uses other common tools to handle its archives, it
provides additional features to make your life easier. These include
*
Each archive on a tape is preceded by a header containing option
settings, parameters, compression format, date, backup type,
etc.
This maintains compatibility across different versions of this
software and, as it is stored in readable format, helps you restore
the data manually if you cannot use KBackup for what reason ever
For restoring KBackup version 1.0 or 1.1 archives, please
refer to the section txt_seqinfo or the FAQ.
.
*
When using tapes or mountable block devices (see section txt_mountable_blkdev), a complete directory of all files in the archive gets
stored at the beginning of the archive. You no longer need to read all
the long archive to find out what files it contains.
*
Archive format and compression method as well as other parameters get
detected automatically during restore or verify operation. You do not
need to know how you created the archive, KBackup will find it out for you.
*
You can use gzip(1) or compress(1) to compress your
archives.
*
If you have some sensitive data, you can use pgp(1) (Pretty Good
Privacy) to compress
and encrypt your archives using public key encryption. (Ever wanted to
send a tape or disk of sensitive data to someone else? Now you can!)
For legal reasons, pgp(1) is not included in this
package. You can obtain different version from file servers all over
the world. I have been using KBackup with pgp version
2.6.2i. Pgp is written and copyright by Philip Zimmermann.
*
You can schedule backup or restore operations to be executed at a later
time or even regularly. KBackup supports full at(1)
functionality.
*
KBackup can use double buffering to keep your tape drive streaming
continuously even on slow or heavily loaded machines. No longer corrupt
your tapes by starting and stopping the drive every few seconds.
*
You can keep lists of files and directories that you want to exclude
from backups. You can also include and/or exclude files by using
standard shell patterns.
*
You have the choice between full or incremental backups.
*
KBackup supports tapes, floppy--drives and removable media like
removable hard--drives, magneto-optical drives or others.
*
You can keep different configuration files for your backup
tasks.
Sample configurations files for backups to tape or floppy disk
are included. No manual configuration file editing, just go through the
menus and change whatever you like.
*
Reliably handle multi--volume archives. There is no limit for your
archives' sizes. By using the MultiBuf program,
KBackup automatically detects the length of your tapes.
*
The same MultiBuf program is capable of performing any operation on
the end of a tape, like e.g. telling an automatic loading mechanism to
change tapes.
*
New: support for accessing remote devices for easy support of LAN backups.
Compatibility
=================================
Although KBackup adds lots of functionality, its archives are still
readable by afio(1) or tar(1), depending on which one was used
to create it. To do so, on tapes, KBackup writes several files per
archive: an archive header containing information about the archive
type, compression method, date, , the table of contents
(gzip(1)--compressed) and the actual archive file itself (If
using sequence information for the MultiBuf program, it creates
another two (short one--block) files.). To restore multivolume
archives, all you need is the archive handler (afio(1) or
tar(1)) and MultiBuf, which is included in ANSI--C
source code an should easily be compiled on any system.
If you do not want to use MultiBuf, you can switch it off and write plain
tar(1) or afio(1) archives.
Unfortunately, the many new features, especially the secure
multivolume support, required some changes to the way archives get
written to the tape. However, KBackup is able to autodetect whether
MultiBuf has been used in archive creation and therefore is still capable
or reading archives that have been created by earlier versions of KBackup.
It is currently not possible to restore multivolume archives that
have been created with older versions of KBackup. As they were somehow
unreliable anyway, better use a version newer than 1.2 to make new backups.
To restore old multivolume archives, created with version 1.0
or 1.1, you have to use tar(1) or afio(1) manually.
Restoring any archive manually (optionally using
MultiBuf) is always possible, anyway.
supported devices
=================
Tape drives
KBackup should works with all tape drives supported by Linux.
You need to have a properly configured tape driver in your kernel. If
other programs work with your tape drive, KBackup will as well.
KBackup is able to autodetect your tape device and test it for
compatibility.
KBackup has been reported to work with tape drives on a QIC-02
controller, many different SCSI streamers and DAT drives
as well as with the ftape driver version 2.03 (drives controlled
by the floppy controller). It has reported not to work with
zftape yet. It has also been reported to work with the IOmega
ZIPdrive(TM)$, both the SCSI version as well as the
alpha driver for the parallel-port version.
I am using and testing KBackup with a (rather old) Tandberg drive
on a no-name QIC-02 controller.Tandberg
The QIC-02 driver implements the ``/dev/tape-reset''
device, so KBackup can use it to reset the driver at your request.
I have not heard of any other driver supplying this pseudo--device.
For more details on using floppy streamers (the ftape and
zftape drivers), see the
Ftape-HOWTOftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/Ftape-HOWTO.
Floppy disks
KBackup can support floppy disks in either of two ways:
*
By writing straight to the disk using afio(1) or
tar(1) to write directly to the block device. This is
not recommend, because error detection is not too
good. However, this gives the highest capacity per disk.
*
By treating floppy disks as ``general block devices''
. This is highly recommended, see next section
for details.
If you want to use higher than normal capacity floppy formats with
KBackup, this is no problem. Just tell it about it in the options menu.
Block devices, ZIP drive
KBackup can use any block device which can be formatted and
mounted, using the BLOCKDEV archive type.
In this case, it will (optionally) format and mount the device and
write to it. This is the best way to use floppy disks floppy
disks and the only way to use removable hard disks, like the IOmega
ZIPdrive.
MultiBuf and Compatibility
=================
All that MultiBuf does, is to split the archive in multiple parts at
well defined block sizes. If a block does not fit onto the tape, it
prompts you for the next tape and starts it with this block again.
Without MultiBuf, restoring these archives might be tricky,
especially if you are using the sequence information option.
However, as MultiBuf is written in plain ANSI--C it should
compile cleanly on any system. The source of it is included
with KBackup, so is a Makefile for compilation.
Limitations, Bugs
=================================
Well, all limitations of the archive tools used by KBackup
still apply. If e.g. afio(1) has a bug, KBackup will have it, too.
Another serious limitation occurs when using pgp(1) for encrypting
archives. Pgp(1) creates temporary files during
operation, so that, when using tar(1) the maximum size
of the archive is somehow limited by your free disk space in the
directory for storing temporary files. Better use afio(1)
for writing encrypted archives, not tar(1).
This problem has led to some patches for afio(1) and I hope they will
make it into the official release soon, so that KBackup will be able to
provide secure encryption.
A problem with tar(1)
=================
I have experienced a rather strange behaviour when using tar(1): it did
not backup files with a length of zero. While in this case no data gets lost,
this might still cause inconsistencies for applications. These files might be
lock files or whatsoever and if they do not get backed up, who knows what
happens. This error does not occur with afio(1).
