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Date:      Tue, 6 Mar 2001 05:29:30 -0600
From:      Mike Meyer <mwm@mired.org>
To:        dxoch <dxoch@escape.gr>
Cc:        freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Backup + Dump + floppies = problem!
Message-ID:  <15012.51738.570582.604164@guru.mired.org>
In-Reply-To: <3AA4C35A.E20BA517@escape.gr>
References:  <3AA4C35A.E20BA517@escape.gr>

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dxoch <dxoch@escape.gr> types:
> Hi there,
> After reading the Handbook and other resources i came to the
> conclusion that dump is maybe the most reliable solution for
> making backups on a FreeBSD Box.I also understood that is
> much better to perform the backup procedure on unmounted
> filesystems. But...

Actually, there's no difference between performing the backup
procedure on an unmounted file system vs. one that's inactive - so
long as it's really inactive. The best way to insure that it's
inactive is to have it be unmounted, or mounted read-only. Having the
system in single-user mode is a very close second.

> I dont want to use a spare hard disk to boot from, because it
> is not practical, and i have boxes that can not boot from
> a CDROM. So, in order to perform a backup with dump, i must
> use floppies...

Is there some reason you can't boot single user and back up the root
file system before remounting it read/write?

> I used the kern and mfsroot floppies in order to boot and run
> the sysinstall program. Then I chooosed fixit from the menu
> and i inserted the fixit floppy. Then I came into the following
> situation:
> 
> 1) Fixit floppy does not contain the dump program.
> 2) Fixit floppy is more than full, df gives:
>  /dev/fd0         1363     1305      -51   104%    /mnt
> 3) After removing view and ex, df again gives:
>  /dev/fd0         1363     1305      -51   104%    /mnt
>  and dump cannot be added.
> 4) All files (exept dirs) in the fixit floppy have the same
>  size of 1215072 bytes. The original sizes are:
>  dump: 331452, view: 279876, ex: 279876
> 5) Fixit floppy cannot be unmounted (So that I can use an
>  other floppy)
> 6) The kern floppy is also super-full, but files in it have
>  arbitrary sizes. df gives:
>  /dev/fd0         1407     1353      -58   105%    /mnt
> 
> My questions are:
> - Is it OK for a floppy to be more than 100% full?

Yes. See the FAQ.

> - Can I add or remove files on the fixit floppy and how?

Yes. You removed view and ex. Since those are hard links to vi, all
you did was free a couple of inodes without releasing any blocks on
the disk.

> - Can I unmount the fixit floppy somehow, when i am in
>  the fixit shell?

Try "umount -f". Expect things to fail afterwards.

> - Is there an easier/better way to do some/all of the above?

Yes. Just shut the system down to single user mode, unmount your file
system, then dump them. If you're even more paranoid than I am, reboot
to single user and dump root before remounting it read/write. Oh yeah
- dump root last.

> - Does anybody know a way to exclude a directory when using
> dump to backup a filesystem. I didnt found anything helpfull
> in the man pages.

The only way I know to do it is to put the directory on another file
system.

	<mike
--
Mike Meyer <mwm@mired.org>			http://www.mired.org/home/mwm/
Independent WWW/Perforce/FreeBSD/Unix consultant, email for more information.

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