Backup files in linux (terminal)

SimonTHK · 10-01-2009, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lutusp

You really, really do not want to do this. really.

If you back up every five minutes, you will be scanning your filesystem almost continuously, you will eventually have overlapping backup jobs (once there are enough files), and you will be backing up opened, incomplete files, files of no possible use, and those incomplete files will replace older, complete files on the backup device. This will create a situation worse than not backing up.

Another risk in this scheme is that you will have a system or network failure or power outage while the backup is going on, and the backup device will become corrupted and unusable. This danger is made worse by the frequency of backups.

If everything goes perfectly and none of the above happens, you will still see system slowdowns because of the burden imposed by constant backing up.

Please -- learn a bit more about computers before considering this scheme. Back up once a day, in the wee hours, only after the system detects an absence of activity.

well I cant see how it can be a problem to backup from one folder to another, on another harddisk. Backup once a day is nothing, depend on the situation. I would really want my programming (not so much) in excel to be backed up atleast once per 10 min,and I cant see the problem with that.

jschiwal · 10-01-2009, 04:27 AM

Have you read the info manual for the "fileschanged" command? If you want to copy files from a drop box, there are options to wait a period of time before reporting the file. Other options are for including the state of the file or executing a command.

You could wait a couple minutes, giving enough time for short files to complete. The program to execute could be a script which uses lsof to determine whether a program still has the file open, and if not copy or move it as you wish.

If you copy a file before it is finished being written, the copy may be truncated. You need to be certain that the file is finished being saved before backing it up or moving it.

SimonTHK · 10-06-2009, 08:29 AM

Hello again

Now ive got abit further and I have made a local sync on my machine. Now I want it to run maybe once per hour. Can anyone tell me about how to make a cron job?

SimonTHK · 10-06-2009, 09:54 AM

now I tried to make a cron job run from the file ive made in nano. The nano file has the rsync command. The file is called test2

sudo crontab -u simonthk test2

after I run this command in terminal it just dumbs down a line and doesnt given any kinda notits or anything. What am I doing wrong?

SimonTHK · 10-06-2009, 10:01 AM

Ive made another threat, since this one has got abit meassy. The other threat is called: Cron Rsync

lutusp · 10-06-2009, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimonTHK

well I cant see how it can be a problem to backup from one folder to another, on another harddisk. Backup once a day is nothing, depend on the situation. I would really want my programming (not so much) in excel to be backed up atleast once per 10 min,and I cant see the problem with that.

In that case, let me tell you the problem with that.

1. You are working on a file and it is in a an unusable state. The backup procedure backs up the file in an unusable state. Then the power fails.

2. You accidentally delete a dozen files that are crucial to your magnum opus and to your long-term goal to replace Bill Gates as king of the universe. Your backup scheme quickly and efficiently deletes the backup copies too, according to your clear and insistent instructions.

But it's up to you -- it's your computer and your life. All you need to do is consider all the possibilities.