Requirements
=================================
KBackup requires some other software to be installed on your
system. However, most of them should be available on any properly
installed system. If you are using a Slackware--based ,
all you need is to install afio(1) on your machine.
The programs required by KBackup are:
*
dialog: the dialog program is being used for doing all the user
interaction.
If dialog(1) is not available, KBackup will fall back to
. Without dialog(1), it is still fully
functional (just a bit ugly)!
*
gtar: the GNU tape archiver. A normal tar(1) will not
do! Under , tar(1) is GNU's tar, so do not
worry.
*
afio: the archive program. It is KBackup 's preferred archive
handler, somehow more powerful than tar, but less well
tested.
*
grep, fgrep, sed:
some text processing programs that should be installed on every proper
system.
In fact, you do not need both, tar(1) and afio(1). KBackup can
use either of them to handle its archives. Afio is strongly
recommended. For handling encrypted archives , you
should get afio(1) version 2.4.2 or newer.
In the file paths, you can set environment variables pointing
to the various programs. Just in case the standard settings should not
work for you.
KBackup should run with any Bourne Shell (sh(1)) compatible shell.
However, I have mainly tested it using the Bourne-Again Shell
(bash(1)), therefore I cannot guarantee that it will work with
others, but I do not see any problems. Especially, it appears to be
working well with the rather small ash(1) shell, which is of
interest for putting it onto boot disks.
Operating Systems supported
=================================
KBackup is being developed and maintained on a standard system.
As it is a shell script, it is highly portable and should run on any UNIX
system around. However, there might still be some work required to get it
to run on other systems but . You no longer need the dialog(1)
program as KBackup can now run without it.
There is currently work going on in making KBackup run under ULTRIX.
Reliability a warning
=================================
Well, I believe KBackup is well tested by now.
Of course, I have tried to test it as much as I could before
releasing it. But, I can only test KBackup in my working
environment with my hardware and my software setup. Although I have
fixed all reported problems from previous versions, there might still
be one with your setup. So, before relying on KBackup, test
it for yourself! Make a small backup and check whether you can
successfully restore it (I recommend you using the ``/tmp''
partition, not your real data directories.).
These comments apply to backup software in general, not only to
KBackup. So don't be frightened, I believe it is safe to use and
trust it for my own backup needs.
So far I have received some hundred mails concerning KBackup,
therefore most bugs should be fixed.
Further Information
=================================
Further information on KBackup and related topics can be found at:
my
homepagehttp://www.uni-karlsruhe.de/~ Karsten.Ballueder.
In that place you will always find the latest up-to-date information,
bug--fix release and an online version of the complete KBackup and
MultiBuf documentation (this manual).
Where to get those programs?
=================
In the online version of the manual, you will find hyperlinks to the
programs mentioned throughout this manual.
These are:
*
The
pgp(1)
ftp://ftp.th-darmstadt.de/pub/security/pgp
public key encryption program.
*
The
afio(1)
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Backup
archive handler.
*
The dialog(1) program in its
official release
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/utils/shell
and in the latest
beta/developement release
ftp://foggy.systemy.it/pub/dialog
.
There are also other (non official) variants that might work for
you. However, KBackup does no longer require dialog(1) for its operation.
Chapter: Copyright
=========================================================================
Copyright (C) 1995, 1996 Karsten Ballⁿder
Karsten.Ballueder@stud.uni-karlsruhe.de
http://www.uni-karlsruhe.de/~ Karsten.Ballueder/
Karsten Ballⁿder, Lessingstrasse 2, 32756 Detmold, Germany
2
KBackup is distributed with no warranty whatever. The author
and any other contributors take no responsibility for the consequences of
its use.
This is SHAREWARE:
Using KBackup in a commercial environment requires
obtaining a license from the author. Use of KBackup for private
purpose is free of charge if you ``register'' your copy with a picture postcard.
The exact conditions of use are stated in Appendix txt_copying.
Why register?
Your benefits from registering KBackup (with a postcard) are that you will
receive information about further development and bugfixes. The author will
also try to give you as much support as possible.
It will also keep me motivated to continue this work, which takes an awful
lot of time and energy. So, if you use KBackup, please register, either with
a postcard or, if you use it commercially, by paying a registration fee.
For details see the Appendix txt_copying.
Chapter: Changes against prior versions
=========================================================================
Changelog
=================================
The remote device support is still mainly untested. I desperately need some
feedback from people who try it in a real-word environment.
Changes from 1.2.6 to 1.2.7
=================
* fixed problems with incremental backups
* put all temporary files into one common directory
* added ttymode parameters for MultiBuf
* added user definable parameters for tar/afio
* fixed dirlist in ttymode
* fixed parameter handling for afio 2.4.2
* fixed redirection problem in restore-src
* added working(!) configuration file for IOmega ZIPdrive
Changes from 1.2.5 to 1.2.6
=================
* manual still outdated
* added <errno.h> to multibuf.c
* improved logfile/contdir filtering in restore-src
* fixed bugs in logfile handling, cont. dir handling during restore
* mt should work on remote host as well now
* eventually (!!!) got pgp and afio to work fine together (???)
* pgp should work safe(!!!) now, by using input redirection
* added protect-newer-files option for AFIO format
* added support for afio 2.4.2 features (pgp)
* changed kbinstall to support ttymode
* created simple text mode for use without dialog (opt: --ttymode)
* fixed typo in auto-rewind()
* fixed tar specific problem with restore from contentsfile
(Do NOT use -s for tar restore operation!)
* fixed problem with afio version detect
* fixed problems with restore from contentsfile
* created dialog-script to replace dialog program if not available
* changed multibuf/Makefile
* fixed Delete-Logfile() function
* changed order of this file (was getting too long) :-)
* fixed configuration of directory for temporary files
* fixed logfile message in report generation
* added report-msg for broken contents dir in verify
Changes from 1.2.4 to 1.2.5
=================
* multibuf seems to work with all types of tape drives now
* made code more portable (if statements)
* better handling of SIGINT
* bug report can be saved to a file now
* detection of configuration change and prompt whether to save it
* included icons for HTML version of manual
* cleaned up detection whether device is tape or not
* changed Help-Menu text
* added more info to MultiBuf Menu
* added ``rewind''-warning
* fixed ``mkfs''-bug
* added report generation
* added automatic verify for tape archives
* changed KBackup directory hierarchy, made kbinstall move old files
* fixed some minor bugs
* clarified Shareware-Copyright notice
* fixed sequence number problem in MultiBuf
* some minor fixes on BLOCKDEV code
* some fixes to code handling change of volumes
* removed icons from HTML manual
Changes from 1.2.3 to 1.2.4
=================
In 1.2.3, the autodetection code was missing and there was a problem with
multibuf on SCSI tapes as well as minor problems with the installation program.
