Backing up to another remote server
Hi,
I'm using URBackup server to back up my /home and
I want to back up a bit more though. If I installed something and broke my server, I want to be able to restore it back without too much hassle. We currently have the Linode snapshot backups set up, but we're having to cut costs due to income slowing down over this crappy year.
So these are the dirs I have backed up:
/home/
/var/lib/mysql/
/etc/apache2/
/var/spool/cron/crontabs/
What else would you suggest? I did look into using the "dd" backup method over to a remote server, but it seems like that's not a great method with a live disk, where files can change? (and we can't unmount the drive obviously, due to the fact its hosting our sites)
Any suggestions are much appreciated.
UPDATE: I did find some stuff about using rsync, but I'm not sure that will do a great job if I need to restore?
rsync -aHAXxv –exclude={/bak1,/cdrom,/dev,/home,/lost+found,/media,/mnt,/proc,/run,/sys,/tmp} [source_dir] [destination_host:/destination_dir]
Cheers
Andy
2 Replies
watrick
Linode Staff
Rsync would be the option I'd recommend if you're looking to remove the Linode Backup Service. It's one of the most popular tools out there for backups and one that many services are built on. If you haven't had a chance to review it yet, I'd recommend reviewing our guide for using rsync:
I know you're looking to reduce spending, though our Backup Service would the best option for a simple restore option. One thing it can do is restore to a new Linode. Yes, that's extra money, but the benefit here is that it can allow a restore to happen so that you can make adjustments to a couple of files or customer sites without having to take them all down for an extended period. Once you have things sorted out, you can simply swap the IP address. After that, a reboot brings up the new Linode with the old Linode's IP address and there's no need to change any DNS configurations.
As an aside: downsizing your Linode's plan is another great way to reduce your monthly invoices, though it's not always an option.
We also have several suggestions in the following guide:
Thanks for the reply @watrick . Yes, I think rsync may be the best option. Are there any particular dirs NOT to bother backing up? Obviously /tmp and /proc as those. I guess the main thing is I want to try and roll back if a software install buggers something up. My setup is easy enough to re-install Ubuntu from scratch, but I want to try and store config files (for example for MySQL, monit, urbackup, etc. I guess I'll just have to go through and find the folders where they are - and setup a rsync to backup those dirs as well