Date: Sun, 7 Jul 1996 13:44:20 -0400 (EDT) From: Bill Paul <wpaul@skynet.ctr.columbia.edu> To: joerg_wunsch@uriah.heep.sax.de Cc: current@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Which tools can back up inodes with 32bit minor numbers ? Message-ID: <199607071744.NAA15262@skynet.ctr.columbia.edu> In-Reply-To: <199607070758.JAA24626@uriah.heep.sax.de> from "J Wunsch" at Jul 7, 96 09:58:13 am
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Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, J Wunsch had to walk into mine and say: > As Julian H. Stacey wrote: > > > > (You will get /dev into a separate file system anytime soon. But i > > > doubt you will have any need to include it into a backup then. :-) > > > > One can run MAKEDEV to rebuild standard stuff, but after working away > > at /dev & various other dirs. with various ports & private stuff, > > EG fax + uucp + slip + getty etc, > > it's nice to be able to make a complete backup of a working system. > > Well, as i wrote, the existing static /dev is about to be killed > anytime soon. MAKEDEV as well -- shouldn't you have it already > noticed. Wrong. The existing /dev and MAKEDEV are _not_ going away any time soon. Not on any of the systems I maintain anyway (including my personal machines at home). You'll never catch me putting 'options DEVFS' in any of my kernel config files. And the day it changes from optional to mandatory is the day I stop running FreeBSD. Sun already burned me with their "we're giving you these new features whether you like them or not" attitude. I'm not letting anyone else force any unwanted innovation down my throat if I can avoid it, even if it doesn't cost me any money. Getting back to the subject at hand, dump and restore are supposed to preserve _everything_, including 32-bit major/minor values (we got 'em, we gotta deal with 'em). Ideally, tar and cpio should too. If they don't, they should be made to, but only if their archive formats allow it without breaking compatibility with all the other tar and cpio implementations on the planet. If dump and restore aren't doing it, they are broken and need to be fixed. DEVFS doesn't enter into it. -Bill -- ============================================================================= -Bill Paul (212) 854-6020 | System Manager, Master of Unix-Fu Work: wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu | Center for Telecommunications Research Home: wpaul@skynet.ctr.columbia.edu | Columbia University, New York City ============================================================================= "If you're ever in trouble, go to the CTR. Ask for Bill. He will help you." =============================================================================
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