I hope to have them fixed in 1.2.4 (released Jan, 18, 1996).
* - added ``fmark-fix'' to multibuf: retries reading if 0 bytes read
(should?!? skip filemarks reliably on non QIC-02 tapes)
* - added warning about erasing DAT drives
* - fixed some bugs in kbinstall: writes proper pathnames to src/paths
* - added missing autodetect-src to archive
Changes from 1.2.0 to 1.2.3
=================
Most of the changes are only minor improvements or bugfixes:
* fixed $findxpertflags= assignment
* added lots of doublequotes in assignments to improve safety
* minor changes to restore and verify routines to share common code
* fixed bugs introduced by new doublequotes in read-data/write-data
* made it able to autodetect and read non-multibuf archives (V1.0/V1.1 type)
* (re-)added menu to switch off MultiBuf use
* fixed a few bugs in read-data/write-data
* started work on improved afio
* directory requester is sorting entries now
* fixed a missing close() in multibuf.c
* added last-command variable to be used by check-error
* introduced common ``<'' key to go back to previous menu
* made directory requester show symlinks
* fixed Goto-Operation to handle archives with any count of files
on the tape --- important for mixing multibuf/non-multibuf archives
* changed copyright to BSD like
New features that have been added, are:
* first try at remote device support via rsh(1), works fine on my machine
* added autodetection/check tape & restructured device menu
Changes from 1.1 to 1.2.0
=================
Among them
* fixed the directory--exclusion bug, completely rewrote routines for
including/excluding files
* added pattern matching capabilities
* created MultiBuf, giving automatic end-of-tape detection
* started modularising the software for faster start up (this also
enables you to save disk space by leaving out unnecessary options,
important for rescue--disks)
* fixed code for verifying archives
* restructured menus
* KBackup now handles filenames containing whitespace properly
* support for mountable block devices
* improved installation program
* changed archive formats (sorry)
Chapter: Backups
=========================================================================
Creating a backup
=================================
is rather simple.
Make sure that you have set the
parent
directory for your backup to the directory whose contents you
want to back up (You can set this in the Configuration--menu. Then select Backup in the main menu.
If all the options are set to proper values, this will work.
Easy, isn't it? :-)
Backup types
=================================
In principal, there are two different classes of backups. Full backups
.
During a full backup, all files specified get backed up, while in an
incremental backup you will only find those files modified after a
certain date or time. This usually is the date and time of the last
backup. Doing incremental backups can save you lots of time and space on
your backup medium, but for a full restore you will always need the
first full backup as well as all incremental backups. So better do a full
backup from time to time or you might run into trouble.
There is no difference between normal and multivolume
backups. All backups are handled by the MultiBuf program.
Incremental backups
=================================
txt_incremental
To save only the files that are newer than a given date and time, KBackup
provides incremental backups. In the Configuration/File selection--menu
you can set the date to compare the files to. Whenever
you create a backup using the same configuration, this date gets set
to the current time.
If you make a backup using the configuration ``Default'', this does not affect
the date for the configuration ``Example'' and so on.
Caution:
Using incremental backups can lead to inconsistencies! After restoring them,
all files get written back to the filesystem, but files that have been deleted
intensionally will get rewritten as well. Therefore you will generally have
more files than before which might cause unexpected behaviour from some
applications, especially if you restore lock--files. If you can, better do full
backups.
Chapter: Restoring backups
=========================================================================
Restoring Backups
=================================
For restoring backups it is important to understand
that the files get restored relative to the current parent
directory parent directory. For this reason you are prompted
to change or confirm it before any files get restored. The original
parent directory under which the contents of the archive were located
at the time the backup was made, is used as the default; so you do not
need to remember it by yourself.
Selecting files for Restore operation
=================================
Before restore operation starts you can choose between several
options.
Restore all files from archive
=================
This does just what you expect from it. It restores the complete
archive. If any of the files do already exist, they get overwritten.
Initialise editable list of files from contents directory
=================
This reads in the contents directory from the
archive (if it is not a simple floppy archive) and lets you edit this list. You can
then manually remove all files that you do not want to restore. After you
save the file and exit your editor, those files remained in the list
will get restored.
Initialise editable list of files from log file
=================
This is like the operation described above, but instead of initialising
the list from the contents directory, it gets initialised from a
log file.
Chapter: Other Actions
=========================================================================
Tape Operation
=================================
--Menu
All functions from this menu operate on tape drives only. They do not
make any sense on archive files or floppy drives.
Most of them are simply a front end to the mt(1) command.
Rewind Tape
Obviously, this will rewind your tape.
Try to Reset Tape Driver
This will try to read from the filename given for resetting tape drives.
Such a device is only implemented for the QIC-02 driver and
it is usually called ``/dev/tape-reset''.
If your QIC-02 drive does no longer seem to work, this might help.
Go to n-th Backup on Tape
This will wind the tape to the beginning of a specified backup.
Note: This does not go to the n--th
file, but to the n--th backup! It can handle
backups with and without sequence information mixed in any order on
one medium. This will not work properly with backups written by
other programs!
Go to End of Written Data
This will wind the tape to the end of written data, for appending data
to a tape without overwriting its contents.
Erase Tape
This will erase the whole tape.
Retension Tape
This will wind the tape to its end and back to its beginning to
retension it.
Set tape offline: rewind and unload it
This will issue the mt offline command to the tape device. On devices
that support this, it will cause the tape cartridge to be rewound and unloaded.
Other Actions
=================================
This section describes the other options from the
Actions--menu.
Verify Backup
This will try to verify a backup. It also shows valuable information
about the backup type, date -- everything it finds in the
backup's header.
Get Backup Size
This estimates the amount of media space required for doing a backup
with the current settings.
It simply adds up the file sizes of all files specified for backup.
The size given is the uncompressed size of the backup, if using
compression you can roughly expect it to be half or one third as big.
View Archive Contents
This will show an archive's contents directory, or if nonexistent, will
generate a list of files in the archive.
View a Log file
This shows you a list of all log files and you can
view them.
Delete a Log file
This shows you a list of all log files and you can
delete one of them.
Send a Bug Report
To mail a bug report to the
authormail://Karsten.Ballueder@stud.uni-karlsruhe.de
of KBackup, you
should use this function. It will create a list of the configuration
settings and collect some information about your system's setup and
prompt you to fill in a bug report which subsequently will get mailed to
me. Of course, this can also be used for suggestions how to improve
KBackup! :-)
Chapter: Scheduling Backups
=========================================================================
Introduction
=================
KBackup offers you the possibility to schedule a backup or
restore operation to be executed automatically (by using
the at(1) command) at any later time.
