I would second the advice regarding rsync - it is hard to beat for
 incremental backups and is very simple to fine tune.  Some of
nice features are:

- can use scp as the transport
- directory tree is easy to view/work in
- flows BOTH ways very easily (restores are a breeze)


On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 5:13 AM, V G <x.solarwind.x@gmail.com> wrote:

> Thank you all for the replies.
>
> 1. I'm pretty sure an offline backup is not possible, since I can't
> access the server when it's offline. I'll have to investigate this
> further, though.
>
> 2. I created this script in a folder called /backups (thank you for
> the tip, Darron Black):
>
> #! /bin/bash
> echo "Backing up files..."
> file1=3D"backup_files_$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S).tar.bz2"
> tar cpjf $file1 --exclude=3D/proc --exclude=3D/dev --exclude=3D/run
> --exclude=3D/lost+found --exclude=3D/mnt --exclude=3D/sys --exclude=3D/ba=
ckups
> /
>
> and it is nicely creating snapshots of the filesystem so far. I
> haven't tried to restore anything yet, but I should do that and see
> how it works out.
>
> I would still like to find a better solution.
>
> 3. Harold Hallikainen, thanks for the tip about rsync. That sounds
> like a good idea as well.
>
> 4. Colin, I don't use vmware nor Acronis, and I'd rather keep it all
> free/open source.
>
> 5. Tamas, I agree, but taking the server offline for a backup is not
> practical, since there are hundreds of users online on my
> websites/services and taking it down would be impractical at the
> moment. I need to wait until the University Student's Union gives me
> more funding for a backup server or more backup options. Also, thanks
> for the tip about simulating a disaster. I will definitely need to do
> that.
>
> 6. I think the best option for an online server in my situation is to
> make a script that does a mysql_dump, backs up all static files
> (/home, /var/www, /etc), does a backup of a list of installed packages
> - so basically a set of instructions to recreate my server from a
> fresh install. I'm going to go this route eventually since it's the
> cleanest anyway. But for now, tarballs will suffice.
> --
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--=20
Glen Wiley

"A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left
to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de
Saint-Exupery
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