Hi,

I am new to linux and was wondering if there are standard directories that should be skipped for the tape backup. eg, in windows skip pagefile.sys

What is the /sys directory and should this directory be skipped? What about /boot? Are there any standard directories or files that should be skipped for tape backups. I am trying to configure a standard linux directive in EMC networker backup software which will include directories and files to skip.

Thanks

Ken

it tends to vary from use to use but any virtual filesystem such as /proc and /sys do not need to be backed up.

I'd start with not including /proc, /sys, /tmp, /media, /mnt, and /dev. Again, depending on the system's use you may want /tmp or /media or /mnt or /dev. However, /sys and /proc are generated every boot and are persistent only for that boot so there is no need to attempt to backup data under either. They are a view into the kernel and system devices allowing for tuning and what-not.

If you want to perform backups so you can do bare metal recoveries, then only back up the data that is not native to the OS itself. Most people in a production environment can kickstart or have standby systems faster than you can locate the data to recover, even using automated tools.

Basically my rule of thumb is to backup any proprietary applications for quick recovery along with modified configuration files.

I can kickstart a machine within 5 minutes and have it up and running in about 15-20 minutes top. Applying the backups for configurations from the system is faster than recovering the whole system as a backup.

So be picky in what you backup, if you really do need to backup everything which includes bits of the OS to avoid a reinstall, just avoid backing up any of the pseudo file systems like lost+found, media, sys, dev, proc, misc and mnt on most cases. You can also save time by not backing up /var unless you backup databases that reside there and or email which is spooled there. Also avoid backing up /tmp in most cases.