For scheduled operation to work properly, you need to have
the crond(8) -- demon running. Also the at(1)
program
needs to be available and a suitable entry be in your crontab(1) file. This should be the case on any properly installed
system, so do not worry about it unless you get error messages.
By setting the commands to execute by MultiBuf, you can even support
automatically changing tapes if your hardware supports this.
If you do so, I'd appreciate if you could tell me about it.
The Scheduling
=================
--Menu
Set date and time
Here you can set the date and time at
which to execute the operation in a format suitable for the
at(1) command. See its man-page for details.
Schedule a backup
After choosing the Schedule Backup function, KBackup terminates
and will perform the backup at the time specified.
Schedule a restore
After choosing the Schedule Restore option, KBackup first
needs to read some information from the archive, so it must
already be available. Further on you get prompted the usual
Restore options. Then KBackup terminates and the files specified
will get restored when their time has come.
Toggle Once Only flag
Normally, after having performed the scheduled operations,
KBackup will automatically remove the temporary configuration
files
that it had created for this purpose.
If you schedule KBackup to run more than once, e.g. every night,
youu must activate this flag, so it will keep the configuration
files required for scheduled operation.
Chapter: Configurations
=========================================================================
The r^ole of Configurations
=================================
When you want to create a backup, you are confronted with lots of
options that affect which files get included, the way the archive is written, compressed or
whatever. Instead of having you set these options manually whenever you
write a backup, KBackup lets you create named configurations.
For example, you can set all the options and the parent
directory parent directory to back up your home--directory in
a compressed archive to tape. Now you save these settings under a name
(e.g. ``Home''). Whenever again you want to make a backup of your home
directory, all you have to do is enter the Configuration--menu
and load the configuration ``Home''. This will automatically restore the
settings you had chosen.
When using incremental backups, the
configuration gains some more importance. The date and time to compare
the files to while creating the incremental backup, are dependent on the
actual configuration. So making a backup with the configuration ``A'' does
not affect the date and time for incremental backups using configuration
``B''.
How to create a Configuration
=================================
That is pretty simple. Just set all options and parameters in the
Configuration--menu as you like them and then choose Write
a Configuration File from it. You will then be prompted a name for
it.
Load a Configuration
=================================
If you choose the Load a Configuration entry from the
Configuration--menu, you will be shown a list of available
configurations.
Where to start?
=================================
When you install KBackup for the first time, it will create some
example configurations for you. Try modifying these to fit your situation.
Configuration Default
=================
This is a configuration for using tapes. It assumes that you have a link called
/dev/tape pointing to a non-rewinding tape device. It is a good starting
point for creating your own configurations.
Configuration Floppy-and-Blockdevices
=================
If you want to use floppy disks, this is the configuration to use. It will not
write straight to the device but create a filesystem on it and write to that.
This is safer than writing straight to the device. This configuration can
easily be adopted for use with removable hard drives.removable
hard-drives
Configuration ZIPdrive
=================
This configuration file has been sent to me by a user who uses an IOmega
ZIPdrive(TM)$. Try whether it works for you. It has not been tested with
multiple volumes yet.
Chapter: Option settings
=========================================================================
Command Line Options
=================================
There is only one command line option intended to be used manually:
This will cause KBackup to run in ``tty--mode'', not using the
dialog(1) program, while still offering full functionality.
Generally this will not be needed, but it might be helpful in
debugging (e.g. using script(1)), for porting it to other
systems but Linux and for creating a boot disk without the rather big
dialog(1) binary.
If dialog(1) is not installed on your system, KBackup will
detect this and automatically start up in ``tty--mode''.
Well, in fact, there are some other options, but they are not meant to be used
by you. In order to recognise what to do when called in scheduled operation mode, atrun(8) calls it with some options.
You might, however , use them to perform a scheduled operation if your at(1)/crond(8) does not work. Have a look at
the source to see what they do.
(e.g. kbackup --scheduled-backup .--scheduled--1234 to perform the scheduled backup number
1234)
Options set from within KBackup
=================================
All configuration settings are done within KBackup. You reach them by
selecting the Configuration--menu.
Set Parent Directory
This allows you to set the parent directory for all
backup operations. If you do a backup, only files under this
directory are seen. If you restore from an archive, the
files get positioned relative to this path.
If you want to make a backup of your ``/home'' directory tree
only, set this to be your parent directory. So KBackup will back up
only these files.
%
Configuration
--Menu
%
This gets you to the Configuration--menu, where you can
configure the way KBackup behaves.
Set File Selection Parameters
--Menu
All settings that can be made in this menu work together to decide
which files will get backed up and which won't. See the next section
for more details.
Configure KBackup--Menu
In this menu you can set options that influence the way KBackup
works, like archive format, compression,
Write a Configuration File
Do I really need to explain this? Just give a name for this
configuration.
Load a Configuration File
You will see a list of configurations. Choose one.
Delete a Configuration File
You will see a list of configurations. Choose one to delete it.
Set File Selection Parameters
=================
--Menu
Toggle Local Filesystem Mode
If set to YES, KBackup will backup only files within one
filesystem. If you want to backup a whole directory tree with
all volumes mounted within, you must set this to NO.
Toggle Incremental Mode
If set to YES, backup only files that have been changed after
the date given.
See section txt_incremental for more information.
Set Date For Incremental Backup
If in incremental mode, KBackup will only backup files that
are newer than this date. Here you can change it. This date
gets updated every time you perform a backup with the same
configuration.
Edit List of Files to Exclude
There are always some files you do not want to include in a
backup. Examples might be:
proc, dev, home/fred/secrets
Give their names relative to the parent directory and list
them one per line. See the default entries for more examples.
Lines beginning with a ``#'' are ignored and can
be included as comments. This list gets interpreted
always, no matter whether you use pattern matching or not.
minipage0.8
An example:
You have set your parent directory to ``/home'', and the
exclude list contains the entries:
fred/secrets
guest
This will backup all files of the ``/home''--tree, except for
the trees ``/home/guests'' and ````/home/fred/secrets''.
minipage
Set shell pattern for files to exclude
Instead of listing all files to exclude from the backup separately,
you can exclude files by using the shell's pattern matching rules. By
using expressions like e.g. ``*.log'', you can exclude all
files matching this pattern.
In the list, patterns must be specified one at a line. Lines starting
with ``#'' are ignored and can be used for comments. For the patterns
to take effect, they must be explicitly activated.
Set shell pattern for files to include
Like using shell pattern matching to exclude files from the backup,
you can also specify a pattern for the files to include. The
standard setting should be ``*''. Do not leave this
empty when using pattern matching!
A useful(?) example of this would be to backup only your TeX--files, by
specifying ``*.tex''.
