Dump in Redhat with dd command

aforisma · 01-17-2008, 05:49 AM

Hi all,
i would like to perform a dump of a red hat machine over a usd external drive.
I have never done it and i don't know how to do it.
My friend told me to use dd command ... but with wich parameters?

Is there anybody that can show mw the commando line i can use?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Simon Bridge · 01-17-2008, 05:58 AM

Well... a basic binary dump would go:

dd if=/ of=/media/usbdrive

I guess... but what exactly are you trying to acheive... there is probably a better way.

cp -a /media/usbdrive /
... will copy the entire fs over to the usb drive for eg. You can also use tar to compress it first.

aforisma · 01-17-2008, 07:46 AM

My job is to reproduce a clone of a server over another one.
Someone told me to use dd command.
Also ... in dd do I need to define the disk size, cylinders and so on or I just can type:

dd if=/ of=/media/usbdrive

as you suggested?

Thanks

Simon Bridge · 01-17-2008, 10:32 AM

Have a shufti at:
http://lists.us.dell.com/pipermail/l...ay/020570.html
... this discussion covers a range of methods, all improvements over the dd one.

There are a lot of free system management tools available for gnu/linux these days.