Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 15:32:34 +0200 From: Dick Hoogendijk <dick@nagual.st> To: freebsd-questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: dump, tar or pax? Message-ID: <20030927133234.GA514@pooh.nagual.st>
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Up 'till now I used dump/restore to make a backup of my system. Someone pointed out to me however that this was not the wisest thing to do, given the fact that is is a level-0 dump so it needs to be restored onto a clean (newfs) filesystem. ## dump -h0 -0f - /usr | ssh host "cat > /usr3/pooh/fbsd-usr.dump" I always thought having this backup was safe. Just make a minimal install of FreeBSD ans restore the backup would be fine. As I understand now, this is not the case, because the filesystem has to be new for a restore (level-0) to work. I'm told that instead of the dump/restore option it's better to use TAR with a rule like: ## tar cvzfl - /usr | ssh host cat > destination I understand that there will be problems with named pipes and device nodes that are handled correctly by dump/restore and not by tar. This should not be a problem, I'm told. Is this true? Is dump/restore for a level-0 (system backup) not the wisest thing to use and should I really consider using TAR? Is the calling argument above the right one? Or should I use PAX? If so, with which options? -- dick -- http://www.nagual.st/ -- PGP/GnuPG key: F86289CE ++ Running FreeBSD 4.8 ++ Debian GNU/Linux (Woody) + Nai tiruvantel ar vayuvantel i Valar tielyanna nu vilja
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