Toggle use of exclude/include patterns
txt_toggle_patterns
With this switch you decide whether KBackup uses the exclude and
include patterns or not. Usually this is switched off so the patterns
get ignored. This does not influence interpretation of the list of
files to exclude.
Protect newer files during restore
This will cause KBackup to restore only files that have not been
changed since the backup was made, thus protecting any files that are
newer than the backup from being overwritten.
Set Advanced Options
--Menu
This menu gives you deeper control about the way KBackup looks at
your files. Normally you will not need to use it.
Configure KBackup
=================
--Menu
In this menu you find the settings that control KBackup's operation,
apart from file selection.
Create Report on Backup
This leads to an input box where you can specify a command for
handling report files. If you leave this empty any reports will be
discarded. Otherwise, KBackup will create a detailed report during
backup operation and process it with this command. It can for example
be used to print a report to store it with your backup medium, or to
mail the report to the system administrator.
Set Name of Editor to use
If you do not have your EDITOR environment variable set
and
do not like the standard setting (vim(1), the ``vi--improved''
Apparently, there is a problem with vi(1) that occasionally
makes it unusable from within KBackup. All other editors I use work fine., just tell KBackup
about your favourite editor. If you like the feeling of
DOS--editors, try using joe(1).
Follow Backup/Restore--Process on Screen
This will show you file by file how KBackup processes the archives.
Toggle use of restore--log file
With this switch you can decide whether KBackup creates a log file
during restore operation. Disabling log file creation can be useful
when disk space is few, like e.g. when running from a floppy disk.
Set Compression/Encryption Mode
Here you can choose whether you want to compress or encrypt
your archives. You can use either compress(1), gzip(1) or
pgp(1).
In the menu for choosing the compression/encryption filter
you can also pass any useful command line options to the filter.
A rather useful one is the parameter "-1" for gzip(1).
A gzip-compressed file with option "-1" is about 10--20%
larger than with the standard compression, but compressing it
is about twice as fast.
Do not be surprised, compressing a long backup can take quite
some time (during which your tape might not operate if you are using
double-buffering).
A word about encryption:
You can use pgp(1) public--key encryption with both,
tar(1) and afio(1). Using afio(1) is
highly recommended, unless your archives will be small.
Using tar(1) together with pgp(1) encryption limits
your maximum size for archives to the free disk-space in your
temporary directory.
When using encryption, you will be prompted for a default
pass-phrase when-ever you try to read the
archive. This will temporarily get stored in a file
unreadable for others.
If you leave it empty, pgp(1) will prompt you
for the pass-phrase again and again with every singe file it
decrypts. Please, do read the pgp(1) manual page
and documentation before using it!
There is also a problem with old versions of afio(1) and pgp(1): If the
encrypted file is bigger than the original one, current versions of
afio(1) will store it unencrypted! So check your logfiles
carefully when using encryption. Please use at least
afio(1) version 2.4.2 when using encryption.
For legal reasons, I cannot include pgp(1) with
KBackup. Its several versions are available from ftp--servers all
over the world, e.g. from ftp.th-darmstadt.de
ftp://ftp.th-darmstadt.de/pub/security/pgp.
Toggle Use of Double Buffering
If your machine is slow or heavily loaded or if your tape drive is too fast,
it will start and stop the tape every now and then. This is unhealthy
for both, the tape and the drive. To avoid repeated starts and stops of the
drive, you can use double-buffering. By collecting a large buffer of
data and writing it at once, you reduce the number of starts and stops.
This is extremely useful when using compression or encryption because
these operations reduce data throughput. However, you will see how your
tape drive performs without double-buffering and then you can decide
whether to use it or not.
Set Memory Size for Double Buffering
Here you can set how big a buffer to use for double-buffering. To get a good
effect, use a large buffer of several megabytes.
Specify either the number of bytes, or use
the affixes ``k'' or ``m'' to specify Kbytes or Mbytes.
A value of 4--8~Mbytes usually works very well, even on a slow
mashine.
Verify Archives After Writing
If this option is set, KBackup will try to verify the archive while or
immediately after writing it. When using floppies
, you should activate this.
On tapes, this will not work (it is physically impossible), so you
have to verify your tape archives manually, using the
Actions/Verify--function.
Archive Type Menu
Here you choose which archive type to use. KBackup uses either
tar(1)--format or afio(1)--format.
See section txt_archive_type_menu for more.
Change KBackup Directory
Here you tell KBackup in which directory
to store its configuration files and log files. The default place is
/var/adm/KBackup.
Select device for backup
--Menu
In this menu you can select which device to use for your backups.
It is also being used to tell KBackup how to treat the device,
whether as a tape, a simple floppy disk or a mountable blockdevice.
Remote mode settings
--Menu
This is for the (still experimental) support for accessing remote backup devices,
that is, devices of another machine. The way it works is very similar
to the rmt(8) demon. KBackup will call a remote shell and
redirect the data to a MultiBuf process running on the remote
machine.
On the remote machine, at least MultiBuf, dd(1) and the archive
handler (afio(1) or tar(1)) have to be installed. It is
best, if you install the complete KBackup package on both machines to
make sure everything is available.
Toggle use of remote mode
To choose whether to use remote access or not. Usually switched off.
Set hostname to connect to
Here you must specify the machine that hosts the backup device.
Set user to use for login
For logging in to the remote machine, KBackup needs a user id. This
user must have access to the backup device and the relevant programs.
Verify whether settings work
This will try to access the remote device to check whether your option
settings work.
Multivolume Archives handling
--Menu
In this menu you can set options related to the MultiBuf program
which is responsible for handling multivolume archives. It does however handle
all archives, so better have a look at the relevant section
(txt_multibuf).
Usually, you should not change any of these options. If you encounter problems
with the MultiBuf program, you can disable its use here. In that case you
should also send a bug report to the author.
Set Directory for Temporary Files
Here you set in which directory
KBackup stores temporary files. This should point to your
"/tmp" directory.
Set command for viewing online manual
Here you can specify the command to use for displaying the online
versions of this manual. Depending on your taste this can be
set to use the plain text version or a hypertext browser for the HTML version.
Select device for backup
=================
--Menu
In this menu you can select which device to use for your backups.
You can either choose one device from the menu or specify your own
file name. This does not install any driver! You need to have a
driver for your device in your kernel, so KBackup can talk to its
device file.
You can also choose between
different ways of how to treat the device. KBackup
currently supports three different ways of archive treatment, which
can be set with the Set Device Type--option:
The new floppy driver supports high volume floppy formats of up
to about 1.9~MB per 3.5'' HD floppy, or 3.8~MB per 3.5'' ED floppy. If
the corresponding entries are set in your /etc/fdprm file,
they can be used from KBackup.
