From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Aug 19 16:09:59 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B2531106568D for ; Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:09:59 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from rsmith@xs4all.nl) Received: from smtp-vbr16.xs4all.nl (smtp-vbr16.xs4all.nl [194.109.24.36]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2C6D38FC65 for ; Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:09:58 +0000 (UTC) Received: from slackbox.xs4all.nl (slackbox.xs4all.nl [213.84.242.160]) by smtp-vbr16.xs4all.nl (8.13.8/8.13.8) with ESMTP id n7JG9vap044716; Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:09:57 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from rsmith@xs4all.nl) Received: by slackbox.xs4all.nl (Postfix, from userid 1001) id 2DFA7BA8F; Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:09:57 +0200 (CEST) Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:09:57 +0200 From: Roland Smith To: Erik Norgaard Message-ID: <20090819160956.GA71105@slackbox.xs4all.nl> References: <4A8A5887.1080304@locolomo.org> <20090818171528.GA35403@slackbox.xs4all.nl> <4A8BB0E4.2020806@locolomo.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha1; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="NzB8fVQJ5HfG6fxh" Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <4A8BB0E4.2020806@locolomo.org> X-GPG-Fingerprint: 1A2B 477F 9970 BA3C 2914 B7CE 1277 EFB0 C321 A725 X-GPG-Key: http://www.xs4all.nl/~rsmith/pubkey.txt X-GPG-Notice: If this message is not signed, don't assume I sent it! User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.20 (2009-06-14) X-Virus-Scanned: by XS4ALL Virus Scanner Cc: questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Recovering files after a crash X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:09:59 -0000 --NzB8fVQJ5HfG6fxh Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 09:59:32AM +0200, Erik Norgaard wrote: > Thanks, I couldn't decipher these GEOM_LABEL messages, nice to know that= =20 > I can stop worrying. But for future incidents, the second question remain= s: >=20 > 1. How do I best protect my system from disk errors in case of a crash? One word: _backups_! Multiple solutions are possible. You can have two disks in RAID1 (mirroring, which is like instantaneous backup). Or you can have two disks where the second is kept up-to-date by rsync running from cron (this also gives you a limited undo functionality if you accidentaly delete a file). Ar you can ba= ck up to a NAS, USB connected disk or to tape. > I have a headless system with no spare head to attach and doing=20 > single-user blind-folded is further complicated by the fact that I'm not= =20 > native to the US keyboard layout, so my top priority is that it boots. If you can connect it to another system (that has a monitor) via a serial null-modem cable and you enable the serial console (see the Handbook), you = can watch the boot process from the other system. If you don't have anothe machine closeby, you should get a network-accessib= le KVM switch with serial connectors. [maybe something like this: http://www.knuerr.com/web/en/products/kvm/kvm-switch-dominion-ksx.html]=20 With such a switch and the serial console you should be able to watch the b= oot of the machine remotely. > 2. When you have lost inodes or similar errors and stuff ends up in=20 > lost+found, how do you figure out what it was and recover the lost files? You have to look at the contents of the files in lost&found. Usually it is easier to restore from backup. > Is there a FBSD crash guide? Not that I know of. The only guidance that really matter would be "make sure you have backed up critical data". No need for elaborate guides. :-) Roland --=20 R.F.Smith http://www.xs4all.nl/~rsmith/ [plain text _non-HTML_ PGP/GnuPG encrypted/signed email much appreciated] pgp: 1A2B 477F 9970 BA3C 2914 B7CE 1277 EFB0 C321 A725 (KeyID: C321A725) --NzB8fVQJ5HfG6fxh Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.12 (FreeBSD) iEYEARECAAYFAkqMI9QACgkQEnfvsMMhpyWtaACgoSa/JaQNFugyDRP2vT3un57X CrkAnRwu4/bwsiMwB3xZ7TmZ4ItJ/ywR =oRna -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --NzB8fVQJ5HfG6fxh--