RHBACKUP(8)

NAME
       rhbackup - program to aid in backing up system data

SYNOPSIS
       rhbackup [--full|--test|--incremental]

DESCRIPTION
       rhbackup  is  a program useful for simple local and remote
       system backups.  It is intended for quick and dirty  back-
       ups and as such uses rsh and tar as it's basic network and
       archiving mechanism.  The file /etc/backuptab is an  exam-
       ple  config  file  that lists the machines and directories
       (and optionally an exclude file) that are intended  to  be
       backed  up.  /etc/sysconfig/tape is the system config file
       for  machine  specific  options  (tape  block  size,  tape
       device, etc).

OPTIONS
       --full This does a full backup of everything listed in the
              backup config file (usually /etc/backuptab but  can
              be  specified  from /etc/sysconfig/tape).  One very
              important thing to  note  is  that  a  full  backup
              always  rewinds  the  tape  to the beginning before
              starting but never rewinds at the end.  This  is  a
              decision made to keep things simple and assumes you
              always swap tapes for full backups.

       --test This does a simple test of connectivity between the
              backup  host  and  all  remote  hosts listed in the
              backup config file.  Since this  program  needs  to
              use  rsh  in  both  directions, this option tries a
              simple rsh to a remote host and then  an  rsh  from
              that  remote host back to the backup host.  This is
              done for all remote hosts listed.

       --incremental
              This  does  an  incremental  backup  of  everything
              listed in the backup config file.  It never rewinds
              the tape, either.  This is so you  can  do  a  full
              backup  and  then append incremental backups to the
              same tape if you  wish.   If  you  need  to  rewind
              before or after your incremental you can append the
              appropriate mt commands  before  or  after  running
              rhbackup.

CONFIGURATION FILE
       rhbackup  uses  two  config files, /etc/sysconfig/tape and
       usually /etc/backuptab (but not necessarily since  a  dif-
       ferent     backuptab     can     be     specified     from

       /etc/sysconfig/tape).   /etc/sysconfig/tape  should   come
       with this distribution and contain ample comments for it's
       setup.  You will most likely need to edit  this  file  for
       your  own  system.  You should also read that file closely
       for instructions on what to do for remote systems that you
       plan to backup.

       /etc/backuptab is a sample config file that can be used as
       it sits to backup /etc on your local system.  You can edit
       it  to suit your needs.  The contents of the original file
       appear below.

       # Config file listing for things to backup.
       # It should be of the form
       #
       # machine <space> dir[|file] <space> [exclude pattern]
       #
       # It's good if machine is the fully qualified domain name
       # (or whatever the 'hostname' command returns on your
       # system) and it must exist even # if you are only doing
       # local backups.
       #
       # The "dir" is the directory or file to backup.
       #
       # The "exclude pattern" is the filename containing the
       # pattern(s) you want to exlude as per the -X option to
       # 'tar'.  See the tar man page for details.

       localhost /etc

       You should put localhost or the  output  of  the  hostname
       command  as the machine name for the local system.  Remote
       machines to be backed up should  probably  use  the  Fully
       Qualified Domain Name.

FILES
       /etc/sysconfig/tape        Default system config.
       /etc/backuptab             Default backuptab.

BUGS
       Bugs  probably  exist.  This should be considered beta (or
       maybe even alpha) software.  It should work, but the  best
       thing  to  do  is to try it and verify that everything you
       expected actually got written to tape.  Upon verification,
       deploy it.  Upon deployment, keep your eye on the logs and
       actual backup tapes regularly to make sure it works.   All
       of this is good practice for any backup system that is new
       anyway.  If you find bugs, you can mail them to  bugs@red-
       hat.com.

SEE ALSO
       tar(1) mt(1) rsh(1) 

AUTHOR
       Donald Barnes lt;djb@redhat.com