It will automatically call the setfdprm(1) program for you.
For more information on floppy formats, see the documentation
of the fdutils--package, available from:
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Misc/fdutils-4.1.lsm
Attempt to autodetect tape device
This option requires a tape cartridge in your tape device and will
scan your system for valid tape devices and try to find out the one
to use with KBackup. This should solve the problems of all those
people who tried using KBackup with a rewind-on-close device.
After examining your system, KBackup will prompt you with a list of
usable devices.
autodetect tape
device
Caution: This will write to the tape and
overwrite any data on it!
Check tape drive for compatibility
This will check the currently selected device for compatibility with
KBackup, that is, it will verify that it is a non-rewind-on-close
device.
If you cannot read your archives properly, check your device with this
function. Caution: This will write to the tape and overwrite
any data on it!
Set device type
txt_mountable_blkdev
With this switch you can toggle between different ways of treating the
device. You can choose between TAPE, FLOPPY and
BLOCKDEV.
*
TAPE:
This should be selected when you are writing to a tape device.
*
BLOCKDEV:
This format is new since KBackup Version 1.2. With this setting,
KBackup will format and mount the device and then start writing to
it. This gives you all the advantages of KBackup, like a backup
header with information about the backup and the contents directory,
together with a much improved reliability compared to the
FLOPPY--format. If you are using floppy disks with this
option, you must low-level format them, using the
fdformat(1) or superformat(1) commands (under ).
You do not need to write a filesystem on it, this will be done by KBackup.
When selecting this option, you also must set the filesystem type and
the formatting command.
I recommend using this format for any removable media, like floppies
or removable hard-drives
e.g. the IOmega ZIPdrive
or cartridges. It does not work with
tapes, it is intended for block devices that can be mounted.
The BLOCKDEV support was new in version 1.2.0 and is therefore
less tested than TAPE of FLOPPY. If you should expect any trouble
using it, please contact the author. If it works for you, I'd like to
know as well.
*
FLOPPY:
With this option, KBackup writes directly to the floppy. This is most
reliable when you are using afio(1) -- better do not try to use
tar(1) with floppies. However, writing straight
to a floppy is not to safe under and there is no way for
KBackup to write a header or a directory of contents to the
floppy. So you just have a sequential archive, like when using
afio(1) directly.--format
However, using this format is not recommended, better use the
BLOCKDEV--format which is more reliable.
Enter your own device/archive file
Here you can enter a device name of your own choice.
/dev/fd0 and /dev/fd1
Select the first or second floppy drive for your backups.
Blockdev filesystem type
This is only of interest, if you are using the BLOCKDEV
device type.
Here you need to specify the filesystem type that
you want to use on mountable block devices. See the following section
for more details and a discussion of which filesystem to use.
Blockdev make filesystem command
This is only of interest, if you are using the BLOCKDEV
device type.
Before using any medium, KBackup will issue this command to make a
filesystem on it. This filesystem must be the same
as specified in the Blockdev filesystem type, otherwise
KBackup cannot mount the device.
When using floppy disks, you can low-level format them and make a
filesystem on them in one step, like e.g. this:
verbatim
fdformat /dev/fd0H1440 && mkfs -t minix /dev/fd0H1440 1440
verbatim
Instead of specifying the device name directly, you can use
``!$device!'', which will get replaced by the actual device
name.
For floppy disks, I recommend using the
``minix'' filesystem because it gives you the biggest
capacity. If you are using superformat(1) instead of
fdformat(1), you can write up to 1.9~Mb onto a single HD floppy
disk.
For other media, you should probably use the ``ext2''
filesystem which is the most advanced and secure one available under .
Set floppy format
--Menu
In this menu you can choose a format for your floppy
disks. Warning: this setting will not get checked before it is
actually used, it must be a valid entry from your
``/etc/fstab'' file which will be set using the
setfdprm(1) command.
Set device for resetting driver
If your tape driver implements a device to reset the driver, like
e.g. the QIC-02 driver does, you can set its name here. For the QIC-02
driver, this is /dev/tape-reset.
Remote mode settings
=================
--Menu
What is it?
The remote mode is still experimental and further development of it depends
heavily on your feedback. I have very limited possibilities to test
this and so I desperately need your experience with it.
With the remote mode enabled, you can access another computer's devices for
use with KBackup. IMPORTANT: On the remote computer, MultiBuf
must be installed, or the remote mode won't work. It ist best, to
install the complete KBackup on both machines, including also the tools used
by it.
Toggle use of remote mode
Normally, this is set to ``NO'', so to access your local devices.
If set to ``YES'', KBackup will try to access the devices on the remote host.
Set hostname to connect to
Set this to the name of the host, who's backup device you want to access.
Set user to use for login
Here you have to specify the username to use for logging in to the remote host.
This user must have access to the backup device and must not be prompted for
a password, which can be arranged by setting up a .rhosts or an
/etc/hosts.equiv file.
Verify whether settings work
This will try to log on to the remote computer using the settings specified
in the menu. If it is successful, a backup will be likely to succeed as well.
If not, you have no chance to write a backup, so you need to change your
settings.
Archive Type Menu
=================
txt_archive_type_menu
Here you choose which archive type to use. KBackup uses either
tar(1)--format or afio(1)--format.
tar(1) has been around since the early days of , while
afio(1) is newer and not installed on every system.
The advantage of afio(1) is that it is smarter about corrupted
archives, so if you have a read error somewhere in your backup, it
will still continue and recover as many files as possible, while
tar(1) would just abort. Further on afio(1) does
compression file by file which is highly recommended for reasons of
safety. The default format is AFIO.
Use Afio
Obviously, this makes KBackup use afio(1) for handling archives.
Use Tar
Obviously, this makes KBackup use tar(1) for handling archives.
Set additional command line parameters for Afio
This allows you to pass additional command line parameters to
afio(1). KBackup by defaults sets this to -T 3k to
compress only files which are larger than at least 3 kbytes.
Set additional command line parameters for Tar
This allows you to pass additional command line parameters to
tar(1).
Advanced Options
=================
--Menu
txt_adv_opt
The options in this menu deeply affect the operation of KBackup. You
should know what you are doing before making any changes.
Backup Only Files Specified
If set to ``YES'', KBackup will only backup those files that are
specified in the list of files to include, that you can
edit from within the Advanced Options--menu.
Edit List of Files to Include in Backup
If you have activated the option to backup only the files specified, you
can use this menu entry to edit the list. A typical situation is when
you want to save several complete directory trees at once. The list of
files might then look like this:
verbatim
/etc
/home
/usr/local
verbatim
Initialise List of Files to include
This creates a default list of files, based on the other selection criteria.
