Backup solution on RAID configured system

konzo · 07-26-2010, 06:04 AM

I have used gparted for backup of my system, but now I have RAID configured and gparted didn't recognize my drives:
Disk /dev/md0 doesn't contain a valid partition table

I have 2x500Gb HDDs configured in RAID and primary and logical partitions set by LVM (on Debian lenny 5.03)

Code:

 fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000cb4b9

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1          12       96358+  fd  Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sda2              13       60801   488287642+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5              13         498     3903763+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6             499         516      144553+  8e  Linux LVM
/dev/sda7             517       60801   484239231   fd  Linux raid autodetect

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000830ee

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1          12       96358+  fd  Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdb2              13       60801   488287642+   5  Extended
/dev/sdb5              13         498     3903763+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb6             499         516      144553+  8e  Linux LVM
/dev/sdb7             517       60801   484239231   fd  Linux raid autodetect

Disk /dev/md0: 98 MB, 98566144 bytes
2 heads, 4 sectors/track, 24064 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 8 * 512 = 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/md0 doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/md1: 495.8 GB, 495860842496 bytes
2 heads, 4 sectors/track, 121059776 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 8 * 512 = 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/md1 doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/dm-0: 293 MB, 293601280 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 35 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/dm-0 doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/dm-1: 149.9 GB, 149996699648 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 18236 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/dm-1 doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/dm-2: 149.9 GB, 149996699648 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 18236 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/dm-2 doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/dm-3: 195.8 GB, 195865608192 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 23812 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/dm-3 doesn't contain a valid partition table

Disk /dev/dm-4: 96 MB, 96468992 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 11 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/dm-4 doesn't contain a valid partition table

What program can I use to make a backup of my installation into /dev/dm-1 (this drive is mounted as /home)?

mostlyharmless · 07-26-2010, 10:38 AM

(1) It's normal for /dev/md0 to not have a partition table; it's the array, not the drives.

(2) Backup your filesystem anyway you normally would. I rsync to an external drive, personally. If you want a bare metal backup in order to swap your drive out and replace it, then, either (a) arrange your backup drive to be an exact duplicate of your main drive using sfdisk to copy the partition table and then rsync to copy the files, or (b) use a disk cloning program such as clonezilla, Acronis or just dd.