copying entire intallation

viniosity · 03-17-2003, 01:57 PM

I'm starting to figure out some things to make linux useful in my office. The problem is I'm scared of losing a machine once it's set up (like my handy DNS server). Is there a way to backup the entire hard drive in linux in case I want a backup machine? Would I back up from one linux machine to another or from a linux machine to a blank Hard disk?

If it matters, I'm using Debian Woody

Mara · 03-17-2003, 02:19 PM

Yes, you can do this. There are two ways(there are more, those 2 can be done in every system):
* using dd - makes a phisical copy of a disk/partition (also free space), requires space equal to the partition you're copying. Big plus: you can mount such an image, so you can easily copy files from it. Example:
dd if=/dev/hda1 of=image.img
Makes a copy of first partition to file image.img
* using tar - copies only files, less space. Not very easy to access the files (it's an archive). Example:
tar -cvvf archive.tar /

crashmeister · 03-17-2003, 02:33 PM

You can copy the whole filesystem over on another hd.Don't copy /proc.Just make a directory for /proc.Worked for me.Don't expect it to work ok on a box with different hardware.
You can also have a look at http://www-124.ibm.com/developerworks/oss/jfs under 'copy the root filesystem'.
Damn just checked the link - you need to go to 'documentation-root boot howto' there.

zeroability · 03-17-2003, 10:57 PM

Norton Ghost
PowerQwest Disk Image
I prefer Ghost
you can make image files that fit on cds with both I believe

MasterC · 03-17-2003, 11:22 PM

Aussie built an excellent how-to on drive upgrading, take what applies to your situation:
http://www.p-two.net/modules.php?op=...article&sid=12

Cool