Set Find Expert Mode
Well, if you know about the many options of find(1), you can
activate this option and use the following one to give the
options find(1) will use to generate the list of files to
back up.
Warning: If you activate this, all other options about file
selection will get ignored! The shell patterns and include/exclude
lists will not get interpreted either.
Set Find-Options
If the option above this one is active, you can set
the options to use with find(1).
Set Option to Manually Edit List of Files
If this is set to ``YES'', before doing a backup,
KBackup will present you a list of files and let you edit
it. Only the files remaining in the list will get processed.
Toggle Directories--Only Flag
If set to ``YES'', the log files will only show directories, not
the actual files. The same applies for the list of files you
can edit before backing up or restoring. By setting this
option, you can significantly reduce the size of your logfiles or
contents directories.
Usually, this
should be set to ``NO''.
Chapter: The MultiBuf Program
=========================================================================
txt_multibuf
What is MultiBuf ?
=================================
MultiBuf is an support program written especially for use from
within KBackup. It is covered by the same copyright and conditions of
use that apply to KBackup.
It is intended to be a reliable and transparent handler for
multivolume archives, superior to both
afio(1) and tar(1). multivolume archives
One of its most most advanced features is, that it automatically determines the
length of your tapes. You can write multiple volume archives to a series of
tapes having different lengths. You can also use MultiBuf to automatically
change tapes if you have an automated tape changer.
This simply involves redefining the commands used to interact
with the user. Instead of prompting for the next tape, they can autoload
it. If you are interested in this feature, please contact the author, so we
can fit this feature into the official release. I'd be glad to help you
with this in any way.
The information in this section is only of interest, if you want to
understand how it works or use it as a standalone program for some
other purpose. You do not need to understand this to use KBackup, as
the use of MultiBuf is fully automated. However, if you are concerned
about compatibility, the data format used or restoring files without
KBackup, continue to read this section.
How does it work?
=================================
MultiBuf can be run in two modes, ``write--mode'' (default) and
``read--mode''. In ``write--mode'', it reads data in small blocks from
stdin and writes it in bigger chunks (``superblocks'') of
several blocks to the
output device specified. In ``read--mode'', it does the contrary,
reading big chunks of data from the device and outputs the data to
stdout.
Whenever writing a big data chunk fails, MultiBuf assumes that it
has reached the end of the backup medium (e.g. end of tape) and
executes one of two user-definable commands. On successful execution
of this command, it optionally executes a second command and then
continues writing to the device with the last block that did not fit
onto the medium before. During restoration of the data, it does more
or less the same, prompting the user when it cannot read a complete
chunk of data. It is important to mention, that for writing and
reading data, you need to use the same block sizes and number of
blocks per superblock!
To improve reliability and error checking, MultiBuf can write
so-called ``sequence information headers'' to the tape.
These headers tell MultiBuf about the right order of backup media and
thus prevents you from using the tapes in the wrong order.
Further on, this enables MultiBuf to distinguish between an ``end of
medium'' and an ``end of file'', sparing you some unnecessary and
possibly confusing dialogs. Also, this increases the number of files
per backup on a tape from currently three to five, because two
additional short end--markers get written.
On mountable block devicesmountable block
devices MultiBuf will write the end markers
as separate small files.
The Multivolume Archive
=================================
--Menu
This section describes the Multivolume Archive--menu of
KBackup, from which you can change the MultiBuf related options.
Set MultiBuf block size
=================
This determines the smallest block of data, MultiBuf will deal
with. It should be an integral multiple of the block size of
your tape. Usually a value of 1024 should be used.
Set number of MultiBuf blocks per call
=================
To avoid unnecessary overhead, MultiBuf always writes (or reads) a
couple of data blocks at once to (from) tape. Making this value large
slightly reduces CPU usage, but makes it waste a bit of space at the
end of every tape. I suggest using a value that is both significantly
lower (when multiplied with the block size) than your tape's capacity
as well as much bigger than the relatively small block size.
The standard value is 100, giving you (with a block size of 1024) a
total buffer size of 100~Kbytes. So you can be sure to waste no more
than 100~K per tape and still reduce CPU overhead by two orders of
magnitude.
Use sequence information in MultiBuf
=================
This has two effects:
*
It enables MultiBuf to distinguish between the end of a file on the
tape, like e.g. the end of the archive or contents directory, from the
physical end of the tape. If you disable this switch, MultiBuf will
ask you whether to continue with the next medium whenever it detects
an end of file. So you have to explicitly tell it ``NO'' after it has
read the contents directory or after having read all the archive!
*
It writes some sequence information to the tape and thus prevents you
from using your tapes in the wrong order.
txt_seqinfo
MultiBuf Command Line Options
=================================
When used with the option --help, MultiBuf will show you a
screen like this:
verbatim
MultiBuf Revision: 1.1 (C) 1995 by Karsten Ballⁿder
Karsten.Ballueder@stud.uni-karlsruhe.de
USAGE: /home/karsten/KBackup/multibuf/multibuf options filename
valid options:
-r, --read : set read mode
-w, --write : set write mode (default)
-v, --verbose : verbose progress reporting
-b, --blocksize : set size of each data block in bytes
-n, --nblocks : set number of blocks in each superblock
-c, --command "shell-command" : set command to execute at end of medium
-C, --command2 "shell-command" : set command to execute at begin of medium
-R, --retry-command "shell-command" : set command to execute when finding
wrong sequence number
-1, --end-only : only execute command at end of media
-2, --begin-and-end : exeute commands at end and begin of media
-s, --settings : display settings
-x, --exit : exit after processing options (for testing)
-h, --header : add header/sequence information to data
-E, --no-endmarker : do not use an endmarker
-F, --file-endmarker : write endmarker as a file on a mounted medium
-D, --disable-filemark-fix : for debugging purpose only
-V, --version : print version information
return codes: 0=success, 1=read error, 2=write error, 3=wrong sequence
verbatim
Appendix: The FAQ
=========================================================================
txt_faq
Introducing the FAQ
=================================
This FAQ is not very long at the moment, because most of the questions
about KBackup versions 1.0 and 1.1 do not apply any longer. They
concerned bugs removed in this version.
However, I am confident that I will receive lots and lots of
questions about this version as well, so I have decided to start a FAQ
on it. This will be constantly being updated, the latest version of it
will always be available via the KBackup
homepagehttp://www.uni-karlsruhe.de/~ Karsten.Ballueder. If you have
any questions, mail them to me at:
.ballueder@stud.uni-karlsruhe.de
or use your web--browser:
send mailmailto:karsten.ballueder@stud.uni-karlsruhe.de.
How can I ?
=================================
Exclude a directory tree from backup?
=================
To exclude a directory and all its sub-directories from the backup,
you can list it in the exclude list (Configuration/File
selection--menu). This was broken in versions before 1.2 but is fixed
now. Just specify the name of the directory relative to your parent
directory. E.g. if your parent directory is ``/'' and you
want to exclude ``/proc'', just specify ``proc''
only. This would exclude the whole process--filesystem.
Restore my files manually?
=================
Well, that is fairly simple. To restore from a tape, you can do this
(assuming that ``/dev/tape'' is a link to your tape device):
First you have to ``cd'' to the directoy to where you want to
restore the files. Then:
verbatim
mt rewind # to rewind your tape
cat /dev/tape # this will show you the archive header
cat /dev/tape >/dev/null # this will skips the contents directory
verbatim
Depending on whether you used AFIO or TAR format, do one
of the following (using double buffering and decompression):
verbatim
multibuf -r -h /dev/tape | dd obs=4096k | afio -i -vzZk - # for AFIO
multibuf -r -h /dev/tape | dd obs=4096k | tar -xzvf - # for TAR
verbatim
The options for afio(1) and tar(1) depend on whether you
used compression or not. See their manpages for details.
For floppy disks, using afio(1) is rather simple, just type:
verbatim
afio -i -vF -s 1440 -G /dev/fd0H1440
verbatim
For higher capacity floppy formats, you need to adjust the numbers;
without compression, drop the ``-G'' option.
For mountable block devices, this is tricky. You can restore
them manually. It goes like this:
verbatim
multibuf -r -h -F -c ``...'' -C ``...'' /mnt/Archive | afio -i -vzZ -
verbatim
The arguments to the ``-c'' and ``-C'' must be set
to mount and unmount the volume at ``/mnt'', for example like this:
-c ``umount /mnt ; echo Next Volume...; read ''
-C ``mount /dev/fd0 /mnt -t minix''
Restore a system no longer booting?
=================
If you cannot boot your system any longer, the first thing you need to
get is a Bootdisk--set. This is something you should have prepared
just after installing your system. In case that your main
partitions are no longer accessible, not even from a boot disk, you
need to recreate them and then you can use KBackup to restore your
data onto them. As soon as the KBackup--Rescue--Disk is available,
you can use this one to boot and do all this. Until then it is
probably easiest to reinstall a minimal system, install
KBackup on this new system and then use it to restore your
files. Fitting KBackup on a root--disk proves to be tricky, but I
expect to release the Rescue--Disk soon.
How can I use my removable hard disk?
=================
Use the BLOCKDEV archive type and configure the appropiate
commands for making a filesystem. This should work with any removable
hard disk.
Can I ?
=================================
Can I make backups of my DOS partitions?
=================
YES. KBackup can make backups of any filesystems mounted. To make a backup
of your DOS (or whatsoever) partitions, simply mount them to an appropiate
place and go ahead.
Can I make backups over the network?
=================
YES. Well, probably. On the
KBackup Homepagehttp://www.uni-karlsruhe.de/~Karsten.Ballueder/
you can find a version of KBackup supporting remote devices. Get it and
read its README file for details.
Common problems
=================================
I cannot read or verify any tape archive.
=================
Well, maybe you are using the rewind-on-close device. You must
use the non-rewind-on-close device (e.g. ``/dev/nrm*''). See
also the ``No valid KBackup header'' question in this section.
I cannot restore my old archives.
=================
If you have trouble restoring your old KBackup archives, generated with
earlier version of the software, contact the author.
If you are using KBackup version $1.2.x$ with $x < 3$, upgrade to a more
recent version. KBackup should detect the old archive format and restore
it properly.
I get ``No valid KBackup header''
=================
If KBackup cannot find a valid header on your backup medium, although
you have written an archive to it using KBackup, than there is
(hopefully) only one possible reason for this: you are using a tape
device that rewinds after closing a file. KBackup requires you to
specify a device that does not rewind on close. These devices
often carry an ``n'' in their name. If you try using a device with
rewind-on-close feature, KBackup will overwrite its header with the
directory and afterwards overwrite the directory with the actual
archive, instead of writing the files one after another.
In version $1.2.3$, I have introduced an option to check a tape device for
compatibility with KBackup and also autodetect the proper device file.
My floppy streamer doesn't work (ftape)
=================
To use tape drives accessed through the floppy controller, you need to install
the proper kernel driver. Of course, this is generally true for all drives.
First of all, you need to recompile your kernel and enable support for QIC-117
(FTAPE) (and, of course, install your new kernel).
Before using the new driver you not only have to reboot but also
load the module into the kernel. A simple recompilation won't do.
Then, KBackup should work with your device.
KBackup does not work with zftape.
Appendix: The Conditions of Use
=========================================================================
txt_copying
Copyright (C) 1995, 1996 Karsten Ballⁿder
Karsten.Ballueder@stud.uni-karlsruhe.de)
http://www.uni-karlsruhe.de/~ Karsten.Ballueder/
Karsten Ballⁿder, Lessingstrasse 2, 32756 Detmold, Germany
2
Redistribution and use for non-commercial purposes in source and
binary forms are permitted provided that the above copyright
notice and this document are duplicated in all such forms and that
any documentation, advertising materials, and other materials
related to such distribution and use acknowledge that the software
was developed by Karsten Ballueder.
This is SHAREWARE. As you will see from the following paragraphs,
I am trying to keep this as simple as possible while still
trying to get some benefit for myself from this software.
It is an awful lot of work writing and maintainig such a package,
so please take the time to read this and comply to it.
Using KBackup at home:
You are granted the right to use KBackup for private purpose
free of charge, under the one simple condition of sending me a picture
postcard. This will also register you for further information on
KBackup development (and keep me motivated to continue this work).
You do not need to send me any money, however,
if you feel like, I wouldn't mind. :-)
Using KBackup in a commercial environment:
A license for using KBackup in a commercial or educational environment
can be obtained from the author for a small fee. To register your copy
of KBackup, contact the author at the address above
or just send an email. Registration fees for a ``small'' environment
start from US $30 and are negotiable. This will enable you to receive
full support and information on KBackup development from the author.
NO WARRANTY:
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES
OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY
CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF
CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
Distributions:
I would like to make KBackup accessible to as many people as possible.
Therefor I grant the permission to include KBackup in any Linux
distributions, as long as it is only a minor part of the distribution.
You are not allowed to sell or distribute any software package which
based mainly or derived from KBackup withour prior written permission
from the author.
If you are in doubt whether you can distribute KBackup or not, just
contact the author. Including it in a distribution which is also
available free of charge (e.g. by FTP), is fine.
If you include KBackup in a software distribution, I would like you
to send me a copy of that distribution, however, this is not
compulsory.
If you have any questions about distributing KBackup, contact the author.